Inspiring Thirst An inside look at wines of Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant.

The vast majority of older wines that I’ve tasted have come directly from Kermit’s cellar in Berkeley. He regularly brings down a bottle or two of something old during staff tastings, but every once in a while, the sales staff will head over to his house and have a dinner and tasting of older wines.
These [...]

Last week’s staff tasting focused on recent arrivals from Corsica and the south of France. More often than not, Kermit likes to taste north to south, however this time we started in Corsica and moved north to the mainland. Our normal behavior is also to taste white before red, but I’ve heard of other people [...]

We voted at the end of the tasting. Kermit asked, “which red did you like best, the ‘Pourpre’ or the ‘Causse du Bousquet?’” Out of the eight voters  it was a split decision (Kermit was the ninth attendee but didn’t vote). Each red received four votes. What does that mean? It was close, I could [...]

While reflecting on the new producers we’ve added to our portfolio over the past couple years, a common theme emerged. For the most part, we haven’t added producers from well-known winegrowing areas, but instead we found gems tucked away in obscure corners of France and Italy. A few of these new producers are Pascal Janvier [...]

Last week’s staff tasting featured quite a wide range of regions and styles. From France we covered Champagne, Burgundy, and the Loire, and from Italy, the Friuli.
NV Rosé 1er Cru • Veuve Fourny *
The rosé from Veuve Fourny is a favorite among the staff in Berkeley. When a special bottle needs to be opened for [...]