Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant

A Guide to KLWM Custom Bottlings

by Anthony Lynch

Nearly fifty years of experience on the wine roads of France and Italy comes with its perks. Since the early ’70s, these adventures have not only offered a privileged look behind cellar doors, but helped forge long-term relationships with partners in every major wine region. As a result, each year, we enjoy creative collaboration with trusted growers to capture the best of the vintage’s crop. This tradition began when Kermit, with his customers back home in mind, asked certain producers if he could blend his own cuvée, often to be bottled unfiltered at his request. It has evolved in some cases to an annual bottling bearing the “Selected by Kermit Lynch” label, meant to showcase a given region in all its glory at a price point that is difficult to match.
The Côtes du Rhône, our longest-running custom cuvée, is sourced from stony vineyards outside of Avignon and vinified at the local cave coopérative. We blend the best lots in search of a balanced and accessible Rhône red teeming with evocative flavors of the land, like wild blackberries, thyme, and black olive.
The Vaucluse blanc and rouge are produced in the cellars of Domaine de Durban in nearby Beaumes-de-Venise. We implored vigneron Henri Leydier not to sell off a portion of his grapes and instead craft a versatile, crowd-pleasing everyday white and red. The white, with its sun-ripened stone fruit and crisp finish, is the quintessential palate opener, while the red, a plump, juicy Grenache blend that is both floral and earthy, is the ultimate all-purpose sipper that shines with or without food.
Finally, the Languedoc rouge is the result of our longtime collaboration with vigneron Jean-Claude Zabalia, who has granted us access to top-quality fruit from the exciting terroir of Cabrières. High elevation and striking schist soils make this cru unique in the Languedoc, and you’ll taste why with each sip. Dominated by Syrah, the blend features plenty of spice, pepper, wild herbs, and a trademark fresh, crunchy finish that brings to mind the dark, flaky stones that litter the vineyard floor.