WHAT TO TRY

Here is a selection of some of Kermit Lynch’s classic finds available in Aotearoa, why not drink as you read!

Domaine de Montille,

1.

Bourgogne Pinot Noir, 2019, $73, Maison Vauron

Hubert de Montille’s wines are where it all started for Lynch. Honest, delicious wines from a grower, in a region then awash with comically shifty negociants, “worried the 73s won’t sell on the American market? We can label them as 72s or 74s, which would you prefer?” Lynch’s French wasn’t up to scratch, and de Montille’s English almost non-existent, they drove to the tourist information centre where they found someone to translate as they brokered their first deal.

Tempier, Bandol Classique, 2.

2019, $66, Caros

Tempier and its owners, the Peyraud family, are the stars of Adventures. From Bandol, Provence, these wines are deep and soulful, full of life and energy.

Lapierre, Morgon, Maison

3.

Vauron; Jean Foillard,

4.

Morgon Les Charmes Eponym, $76, Wine Diamonds; Jean-Paul

5.

T hevenet, Morgon Vieilles Vignes, $60, Truffle

Jules Chauvet is the now nearly mythical producer of wines Lynch loves for their delicate beauty. Lynch feared that with the passing of Chauvet, so too would the great wines of Beaujolais disappear. The group Lynch dubs the “Gang of Four” (Marcel Lapierre, Jean Foillard, Jean-Paul Thévenet, and Guy Breton) became acolytes of Chauvet and his methods (the origins of natural wine), and were critical to the revival of their region. Three of the four’s wines are available, although alcohol levels are creeping up, they remain wines of perfumed elegance and great drinkability, as Lynch discovered in the 1980s.