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France: 38 Wines from Kermit Lynch

E&R Wine Shop, Portland OR

Tasted April 18, 2014 by David Paris (dbp) with 1,205 views

Introduction

A fantastic event with many of the wines available from Kermit Lynch in Oregon. Things kicked off with an older flight, and then into the current stuff. As always, a range of enjoyment was offered, but I found some new discoveries that I fell in love with. Perhaps the biggest revelation was the 2009 Domaine Vinci Vin de Pays Des Cotes Catalanes Rafalot... wine of a region I'm definitely usually not fond of.

Flight 1 - The older wines... (5 notes)

White
1991 Coche-Dury Meursault France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Meursault
92 points
Funky, slightly oxidized notes. But very heavy and rich overall, with nice aromatic texture, though not too much complexity. Very rich texture on palate entry. Soft. Impressively soft, deep, and sexy feeling. Pretty mellow flavors, though, showing mild tartness and slight egg yolk flavor. Really though, the textural massage on the palate is enough elegance to carry this on the palate. Nice dialup of acid on the finish. Quite nice and elegant, showing a rich, deep presence. Sexy, classy stuff, but here too; it's more about the impression this wine leaves and the classy nature of the presentation than it is about the flavors, which aren't particularly distinctive. A lovely experience, though.
White
1992 François Raveneau Chablis 1er Cru Butteaux France, Burgundy, Chablis, Chablis 1er Cru
90 points
Soft, mild, and slightly funky aromas. Rich and heavy body on the palate, which is smooth, soft, and pretty mild, showing some funky old lemon notes. Overall, quite lean and mild. Lean again on the finish, with decent acidity driving tart notions, but really not too much depth here.
White
1993 Zind-Humbrecht Riesling Rangen de Thann Clos St. Urbain France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
93 points
I pulled this to my nose and immediately had a wide smile. Awesome aromas! So rich and beautiful. Somehow, like liquefied gold. Aromas of starfruit and honeysuckle. I could smell this for days. Very nice and penetrating on the palate. Such depth. Rich honeysuckle that's killer. Nice botrytized notes. Mellow, but rich acidity. Puckering and tart on the impressively clean finish. Nice lingering notes. A lovely wine.
Red
1993 Domaine Tempier Bandol Cuvée Spéciale La Migoua France, Provence, Bandol
90 points
Very funky notes. Smells old and bretty. Still, there's plenty of vibrancy underneath that, if you can get past it, particularly with vigorous swirling. There's blackberries and strawberries covered in dusty notes. Nice palate, which is soft, and still some tannin present. Good spiced dark fruit with slight old wood notes, but not too much depth. Quite tart and acidic on the finish. Nice puckeringly tannic with more sips.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
1994 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage France, Rhône, Northern Rhône, Hermitage
91 points
Very nice old school richness; richness without being overpowering or overbearing. Nice soil notes and soft old meaty fruit. Nice exuberance on palate entry, showing quite lovely, soft earthy cellar floor notes and tart and lightly puckering earthy red berry overtones. Nice lingering notes, but it's fairly puckering and light in the realm of depth. A nice drink, for sure.

Flight 2 - The rest, split among 4 tables (32 notes)

White
2011 André-Michel Brégeon Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie France, Loire Valley, Pays Nantais, Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine sur lie
88 points
Very pungent aromas, almost funky, but it's primarily grassy notes. Fresh palate, zesty and nice. Mineral driven and pretty sharp. Nice finish, with soft, soily veggies.
White
2012 Domaine Hippolyte Reverdy Sancerre France, Loire Valley, Upper Loire, Sancerre
88 points
Very fruity, like lycee fruit. Pretty and exuberant nose, which seems pretty old school. Similar on the palate, with pretty candied lemon and the rind of a melon added in. Very nice sweet honeydew notes with minerals on the finish. Nice spice, and this lingers quite wel.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Champalou Vouvray Pétillant Brut France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Vouvray Pétillant
88 points
Fairly quiet aromas. Soft and mild. Nice frothy palate texture, showing nice body and smooth, sweet fruit. Not much depth overall, but still a fun, lovely wine.
White
1980 Château d'Epiré Savennières France, Loire Valley, Anjou-Saumur, Savennières
89 points
Lemon curd aromas, old rusty galvanized pipe, and old musty pond water with frogs jumping around in it. That's what this smells like. Nice! Funky palate, with tart lemons. It's soft textually and overall fairly mellow, though thoroughly intact. More funky notes on the finish, but again, fairly mellow.
1 person found this helpful Comment
White
2012 Roland Lavantureux Chablis France, Burgundy, Chablis
86 points
Some quiet notes of metal filings on the nose, but it's pretty soft. Mellow, lightly mineral driven palate. Nice lingering tartness, with some metallic notes. Pretty lean, overall.
White
2006 Michel Colin-Deléger et Fils Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru Les Demoiselles France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Puligny-Montrachet 1er Cru
92 points
Nice aromatic depth. Pretty. Quite compelling nose. Wow, incredible palate entry. Really great depth. So pure in its expressiveness. Notable wood, but it's nice and in balance. Such pure expression of soil and fruit. Similar deep, long finish, with just the right amount of balanced acidity without being cutting. Just soft and elegant. Lingers for a minute. Just awesome. Classy throughout in its approach. As most wines in this lineup were in the ~$30 range I freaked when I was poured this one before having to look back at the list to realize what it was... whoops. While not totally blind, it's elegance certainly stood apart from the rest. Drinking in a fine place today, actually.
White
2011 Albert Boxler Pinot Gris Brand France, Alsace, Alsace Grand Cru
90 points
Exuberant nose. Really nice depth, showing some length. Smells of cleaning products, but the sweetly fruited, melony kind. Awesome entry on the palate with a smooth texture and sweetness, but a little chunky textually. Soft and mellow though, with notes of melon. A little funky on the finish, showing odd texture and fruit. Still nice, though.
White - Sparkling
N.V. Lambert de Seyssel Seyssel Petit Royal France, Savoie, Seyssel
81 points
Really metallic notes on the nose, with some minerality. It smells like a crusty old dog turd after the dog ate a bunch of metal. Oyster shells on the palate, but not in a good way. Literally like you're chewing up the shell, that kind of experience. Tastes like the slime that grows on the side of your pool coupled with funky rotting fruit. Rank finish, too. I wonder why I scored this so high?
White - Sparkling
N.V. J. Lassalle Champagne Premier Cru Préférence Brut France, Champagne, Champagne Premier Cru
90 points
After the horrible Savoie Methode Traditionnalle before this, I quite loved this. It was nice and fresh, with a soft elegance to the aromas. Nice and soft palate, with good zesty soft notes. Lovely minerals and acid on the finish, which was quite tart and drying.
Red
2011 Jean-François Ganevat Côtes du Jura Cuvée de l'enfant terrible France, Jura, Côtes du Jura
92 points
Awesome, funky and rich aromas. Feels spritzy. Notes of briar, tart and spice. Chili flake and lemon. Totally kick ass array of notes. Very nice palate entry. Impressive and smooth, like a jelly candy without the sweetness. Lovely. Soft, milder finish, with some funky spice. Impressive stuff!
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2012 Jean Foillard Morgon Cuvée Corcelette France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Morgon
88 points
Very lean and green aromas, atypical of this wine. Soft, mellow palate entry, with some spearmint notes. Spicy and zesty, and again a bit green for this guy. Soft and spicy finish which is decent, mild, and pretty lean.
Red
2006 Domaine Roulot Bourgogne France, Burgundy, Bourgogne
86 points
Soft and mild nose that smells like this wine is "ready." Soft palate entry, which is quite mellow. Some rich strawberry notes, but again, pretty soft and mellow overall. Some puckering tartness, but pretty lean and not much depth.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2011 Domaine Pierre Guillemot Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru Les Serpentières France, Burgundy, Côte de Beaune, Savigny-lès-Beaune 1er Cru
89 points
Spicy green notes on the nose. Quite perfumey and tart. Nice spicy, tart, puckering, and lean palate. Decent fruit, with a medicinal green note throughout as well. Good depth on the finish, showing some real elegance. Slightly spicy and green. Nice stuff.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2008 Domaine Robert Chevillon Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru Les Roncières France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Nuits St. Georges 1er Cru
89 points
Soft, but quite a lot of red fruit on the nose. Smells a bit like an Oregon Pinot Noir, honestly. Pretty awesome elegant texture though that definitely is the hallmark of NSG for me. Really lovely and approachable texture, though tannins do quickly build. Softly fruited on the palate. The finish is tart and a little gritty, but not too much depth at present. Something to look forward to, though.
2 people found this helpful Comment
Red
2008 Domaine Arretxea Irouléguy France, Southwest France, Pays Basque, Irouléguy
86 points
Shifting gears from where we were, this is pretty heavy duty stuff. Thick and deep. Cabernet Franc and Tannat, so perhaps to be expected. Kind of funky, though discrete. Soft and mellow palate, but tannins build. Tart and generically puckering finish. Pretty mild.
Red
2010 Château de Lascaux Coteaux du Languedoc France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Coteaux du Languedoc
88 points
Soft and simple nose. Very nice richness of fruit on the palate; quite nice. Tannins build, but they're pretty soft. A simple wine, but yummy, with nice fruit on the finish.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2012 Famille Brunier Vaucluse Le Pigeoulet France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vaucluse
86 points
Soft, mild nose is followed by a mellow palate entry that astes like every day wine. Nice and mellow, without much tannins. Soft and tart finish. Nothing out of place here, but nothing too compelling either.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2010 Domaine Auguste Clape Le Vin des Amis France, Rhône, Vin de France
87 points
Funky notes, and a little juicy. Mellow and again funk on the palate. Lingers awhile, but not all that interesting.
Red
2009 Domaine les Pallières Gigondas Les Racines France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Gigondas
83 points
Well at least I consistently don't like this wine, apparently. I didn't recognize it, but I had the 2007 rendition 4 years ago and disliked that wine similarly to this. Tart and lean on the nose, showing tons of exuberant fruit. But the booze is the problem here, which comes across awkward, funky and tart. Not enjoyable and not interesting enough to pay more attention to for a more detailed note.
Red
2010 Domaine de la Grange des Pères Vin de Pays de l'Hérault France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Vin de Pays de l'Hérault
90 points
Mmmm yeah, I guess I don't get this wine. I can see what he means about how everyone in Washington trying to copy this wine, because this tastes like any obvious wine from Washington. That said, it's done fairly well, and it is enjoyable, but it is basically just a big goopy ball of delicious fruit. Not sure why you need to pay $100 for that. The aromas are huge; a big boy, but nice and smooth. Soft palate entry with a soft, smooth texture. Tart notes, and certainly structured, despite the size of the wine. Still though, the palate makes this feel like a "manufactured" wine. Tart and large finish. Yup, tasters like Washington after all. But again, a nicely made Washington wine (Yes, I know it's the other way around).
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2011 Domaine Diochon Moulin-à-Vent Vieilles Vignes France, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Moulin-à-Vent
91 points
Much more enjoyable than the 2009 of this wine. This offers hefty aromas that are surprising. Quite largely scaled, pleasing fruit. Very nice fruit on palate entry. Lovely and elegant. Balanced and smooth. Very nice. Great textural fruit and structural balance. Lovely floral notes on the finish, which is deep, elegant and structure. Pretty impressive stuff!
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2010 Charles Joguet Chinon Clos de la Dioterie France, Loire Valley, Touraine, Chinon
89 points
After loving the 2009, this just wasn't showing well today. The aromas are quite thick, with a strong green tinge to them. Tart and large, but a bit too lean and lacking that juicy fruit this wine generally presents. Soft on palate entry and showing more fruit here. Tart and lean, but large in structure. Soft and elegant finish, which is tart and puckering. Really, just not showing too much today. Disappointing.
Red
2009 Domaine de Terrebrune Bandol Terroir du Trias France, Provence, Bandol
83 points
Very hefty aromas. Large fruit. Very tannic and thick palate. Bold. Too big and thick for me. Too much on the finish. Tastes modern.
Red
2012 Kermit Lynch Selections Côtes du Rhône France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Côtes du Rhône
85 points
Soft and mellow aromas. Some green notes on the mellow palate. Soft and tart, and pretty simple. Juicy and simple finish.
Red
2011 Château La Roque Pic St. Loup France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Pic St. Loup
90 points
Tart, lean aromas that are mineral driven, with a slight green bend to them. Very smooth, soft palate texture. Nice green notes, but also really nice strawberry tones. Nice lush finish. An excellent QPR. Impressive juiciness.
Red
2012 Domaine Gachot-Monot Côte de Nuits Villages France, Burgundy, Côte de Nuits, Côte de Nuits Villages
90 points
Quite funky notes on the nose, but there's still decent fruit poking through. Soft, mellow palate, showing nice juicy fruit, but still tart and slightly funky. Really smooth mouth feel. Really impressive texture lingers after swallowing. Quite sexy, actually. Lovely stuff!
Red
2011 Famille Brunier Châteauneuf-du-Pape Piedlong France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Châteauneuf-du-Pape
84 points
Hefty aromas. Rich and large palate. Tastes like purple drank. Really heavy stuff. Thick, medicinal finish that's boozy.
Rosé
2013 Château des Deux Rocs Cabrières Premices Rosé France, Languedoc Roussillon, Languedoc, Cabrières
88 points
Lovely fruit on the soft aromas. Really nice and soft, smooth palate. Lovely fruit lingers on the smooth, yummy finish.
White
2011 Domaine Vinci Côtes Catalanes Coyade France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes Catalanes
91 points
Yikes, this wine was a revelation! Awesome. Funky aromas, but already shows nice tartness and herbal funk. The palate is tart, lean, but elegent. Smooth and lean, but lovely, with fantastic intensity. Rich and imposing. Lovely impressive finish with compelling depth. Wish this was for sale.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2009 Domaine Vinci Rafalot France, Languedoc Roussillon, Roussillon, Côtes Catalanes
92 points
Again, what a surprising wine! Fantastic juice from a region I'm normally not too find of, but this shows real class. Lovely, soft aromas of impressive depth with a nice funky bend to it. Funky palate, which is lovely and smooth. Elegant, though mellow. Impressive presence. What! The fruit on the finish! What fantastic dance of thick, luscious fruit, acid, and an elegant texture that's left. Just so smooth throughout. A truly awesome wine. Just 13.5% alcohol... the way all Languedoc Roussillon should be, perhaps.
1 person found this helpful Comment
Red
2012 Domaine du Joncier Lirac France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Lirac
85 points
Large wine... soft, mild, and smoothly fruited palate, but fairly simple, with tannins quickly covering things up. Puckering, tart finish. Tastes like grape juice.
Red
2011 Domaine le Sang des Cailloux Vacqueyras Cuvée Doucinello France, Rhône, Southern Rhône, Vacqueyras
85 points
Quiet and soft aromas. Mild palate, which is soft in texture and pretty lean and tart. Puckering, lean finish.
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