Interview: Kermit Lynch, Wine Merchant

One of the hallmarks of your career was the recognition that wine has to be stored properly, especially in transport. How have your views on this changed—if at all—over the years?

It sounds easy, stored properly in transport, but it has been a battle ever since I experienced what heat can do to a fine wine—it is no longer as fine. But what about the truck driver who can’t listen to music because the truck’s refrigeration unit makes noise, so he shuts down the unit, or the one who takes Sunday off and parks his loaded truck in the summer sun...

What about small pick-ups in out-of-the-way places which the big rigs can’t reach?

I’ve had such things happen too often, and one big reason I have an office in France is to keep an eye on all that. Each shipment has a temperature gauge now so I can see the temperatures inside the shipping container through the voyage. One transporter told me that I’m the only importer who does 100% year round reefer (ie. refrigerated) pick-ups from the cellars to the U.S. warehouse, which of course is air-conditioned, too. Yet I’m not such a fanatic about home cellars. For a couple of decades I had no air-conditioning in my personal cellar in Berkeley. Maybe they age a little quicker than in the winemakers’ cellars, but I’m still enjoying wines from the 1970s that are in great shape.

And what do you recommend for people who love wine at home but don't have a cellar?

Move? Just kidding, sorta. I’d suggest finding the coolest part of the house, put some cases in and taste something every year to make sure it is not beginning to show any ill effects.

Your career began with importing wines from Europe. How do you view the evolution and growth of wine production in other parts of the world? Any favorite regions?  Producers?

When I began in 1972, I had a retail shop and purchased wine from distributors and bought from California wineries. Some of the best wines of my life were California wines from the fifties and sixties. Just last year I uncorked an amazing 1970 Louis Martini Barbera. But those wines were not oaky or alcoholic. Too many New World wines are simply too monstrous for my apparently delicate palate. I do enjoy the Ridge wines from Paul Draper, Edmonds St. Jean from Steve Edmonds, and a few other "terroirists." The new Spanish wines made for journalists turn me off. South America just seems to be producing pop wines, cliché wines.

As a merchant, you have seen consumers' tastes change over the years.  What has been most notable to you?

Lately the pendulum is swinging in my direction. The market for natural wines is more and more vigorous, and diversity is also beginning to rear its lovely head.

Your newsletters are wonderfully detailed and lively, but your store in Berkeley tends to avoid lots of written cue cards. Was this a conscious decision?

Very conscious. I hate those cue cards. My staff is talented and experienced. They taste every wine that arrives. I’d rather they talk to clients, develop a human relationship.