Kermit Lynch

Kermit Lynch
BornDecember 1941
Bakersfield, California
Occupation(s)Wine importer, author
SpouseGail Skoff

Kermit Lynch (born December 1941 Bakersfield, California) is an American wine importer and author based in Berkeley, California. He is the author of Adventures on the Wine Route, which won the Veuve Clicquot Wine Book of the Year award, as well as Inspiring Thirst. He also co-owns Domaine Les Pallières in Gigondas along with the Brunier family of Domaine du Vieux Télégraphe in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

He is married to photographer Gail Skoff, whose photographs illustrate his books.[1]

Career

Lynch was born into a family of teetotalers, and was introduced to wine at 17 by two graduates of UC Berkeley.[2][3]

In 1972, Lynch opened his eponymous wine importing store in Albany, before moving to Berkeley in the 1980s.[4]

Richard Olney introduced Lynch to many French wine growers, including Lucien and Lulu Peyraud, who were then re-establishing the Bandol AOC as a vineyard area.[2]

Lynch introduced use of refrigerated shipping containers to prevent wines from being ruined by heat during shipping. After noticing that wines imported from Burgundy tasted different than he remembered at the winery, Lynch began experimenting with refrigerated containers and found that the problem was eliminated.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lynch took objection to a regulation of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms that required wine bottles to be labeled with the Surgeon General's warning against alcohol consumption but prohibited any countering sentiment about the benefits of moderate wine drinking. Lynch successfully petitioned for a change of policy.[5]

Awards and honors

Lynch won the James Beard Foundation's Wine Professional of the Year award in 2000 and in 2006 won the Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America.[6]

In 1998 he received the Chevalier de l'Ordre de Mérite Agricole medal from the French government for his service to the wine industry.[7] In 2005 he was also awarded France's highest honor given to civilians, the insignia of Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur.[8]

Published works

  • Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 1988
  • Inspiring Thirst: Vintage Selections from the Kermit Lynch Wine Brochure, Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 2004
  • 25th Anniversary Edition of Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2013

See also

References

  1. ^ Asimov, Eric (2007-11-21). "Berkeley's Wine Radical, 35 Years Later". The New York Times. p. F6. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-12-07.
  2. ^ a b Kermit Lynch Interview - Terrance Gelenter Archived 2015-10-03 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Day, Kevin. "A Life in Wine with Kermit Lynch". Opening A Bottle. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  4. ^ Henry, Sarah. "Wine merchant Kermit Lynch celebrates 40th anniversary". Berkeleyside. Archived from the original on 29 September 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2024.
  5. ^ K. MacNeil The Wine Bible pg 635 Workman Publishing 2001 ISBN 1-56305-434-5
  6. ^ "Kermit Lynch". James Beard Foundation. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
  7. ^ Gilbert, Andrew. "Red Wine and Blues". The Monthly. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.
  8. ^ Yarrow, Alder. "Kermit Lynch Joins Legion d'Honneur". Vinography. Archived from the original on 17 December 2024. Retrieved 17 December 2024.