A Great Day for Winemakers/Bloggers

Posted by Tom Wark on Dec 6, 2006

Regular readers of Fermentation will know that I’ve enjoyed following the exploits of Amy and Matt, the proprietors of Domaine de la Grameire. I get to do this via their fine blog.

Amy and Matt basically bought a vineyard in the town of  Saint Quentin la Poterie in the Rhone Valley, set up shop, and went about making wine they like. A dream for many of us. They’ve been working hard and from the looks of things having a good time of it too.

But I wondered how I’d ever taste their wine.

Then, today, the Kermit Lynch Newsletter arrives and what do I see? An entire page devoted to the 2005 Domaine de La Gramiere Cotes du Rhone Rouge.

Now, Amy used to work at Kermit Lynch which leads one to think, well maybe Kermit is just throwing some good will at a former employee. Clearly Kermit is aware of this perception. He explains in his prose that he "made an effort NOT to import this red Rhone."  The problem was, he liked it. So, he decided to get an outside opinion of the wine from Daniel Ravier of Domaine Tempier…yes, THAT Domaine Tempier.

"That’s great Cotes du Rhone…It has character and it is a wine of pleasure."

Clearly Mr. Lynch was won over.

I don’t know what kind of accolades Amy and Matt were hoping to receive for their efforts. I do know this. There are very few third party endorsements in this business that mean more than inclusion in the Kermit Lynch portfolio. I’m guessing they are happy.  Well, actually, I don’t have to guess.

The 2005 Domaine de La Gramiere Cotes du Rhone Rouge is $14.95 per bottle,   and $161.00 per case. The contact info for the Kermit Lynch retail operation where you can order this wine is HERE.

Congrats to a couple of great wine bloggers/winemakers.