Kermit Lynch (born December 1941

Bakersfield, California Bakersfield is a city in Kern County, California, United States. It is the county seat and largest city of Kern County. The city covers about near the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Valley region. Bakersfield's populat ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

importer An import is the receiving country in an export from the sending country. Importation and exportation are the defining financial transactions of international trade. In international trade, the importation and exportation of goods are limited ...

and

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

based in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. He is the author of ''Adventures on the Wine Route,'' which won the

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known vintage champagne in 1810, and i ...

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 A photographer (the Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographers As in oth ...

Gail Skoff, whose photographs illustrate his books.

Career

Richard Olney Richard Olney (September 15, 1835 – April 8, 1917) was an American statesman. He served as United States Attorney General in the cabinet of Grover Cleveland and Secretary of State under Cleveland. As attorney general, Olney used injunct ...

introduced LynchKermit Lynch Interview - Terrance Gelenter
to many French wine growers, including Lucien and Lulu Peyraud of Domaine Tempier, who were then re-establishing the

Bandol AOC Provence (Provençal) wine comes from the French wine-producing region of Provence in southeast France. The Romans called the area ''provincia nostra'' ("our province"), giving the region its name. Just south of the Alps, it was the first Roman p ...

as a vineyard area of the first rank.

Awards and honors

Lynch is a winner of the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

's Wine Professional of the Year award. The ''Chevalier de l' Ordre de Mérite Agricole'' medal was presented to him by the

French government The Government of France ( French: ''Gouvernement français''), officially the Government of the French Republic (''Gouvernement de la République française'' ), exercises executive power in France. It is composed of the Prime Minister, who ...

for his service to the wine industry. In 2005 he was awarded the insignia of

Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon B ...

by the French government.

Benefits of wine on label advocacy

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lynch took objection to a regulation of the

Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (BATFE), commonly referred to as the ATF, is a domestic law enforcement agency within the United States Department of Justice. Its responsibilities include the investigation and prevent ...

that required wine bottles to be labeled with the Surgeon General's warning against

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

consumption but prohibited any countering sentiment about the benefits of moderate wine drinking to be on the label.K. MacNeil ''The Wine Bible'' pg 635 Workman Publishing 2001 On numerous occasions, Lynch petitioned the ATF to allow him to add a statement about the benefit of wine to go with the Surgeon General's warning such as quotes by

Louis Pasteur Louis Pasteur (, ; 27 December 1822 – 28 September 1895) was a French chemist and microbiologist renowned for his discoveries of the principles of vaccination, microbial fermentation and pasteurization, the latter of which was named afte ...

on the hygienic properties of wine, the

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

on wine's healing properties, and

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

on the pleasures that drinking wine can bring. After many trials, Lynch finally had his request approved.

Refrigerated containers

Lynch was a pioneer in the wine industry for his use of refrigerated shipping containers to prevent wines from being ruined by heat during shipping. Since most European wines arrive to the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast, Pacific states, and the western seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the contiguous U.S ...

via the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

and

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

coast, heat damage was common as the cargo could spend months at sea in a hot metal container. After noticing that wines imported from

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The ...

tasted different than he remembered at the winery, Lynch began experimenting with refrigerated containers and found that the problem was eliminated. This became a standard practice.

Published works

*''Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France'',

Farrar, Straus and Giroux Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...

, New York, 1988 *''25th Anniversary Edition of Adventures on the Wine Route: A Wine Buyer's Tour of France'',

, New York, 2013 *''Inspiring Thirst: Vintage Selections from the Kermit Lynch Wine Brochure'', Ten Speed Press, Berkeley, 2004

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lynch, Kermit Writers from Berkeley, California Living people People from Bakersfield, California Businesspeople from Berkeley, California 1941 births Chevaliers of the Légion d'honneur Knights of the Order of Agricultural Merit James Beard Foundation Award winners