Yay! I've only ever visited the man's shop but once [I bought some Madiran and fled; I was poor at the time], but who is famous for being, well, Kermit Lynch. He goes to France, finds really fantastic stuff, and imports it to his shop in Berkeley - and also sells it through the usual channels. He's quite a character.
Here's a sample of his writing. Here, he's talking about the 2003 Vieux Télégraphe [
grrrscribbler, this is the wine that inspired Randall Grahm to make your bottle of Old Telegram!]:Great wine from a great terroir, fermented. Do you follow that? All wine. Nothing phony. No flimflam or diddling with it to sucker you. No bowing to the media or the marketplace, no hopping on the hip bandwagon of the day. It is a wine that seems timeless, that inspires awe. Picture a sturdy, towering redwood aiming for the sky.They've got quite a few back issues up there... looking forward to reading more of this!
I have visited Vieux Télégraphe and tasted this 2003 several times, always with enormous excitement. One visit in July of 2004 inspired the most pornographic tasting notes I have ever read. Downright sinful. If I quoted myself, I’d hear from the FCC and the BATF. Sheriff, take this man! Given that, excuse me if I cannot bring myself to settle for a cherries and berries description.
The 2003 Vieux Télégraphe is a mighty vin de garde. Leave it be for some years. Let this deep, dark beauty lie dormant for a decade. Then begin to enjoy a masterpiece.
PRE-ARRIVAL PRICE: $462 per case (also available in tenths, magnums, jeroboams, methuselahs, and salmanazars)
