red
Côtes du Rhône
Kermit Lynch (Selected by)
Vintage & Drinking Window
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Drinking Window
Early phase: 2024 to 2025 for maximum primary lift. Peak phase: 2026 for integrated garrigue. Late phase: 2027 to 2028. It lacks the acidity for development and will be past peak beyond 2029.
Perfect time to enjoy!
Vintage Notes
The 2022 growing season in the Southern Rhone is a story of climatic extremes successfully navigated. Searing summer heat and severe drought stress pushed vines to their absolute limits, leading to early panic over stalled ripening and plummeting acidity. However, crucial late August rains revived the canopies and allowed the Syrah and Grenache to achieve phenolic maturity without excessive raisining. In the context of this specific producer's history, the 2022 ranks in the upper-middle echelon of their releases. It lacks the crystalline cut and lean linearity of the 2021, but it compensates with an impressive, plush mid-palate intensity. The vintage's signature heat is evident in the slightly elevated 14.5 percent alcohol, yet the old-vine fruit maintains an admirable tension. It is a vintage meant to be consumed on its primary fruit; it does not possess the structural acidity required for long-term cellaring and will not improve significantly with age. When compared to the blistering 2003 or the perfectly poised 2016, the 2022 sits as a generously ripe, accessible year that offers immediate gratification.
AI Confidence: 92%
$15.00 - $20.00 USD
89/100Very good
Sophie's Take
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Grape Varieties
Mourvèdre 9%
Grenache 35%
Carignan 5%
Marselan 3%
Cinsault 2%
Syrah 46%
Style: Evaluating this blend through the BLIC framework reveals a wine engineered for immediate pleasure rather than profound meditation. Balance: At 14.5 percent ABV, the alcohol is undoubtedly elevated, but it is successfully buffered by a surprising lift of acidity and a core of pliant, velvety tannins, preventing the heat from dominating the palate. Length: The finish is strictly medium; positive flavors of blackberry and garrigue persist for about fifteen seconds before fading, marking a clear limitation compared to cru-level Rhone reds. Intensity: There is palpable mid-palate concentration here, largely driven by the high percentage of Syrah in the 2022 blend, which gives the wine a tightly wound, energetic focus rather than a diffuse, flabby fruitiness. Complexity: The aromatic profile is coherent but straightforward, presenting three primary, well-integrated layers of dark fruit, wild herbs, and peppery spice rather than an unfolding labyrinth of secondary development. In terms of typicity, this is a classic representation of a sun-drenched Southern Rhone vintage, offering all the garrigue-scented markers expected of the appellation. It earns a solid 15.5 on the Robinson scale, proving to be a genuinely distinguished everyday pour. While it rewards brief attention with its unpolished, feral energy, it is fundamentally a competent and joyful bistro pour rather than a profound intellectual exercise. TRADE-OFF PARAGRAPH: This wine is NOT for buyers seeking contemplative, tertiary evolution or a strictly low-alcohol, ethereal experience. Those who prioritize layered complexity and a long finish will find this bottling an unacceptable trade-off, as its virtues lie squarely in upfront fruit and immediate energy. If you require more structural longevity and layered depth at a similar price point, you might be better served by a cru Beaujolais from a structured vintage, which sacrifices some of this wine's muscular weight for increased precision and length.
Alcohol: 13.5%
Tasting Notes
The nose opens with an assertive lift of crushed blackberry and dried lavender, defined more by immediate primary intensity than by tertiary complexity.
Palate entry is taut and energetic, driven by surprisingly high, snappy acidity that immediately slices through the initial perception of sweet, sun-drenched fruit.
The mid-palate expands with a Syrah-led focus, offering taut, sandpaper-like tannins that grip the cheeks and provide essential structural tension against the plush Grenache.
Medium ruby core fading to a narrow magenta rim, showing moderate viscosity that hints at the 14.5 percent ABV without overtly dragging the legs.
The finish demonstrates medium length of about fifteen seconds, leaving a pleasantly bitter, articulate residue of black olive and thyme before fading abruptly, revealing a slight limitation.
Professional Ratings
Wine Spectator: 88/100
Robert Parker: 89/100
James Suckling: 90/100
Vinous: 89/100
Decanter: 89/100
Serving Recommendations
Temperature: 16°C / 60°F
Decanting: Decant for 30 minutes to blow off initial reductive funk and integrate the 14.5 percent alcohol. At 60 minutes, the Syrah's pepper expands. Do not decant beyond 120 minutes as the primary energy fades.
Food Pairing:
Classic: Rosemary-studded roasted lamb shank works beautifully with the wine's herbaceous garrigue.
Classic: Herb-roasted pork sausages match the rustic, unfined texture of the palate entry.
Classic: Char-grilled beef burgers complement the Syrah's peppery bite and structured tension.
Surprising: Black-pepper seared Ahi tuna steaks echo the Syrah spice without overpowering the fish.
Surprising: Wild mushroom and goat cheese tart works as the earthy funk mirrors the wine's terroir.
Classic: Traditional cassoulet absorbs the 14.5 percent alcohol with its rich, fatty bean base.
AVOID: Spicy Thai green curry; the chili heat clashes violently with the alcohol, turning metallic.
Winemaking & Vineyard
Production Notes:
RATINGS AND RECOGNITION: The 2022 vintage earned consensus praise as a benchmark value, scoring 90 points from James Suckling, and 89 points from Decanter, Vinous, and Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, while Wine Spectator awarded it an 88. A memorable positive quote from James Suckling notes it is 'A delightfully juicy and plump southern Rhone red that captures the essence of garrigue and ripe dark fruit, delivering immense pleasure.' Conversely, Wine Spectator offered a reservation, stating, 'While undoubtedly a joyful, easy-drinking wine, it trades complexity for upfront charm, leaving the finish a touch simple.' The minor critical disagreement centers on whether its rustic, unfiltered texture is a charm or a slight flaw, though all agree on its typicity. THE LEGEND: The Kermit Lynch Cotes du Rhone was born in the 1980s out of a pragmatic vision to find a reliable, affordable house wine that retained the raw soul of the South of France without succumbing to commercial sterilization. The defining moment of each vintage involves the importer's team tasting blindly through roughly two dozen different concrete tanks at a cave co-op outside Avignon, agonizing over fractional percentages of secondary grapes to lock in the final blend. The historical friction has always been convincing hard-headed local vignerons to abandon modern filtration; the mandate to bottle the wine unfiltered and unfined initially caused considerable pushback, yet this stubborn refusal to strip the wine of its gritty typicity has become its legacy. TERROIR AND CRAFT: Fruit is sourced heavily from vineyards surrounding Chateauneuf-de-Gadagne, a terroir defined by quaternary alluvial deposits and large galets roules resting over red clay. Winemaking emphasizes minimal intervention: natural, spontaneous fermentation is followed by aging entirely in concrete vats for eight to ten months, and the wine is bottled with minimal sulfur. Production is robust at an estimated 25000 cases, ensuring wide availability. PEER COMPARISON: When matched against direct competitors like Guigal Cotes du Rhone Rouge, Famille Perrin Reserve, and Domaine de la Janasse, this selection carves out a distinct niche. It offers a more feral, unpolished garrigue character than the highly refined and heavily produced Guigal, prioritizing tension and wildness over smooth uniformity. However, peers like the Perrin Reserve arguably deliver a more polished tannin structure in hot vintages. In the regional hierarchy, it remains an elite entry-level benchmark, and at its modest price point, the price-to-quality ratio outperforms much of the market. MARKET: Retail prices generally hover between 15 and 20 USD. The wine is entirely non-collectible; its value rests in immediate consumption rather than speculative appreciation. The price trajectory has remained stable, moving up only a dollar or two over the last decade, maintaining its status as a reliable volume allocation. Honest verdict: A solid 15.5-tier value wine that trades profound complexity for immediate, garrigue-scented joy and vital energy at an unbeatable everyday price.
Vineyard Details:
Fruit is sourced entirely from vineyards surrounding the commune of Chateauneuf-de-Gadagne in the Southern Rhone. The sites feature quaternary alluvial deposits dominated by large galets roules (polished riverbed stones) over deep red clay bases, a mirror of the famed terroir found just across the river in Chateauneuf-du-Pape. The vines average 40 years of age and are predominantly gobelet-trained. The rocky topsoil retains daytime heat and radiates it at night, which is crucial for ripening the Grenache and Mourvedre components fully. Viticulture emphasizes organic and sustainable practices (lutte raisonnee) to maintain soil health, ensuring the roots dig deeply enough to survive severe drought years like 2022.
Awards & Accolades
• Featured Value - Independent Wine Review 2023
• Top 100 Best Buys - Wine Enthusiast 2023
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Fun Facts (1)
Sophie
The Syrah dominates this blend at 46%, which is quite cheeky for a wine labeled Côtes du Rhône—traditionally, Grenache was the main event down here, but climate change has made Syrah increasingly viable in the Southern Rhône, shifting what these wines taste like.
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