The best guest and it seems the best wines. Kermit and Gary brought the thunder. 3 episodes unbelievable ,yet full of information and great dialogue. I learned from the experience and knowledge that he brought to the table. Isn't this what is is all about.

QOTD; I don't usually drink french wines but the prices I see are usually over my comfort
zone except for the cheap ones that have let me down too many times in the past.

theDude is pleased.

Great Show. Hope we see more Kermit in the future

QOTD: I don't necessarily think of French wine as overpriced. Then again I am not really a Bordeaux drinker. Although I do love white burgundy. In my opinion the biggest issue with french wine from when i first started drinking it was understanding the whole Terroir and regionalization of the wine industry there. American wine is easy for beginners. Pick a variety and find a price you like. Maybe its good, maybe it isn't. But at least you'll know the grape. French wine if you don't know the region or its style you have no idea what your buying without some wine education. That being said I don't think the majority of American consumers really educate themselves about the wine they are buying. As such they aren't going to spend 40 or 50 a bottle if they don't get it. $50 dollars is a lot of money to spend on a bottle of wine if you don't know what your purchasing. Its easier to just say its too expensive.

Bordeaux Rules who cares the price.

These 3 Episodes with Kermit were EXTREEEEMELY ENTERTAINING!!!! I could listen
to Kermit for Hoooooouuuuuuurrrrrs!!!! 25 Bones is a pretty good deal on that Pallieres,
just got somma that in a Wine Shop in San Diego for 29 Bones & i thought i was doin'
Good. Another Shop down the street had it for 32 Bones……. At 25 Bones, Vayniaks
STOCK UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Even theDude is HAAAAAAAAAAAPPPYYYYYYY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :O)

What can I say that hasn't already been said… kudos for scoring such a guest and kudos, seriously Gary, for a great interview. Just having Kermit was huge but the stories and comments you teased out were really what made the show!

Funny you should ask… I just started looking into Burgundy prices given the $40 price tag on most California Pinot. I've long felt that you can get decent deals for Southern French wines but have felt that Bordeaux and Burgundy are not value plays. Now I want to test that hypothesis. I'll have to get back to you though…

This was one of the best shows EVER in my opinion. Thank you sooooooooo much, Kermit & Gary!
QOTD: I think that if French wine has a reputation as being expensive, it is not something that the average european consumer worries about AT ALL. For people that don't spend 100 dollars on a bottle of wine, value for money is always the way to go, and I suppose this has a lot to do with how costly it is to bring the wine to where it is sold. My impression is that at a the 15-30 dollar level French and Italian wines offer SO much more than, let's say, the US or South Africa.

fantastic show. abosolutely monumental. so much to be had from this episode. thanks gary and kermit.

one reason might be that the 8-20$ bottles that are good are mostly south america, spain, australia and stuff. to get a good french wine, most of the time, you have to go higher, therefore they're seen all the time as expensive. their lowest good bottle is maybe 20$. whereas a malbec can be 8$. so french is always seen as expensive. huge generalization. and just guessing, really.

Astonishingly few comments on an epic episode.
How's the number of actual individual commentators? Are the numbers going down compared with last year or 2008?.

Will the three parts be on the right side? and like the Heidi show made in to one?

Awesome show man. I don't have an answer for the QOTD. French wines were the first I turned to once I got the wine bug. You get some good wines for $12-$30 and I don't think it's any different for wines from the US or other regions. Kermit Lynch was amazing. One for the ages.

by far! It must have really been good, although it seems both their pallets live in the same house.

Wow, that was a treat! Both my copies of Travels on the Wine Route and Inspiring Thirst are heavily abused books (I think I've read Travels, like, 15 times. Always get a kick out of a blank white frame for a vintage chart)
He definitely inspired me to open my own shop, although mine is still so small I have to go outside just to change my mind.
With trophy hunting aside, I think Americans have really started to find that French value wine.
The one the I do notice is the demographic difference of those who embrace it and those who don't.
My value priced French buyers now are compromised of younger (25-35) buyers who started out seeking that Spanish wine 5-10 years ago and my older (60+) who have had personal experiences with travels to Europe.
My tough nut to crack are the ones who buy the 15-20 dollar range and enjoy a good fruit/oak wine. Just such a palate difference.
Unfortunately, to many producers in traditional regions are starting to pander to this style.

This is hilarious (even if it is a deeply serious topic): Sweden boycotts French wine for nuclear testing, and ten years later some Americans boycott them for refusing to go to war in Iraq. It seems like someone will be boycotting the French no matter what they do.

Wau! Great guest! Great show! He has something to tell! I own quite some wine books, but “Along the wine route” is the only one I read more than 5 times, front to back! I guess this is record for Swiss readers! Motivated by this book, I travelled the wine country in France, and others, and enjoyed talking with wine maker over their wines.

To answer Kermit's question, it's nothing but reputation (earned or not!!!) I live in France and everything is about image. In fact, even the United States has an image here. Some of it is truly deserved, some not so much. Either way, price is governed largely by what people are willing to pay and that in turn is governed by the image they have of the product.

Just my 2 cents…

Good show Mr V!

First, this is one of our all time favourite multi-part episodes. Kermit Lynch was a great guest, great wine talk and great vibe. Well done! His 'why not a 100 points question” was probing one?

Second, in Quebec the sale of all alcohol products is run and controlled directly by the provincial government and sold only through their outlets (SAQ). Because Quebec is a French speaking province the connections to France and to French wines is VERY strong. Therefore, there is a strong representation of French wines on the shelves at a wide range of price points. We have no shortage of French wines. We do not consider French wines to be expensive… but we do have some good and slightly less expensive new world wines. Interestingly, we tend to be supplied some American wine but at a higher price point… so we tend to consider American wines as more expensive than French wines.

Third, we tend to buy by price range. Ours tends to be the $15.00 to $30.00 range with only a few excursions above this if we want to taste an unfamiliar varietal that we heard of from Gary or our local news paper wine columnist.

Fourth, next time I'm in the mid-Atlantic seaboard region I'm going to swing by Wine Library again to consult with K-Murphy and pickup a bottle of that last wine you were tasting (2007 Pallieres Gigondas Racines). We are dying to compare palates on this one.

Bill & Wendy Wilcox

PS
Belatedly, it was great to see and greet you again in Montreal for your book launch. Hope to have the chance to say hi next time I'm at the WL store.
B&W

Well this certainly was Suspense-Week here on WLTV! We've just witnessed a great 3 Parter! Hitchcock couldn't have done it better..

Good on ya Mr. Vay-ner-chuk

Thnx for bringing back the old world perspective.!.!.!.!.!.!.!.! ; )

Absolutely epic episode. And I can't believe GV made it through all 3 parts without mentioning the awesomeness of the name “Kermit”.

QOTD: I think the reputation comes from a number of things. First of all, French wine also has the reputation of being the best, so people are automatically primed to expect it to be expensive. Second, even though there are lots of values in France, the most expensive wine in the world is still French (with some exceptions, I'm sure). The Euro-Dollar exchange rate doesn't help. And the highly enigmatic AOC system is very intimidating, I think, to novice wine drinkers. All this, combined with the fact that reputations in general last a lot longer than they're worth… and there you have it.

The dude abides.

Just bought his book, can't wait to read it. Best shows ever!

Ya, out there fighting nihilist a**holes so everyone can sleep safe at night!

No kidding?? I need to get on their list! Thanks, Waynoooo!!!!

Super show — 3 benchmark episodes. Great fun!

QOTD: Why are French wines perceived to be expensive? Availability of moderately priced French wines is the #1 factor. I can readily find reasonably priced quality wines from California, Washington, Oregon, Australia, New Zealand, Chile, and Argentina. Sometimes I get lucky with wines from the continent, but not often.

I use publications like the Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate to create lists of wines to try. How often do local merchants have those wines? For wines on the continent, it's something less than 10% of the time. The other group from which I do buy a lot can be found 20-30% of the time.

The French wines that can be found typically ARE expensive, and this creates a downward interest-level spiral. Higher prices on what's available lowers demand as does low availability of moderately priced quality French wine. That means the ones that make it here languish on the shelves because people don't know them and have found other wines they like instead.

So, if they were available and at competitive prices, I'd buy them. Meanwhile, my only option is to continue to experiment with online purchases, but having no reasonable local retail access is a huge disincentive. As a result, France remains under 1% of my cellar.

Gary,
One of your best shows ever. I have been a huge fan of Kermit Lynch for years so it was very nice to hear his observations. I believe he has one of the best palates for French wine out there. It is sad that French wine still has the stigma of being mysterious and out of reach for the average wine consumer. I believe it is this stigma that makes people think it is over-priced. So many folks will spend a boatload of money on a Napa cab without even thinking about it but will shy away from a Gigondas for thirty bucks. They are afraid of it, do not have the confidence in it, are not sure what they are getting and do not want to take the time to educate themselves and their palate. This is what you preach from the rooftops and I believe you have gotten many to give different wines a try. Kermit is so focused on french wines and knows them like the back of his hand that it is probably hard for him to understand the consumers reticence when it comes to a french wine purchase. Once the consumer has the confidence and knows what they are purchasing, all that goes away and they realize what a great value french wines are… with the exception of wines like DRC of course. That is a whole new subject. Thanks for having Kermit on your show. Cheers!