I get a lot of questions about what and where to buy wines. I send them to Kermit Lynch Wine Merchant in Berkeley for stellar choices and great values, as well as wines for special occasions.

Kermit Lynch, whose fifty-year-old Berkeley wine shop is well worth a visit, brought to the attention of American wine drinkers delicious French and Italian wines, both familiar and unusual. For example, before Kermit brought imported the wines of Bandol, in Provençe they were mostly unknown in this country. Domaine Tempier’s wines are in high demand nowadays, thanks to Kermit and his determined pursuit of high-quality, hand-made wines. Their rosé is definitive.

I drink mostly KLWM wines and have for many years, not only because of my long-time connection to Kermit, but because it’s hard to reliably find delicious wines at reasonable prices; often, wine shopping is little more than a gamble. I seldom drink expensive wines, and only if someone else is buying. The shop has so many terrific values, and the staff is deeply knowledgeable of their inventory, and never condescending.

For online shopping, KLWM’s website is exceptionally well done and easy to navigate; it’s full of interesting, meticulously detailed information about their wines, estates, and producers. Kermit has a personal relationship with every producer whose wine he sells. His engaging, informative, fun-to-read monthly newsletter features stories about wines and vintners, and sometimes food. The wine notes and essays are entertaining and well-written wine, and contain detailed technical pages for the geeks. One can search the categories to focus on your special taste by country of origin, wine type, price range, by vintage, by producer. I don’t spend much time shopping beyond the wines I can afford to regularly purchase and enjoy–wines under $30–though my curiosity leads me to browse further. The shop also sells exceptional wines in higher-priced categories for more festive occasions–Burgundies, Chablis, Champagne, Barolo, many large format bottles–so shopping at KLWM isn’t about finding a bargain, nor are his wines beyond your price range. You can also choose to subscribe to one of their wine clubs, for which I wrote nearly hundreds of recipes over the past 25 years.

Trinch!