Just got the news that last week Berkeley Wine importer, merchant and living legend Kermit Lynch was bestowed with the Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, one of the highest awards given by the French government. If you've read his Adventures on the Wine Trail, one of the most inspiring wine books ever written, you'd know that Lynch is a true rock star of wine. But this award puts him in the company of the likes of Duke Ellington, Clint Eastwood and Julia Child.

I've long loved his taste in wine, his great lineup of wines and, most of all, his attitude, which is an insistence on authenticity, balance and quality. Maybe this honor will put Lynch in such a good mood that he'll increase SF's allocation and lower the price of Coche-Dury, the greatest white wine in the world.