I did not know Dan Ginsburg, one of the two directors at Champagne De Meric, who passed away this August. As a wine drinker, Champagne enthusiast, and employee of a retailer which imports De Meric directly, however, I am familiar with his accomplishments in the world of Champagne. An American partner in the Aÿ based champagne house De Meric, Ginsburg was one of the very few foreigners on the production/supply side of the Champagne business. De Meric's neighbors include the illustrious and storied houses of Aÿ: Bollinger, Deutz, Gosset.
The region of Champagne is not typically a place for outsiders. Land is scarce and expensive, and often handed down generation to generation, vineyard holdings very slowly increased by the hectare or less. De Meric does not grow most of their own grapes; rather, they buy fruit from quality growers in Aÿ, Mareuil sur-Aÿ, Mutigny, Cramant, Avize and Oger. They ferment partially in older wood, including some very large, 4,000 liter oval oak foudres.
Away from their grape sourcing and partial implementation of traditional vinification, or perhaps better put as a result of it, the wines are delicious. Broad, soft and textural, but with plenty of vivacity, the Grand Reserve Sous Bois, currently based on the 2004 vintage complemented by reserve wines, is a delicious drink and a good example of the style, perhaps with a bit more brightness than usual given the 2004 vintage base material. For an example of De Meric champagnes at the high end, see the 2002 Cuvee Renée, produced from 100% biodynamically grown Pinot Meunier farmed by famed grower/producer Francois Bedel.
Dan Ginsburg was clearly a man of varied passions. A simple web search leads to his involvement in the SABR (Society for American Baseball Research), which he joined as a founding member at the age of 15. He also was a published author, having written The Fix is In on the history of gambling in baseball and The Art and Business of Champagne. Mr. Ginsburg held a residence in Washington, DC. I would not rule out the possibility that on at least one occasion he may have dined in the same restaurant as me as I was checking in on accounts during my three years working for a wine wholesaler.
On Christmas, I enjoyed a magnum of the De Meric Grande Reserve Sous Bois with my girlfriend and her family. New Year's Eve, I plan on doing the same with Natalie and some of our friends. I would be hard pressed to think of a more fitting, or more enjoyable, way to pay tribute to such a passionate advocate of small production Champagne.
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WINE AND CHEESE
“The forthright and at the same time subtle flavour of cheese stimulates the taste buds and readies them for wine. Wine in turn permits cheese to attain unimaginable heights of flavour. These two fruits of the earth were made for one another.” Pierre Androuet.
A great wine deserves to be accompanied by a well matured cheese; a badly made wine needs it.
Several years ago I had the good fortune to become a resident of France, a country that is an undisputed champion of cheese. I knew nothing about French cheese except for the fact there seem to be more cheeses that one could count and all delicious. It was about this time the internet began creeping into our lives. The mouse on the cheese seemed the perfect idea. My French partner and I created www.fromages.com. We were determined to share France’s Aladdin’s cave of cheeses with the world. Today with a click of the mouse our cheeses are delivered to your door step in twenty four hours, slightly longer for the Far East.
On my journey into this fascinating world I picked up a few cheese books all beautifully presented with glorious coloured photographs and technical descriptions of the particular cheese under review. In fairness many endeavoured to inform the reader of the cheeses taste, place of birth and occasionally a little anecdote, but none to my mind gave the reader the romantic and bucolic nature of these gourmet delights. It was G K Chesterton that guided me to finding a different approach: “The poets have been mysteriously silent on the subject of cheese.”
I am still very much a novice on the subject of French cheeses but clearly their place in French history deserves an attempt at describing them in poetic terms. With great humility I picked up Chesterton’s glove and selected 30 of the best loved, crafted two odes to cheese and three allegorical stories. I completed a book entitled Tasting to Eternity with a few recipes, wine pairings and technical information about the cheeses. It was a stimulating task and most satisfying. People tell me the book has a definite mouth watering quality and one gets a real sense of the cheeses’ taste.
David Nutt
www.tastingtoeternity.com
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