As part of plans to visit England and France, I had arranged with Emery
Davis to stop over at his place in Normandy on my last full day in
France. The plan involved traveling by train from Lyon to Paris, thence
on to Normanday, but the plans came crashing down upon me when a taxi
stuck in traffic caused me to miss my train in Lyon by one minute,
leading to a cataclysmic cascade of bad events. Nonetheless, even a bad
day can be salvaged with a little bit of luck and a lot of will (and
cash). In this case, that amounted to a good meal and decent wine right
around the corner from my oh-so-unprepossesing hotel at the Brasserie
Terminus du Nord. With the "L'Ardoise du Jour" of 1) a salad of smoked
salmon, chevre and spinach; 2) grilled dorade on a risotto in saffron
sauce; and 3) tartlette of pears in an almond crust I had a half bottle of:

2005 Veronique Chereau-Gunther "Grand Fief de la Cormeraie" Muscadet
Sevre et Maine Sur Lie

Despite my trepidation at trying Muscadet from producers who aren't
named Ollivier, Luneau-Papin or Landron. It wasn't too communicative in
the nose, showing a little characteristic minerality and some citrusy
hints, but on the palate it proved to be quite fruity, with an off-dry
feel and lime and just enough acidity to keep it from being flabby. Not
a profound Muscadet by any stretch, but a very decent wine with my
dinner and a much better end to the day than what came before it.

To put this whole misadventure into perspective, this is the second time
that traffic issues have cost me a get-together with long-suffering
Emery and his clan. When I finally got ahold of him by phone to
apologize, he proceeded to recount for me the ten (10!) wines that he
had set aside for my 5 hour visit. Hearing the description was enough
to exact even more contrition from my exhausted, parched body than had
already occurred. Suffice it to say that I pledged then (and now) to
make him a destination on our next trip to France.

Mark Lipton

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