Ceres Street Wine Merchants in Portsmouth closes its doors
New Hampshire's oldest and largest private wine shoppe boasting the motto "Because life's too short to drink cheap wine" has officially closed its doors as of December 31, 2015.
Since 1992, Ceres Street Wine Merchants has featured wines from around the world, stored in a proper cellar (even equipped with special non-UV lighting), all curated with the personal touch of David "Dave The Wine Guy" Campbell. Having once lived in the Bordeaux region and later in the Loire, Dave has been around the grape most of his life. Ceres Street Wine Merchants was his way of sharing with Portsmouth's locals and visitors a handpicked batch of wines he thought to be of special interest and leave the mass market to others.
In November 2010, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Dave for my "Nine Wine Questions"
series. I remember being blown away by his unique combination of warmth and humor - a true rarity in the often "stuffy" wine world. During our time together, the told about his time in the military and how he got into wine, and he shared stories about his travels and adventures in wine, parading me around his shoppe to show me pictures and newspaper clippings. While I can't remember all the details Dave shared, I do remember feeling a great connection with him and feeling thankful for having gotten to spend time with him. Before I left, he let me snap a picture of him for my article and gave me a Ceres Street Wine Merchants t-shirt.
In a Facebook post on December 9, 2015, Dave wrote, "After 24 years of bringing sex and romance, through wine, to the Seacoast, I now want to deplete my own cellar while I can!" Good for you, Dave!
Today, I raise my glass to you and whatever future adventures are in store for Dave The Wine Guy.
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Jen Scumaci, CEO and Cause Entrepreneur for viaONEHOPE, has lived in the New Hampshire Seacoast area for over a decade. Jen's passion for wine began in 2002 when she went to her first wine tasting and it blew her mind. Since then, she has been on a professional journey that has included sales and marketing with The Traveling Vineyard, facilitating wine tasting events, writing as The Portsmouth Wine Examiner, and working on Borghese Vineyard and Winery (Long Island's first vineyard located on the North Fork) as the wine club and marketing coordinator. When she's not doing wine things, Jen keeps her tank full with coffee and craft beer, works in Portsmouth as a full-time project manager, is a mobile DJ, and loves hanging out with her fiancée and their two crazy pugs.
Original article posted at Portsmouth Wine Examiner.
