Boston‘s Wine revolution

Boston, the capital of the US state of Massachusetts, is home to some of the world’s most famous universities and research institutions. As Scott Saunders reports, this means the locals are happy to try new things, while wine merchants look for innovative new ways to present their wines.

Boston skyline
Boston skyline

Boston, the all-things epicentre of New England, leader in research and development,­ and home to a ­number of world-renowned universities, draws a population­ of highly skilled innovators and ­intellectuals from around the world. From the high-tech corridors of Longwood Medical ­complex and MIT to the ivy-draped brick walls of Harvard, and cobble-stoned, old-world Beacon Hill, to the hip and trendy Back Bay and South End, the city buzzes with a heady culture unlike anything else in the US.

More than 4.5m people call the Boston metro area home, powering a $363bn economy, ­making it one of the most significant economic centres on the globe. And they like their wine.

Massachusetts’ per capita consumption neared 17 litres last year, the third highest in the country, with New England neighbours New Hampshire and Vermont placing first and second, respectively. Nationally, according to Massachusetts’ Beverage Business, the ­Boston metro area ranks fourth in imported table wine consumption, fourth in imported sparkling wine consumption, and third in imported ­vermouth and aperitif consumption. “That’s perfectly ­understandable,” says Bill Nesto MW. ­“Massachusetts has a lot of educational institutions. We’re one step away from being European. It’s understandable that we drink more wine.”

Nesto is a co-founder of Boston University’s Wine Studies programme, which has produced many of the region’s leading wine trade experts and professionals. Though BU’s Wine Studies­ programme provides all the foundational knowledge on terroir and wine history you’d expect from a top-tier university, students are first taught to forget all they know. “Students and sometimes wine enthusiasts come to wine education courses to reaffirm their beliefs about what is good wine and what is bad,” says Nesto. “Ultimately, their preconceptions get in the way of their actual tasting of the wine and the ­development of their own aesthetic of wine. At BU we’re creating a foundation for people to develop their own aesthetic; to not depend on the status quo to tell them what their aesthetic should be.”

What’s in a name?

When chef Tim Maslow’s Ribelle opened in Washington Square last August, sommelier Theresa Paopao launched a by-the-glass wine list of descriptions only. No regions. No varietals. No names. 

“It’s not a trick,” she says, explaining that she had selected an Australian Riesling and a ­California Merlot, and considered how preconceived notions and trends might impact their acceptance. “I knew that it would be a disadvantage to the wine to list it for what it was,” she says. “So instead I listed it with a simple ­description that was informing people what they were going to experience.” She writes a unique description for every wine. Six months in, after having written more than 100, she stopped counting.

An example of a white on the current list reads, “Super-crisp with vibrant acidity and bone-dry lime flavours; it’s way easier to drink than to pronounce.” If she had spelled it out, customers would know it’s a Zierfandler-­Rotgipfler from Weingut Spätrot-Gebeshuber in the Thermenregion of Austria. Which words are more valuable to the customer? Considering­ The Boston Globe named Ribelle “Restaurant of the Year”, and Boston Magazine named Paopao “Best Sommelier”, something is clicking. It wasn’t all smooth sailing at the beginning, though. “Some of the comments were really hurtful,” recalls Paopao. But when a customer’s initial indignant response gives way to unexpected delight because they’ve discovered a wine they never would have considered, or because they’ve gained a fresh opinion of a varietal long-since dismissed, it makes it all worth it. “I find myself with small rewards every night.”

Having served as wine director at David Chang’s momofuku in New York and Toronto, she says there is something special that sets Boston apart. “Boston is a very nurturing and educational place,” says Paopao. “We’re all in this together. I found New York to be competitive in an ‘I know this, what do you know?’ type of way,” she continues. “It was very sales-driven, less educational. I was learning less about the wine and terroir and more about business.”

So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the approach to wine in Boston has an educational twist. “I love all the education and increased ­access to information,” says John Paul Kaminga, wine manager at Blanchards Wines & Spirits in Jamaica Plain. “I feel like my average customer asks more and better questions now than they did even a few years ago, and I get to answer them in ways I don’t expect.”

Progressive practices

The unexpected is what you’ll find at The ­Urban Grape, a bright and lively South End wine shop with an almost Apple Store vibe. Its Progressive Shelving system features an entire wall of backlit bottles that, from the right angle, can appear to float in air. But that’s not what makes it special. “The wines are categorised by the weight of the wine, as opposed to the region or varietal as they are in other wine stores,” says Hadley Douglas, who, along with husband TJ, owns the shop and its award-winning older ­sibling in affluent Chestnut Hill. “We use a one to ten scale as our reference point, with one being most like skim milk, five being most like whole milk, and ten being most like heavy cream.”

TJ Douglas, as energetic and affable a wine shop owner as you’ll find, explains: “This is the map,” as he gestures to the wall of wine, “and this is the legend,” he adds, pointing to the Enoline Elite tasting machine. “We’ll walk our clients through in progressive order, tasting the wines.” He and his staff can identify the texture of the customer’s preferred wine at the tasting “legend”, and then find that wine on the wall, surrounded by a number of other wines that the customer will likely enjoy, regardless of varietal or region. “The hardest part about wine tasting education is the vocabulary,” says TJ Douglas. “Our system allows people to find wines that ­appeal to their palate, and then they can explore within their comfort zone.” Hadley Douglas adds, “The response has been tremendous.”

The comfort zone doesn’t appear to have any restrictions within Boston at the moment. “The Boston wine market is sophisticated, fun and ­energetic,” comments Hadley Douglas. “Our customers love the more traditional varietals, but they are also willing to try the unfamiliar.”

Nesto credits younger drinkers, who are ­approaching wine with a fresh perspective. “Young consumers are drinking a lot of ­Prosecco, a lot of Moscato, and Riesling,” he says. “They are thankfully unaware of some of the images previously associated with wine.”

Widespread distribution 

Martignetti Companies is the undisputed ­giant of alcohol distribution in the state. In ­addition to serving the on- and off-trade, their own 16,000-sq-ft flagship retail space in the Brighton neighbourhood offers more than 3,500 wines. Other major local distributors ­include Horizon Beverage, M.S. Walker, and Ruby Wines. But it’s not just a game for the big boys.

“There has been a flurry of independent ­distributors over the last 10 to 15 years,” says John Raeder, general manager and wine director at Wine Gallery in Brookline Village. Virtually any producer willing to establish a presence or create a connection has access to the market, and it helps buyers like Raeder and Kaminga find the offbeat wines that interest them — but it can also cause confusion. “I’ve had people ask for some very specific things that haven’t been on my shelf,” says Raeder. “I’ll spend hours on the phone with the independents trying to track it down. There are so many of them.”

Hadley Douglas shares the sentiment. “We work with large, medium, small and independent distributors and importers,” she says. “It’s terrible for time management, but wonderful for our inventory.”

The import market is strong, and the consensus is that if it’s out there it can be acquired, one way or another. “We’re in a pretty good position,” says Nesto. “We have a more international mix in our wine shops and restaurants.” 

Regulatory overhaul 

Paradoxically, for all its progressiveness, this city of innovation can sometimes be hamstrung by outdated regulations, and this is often ­accepted as simply just the way things are. You will often hear the rhetorical, “What are you going to do?” Well, when it comes to alcohol laws that have barely been touched since the repeal of prohibition, there may finally be some real answers.

Efforts are underway to allow direct-to-consumer shipping from out-of-state domestic wineries, and from Massachusetts wineries to out-of-state consumers. Massachusetts is one of only nine states to prohibit this, but the measure is now included in the budget proposal and on the desk of the Conference Committee, and if it escapes their editing pens it will be routed for signature into law by Governor Deval Patrick, who has already voiced support.

Free the Grapes!, a national grassroots coalition supporting direct shipment, has been heavily involved. Staving off fears that this will threaten wholesalers and retailers, executive director Jeremy Benson claims it will actually augment the current system: “The effort has not been to circumnavigate the three-tier system,” he says. “There’s a viable channel that is being developed by consumers and tourism that the wineries want to respond to, but most states didn’t have the regulatory structure in place.”

Their solution was the Model Direct Shipping Bill, an easily adoptable set of regulations that satisfies all parties. It’s worked. Forty one states now allow direct shipping, up from 17 when Free the Grapes! began their efforts. “The regulators find out the sky didn’t fall, the wholesalers didn’t lose out, and the retailers didn’t lose any business because these aren’t wines they were ­selling anyway,” explains Benson. “The consumers are happy and the state is making some extra tax money.”

Plenty of wine shop owners agree. “There is a misconception that wine store owners are figh­ting this measure,” says Hadley Douglas. “We are not. There will always be a place for local wine stores that hand-sell interesting, small-production, hard-to-find wines.”

On another front, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development is out to transfer control of on-premise liquor licensing­ from the state level to local ­communities.

“The real point of this proposal,” says Eric Nakajima, assistant secretary for Innovation Policy, is for it to be “the decision of the local community rather than something that’s done through a cumbersome process in the legislature, as it is now.”

Many current liquor-license holders have paid significant sums to acquire their licenses. “It’s a distorted marketplace,” says Nakajima. Liquor licenses are expensive because they are hard to get, he explains. By granting local control, communities have immediate impact on their own revitalization and development projects. Is it a coincidence that all these measures are bubbling up at once? “It’s absolutely not a coincidence,” answers Nakajima. “It’s where the market is lea­ding us, where community interest is leading us.”

The wine community is leading through ­innovative sales techniques, along with creative presentations and fresh academic approaches.­ But it shouldn’t really be a surprise in this environment. After all, as Nesto says, “Education should always be revolutionary.” 

It appears the revolution is already underway.

 

 

Latest Articles