The 2002 Boston Wine Expo
This was the pre-party for Super Bowl XXXVI, plain and simple. As excited as I was about planning my weekend around the Expo it was really just a stop before the big game. Boston was fired up that February 3rd and the electricity was in the air inside and out. The skies where clear and there was no sign of snow or freezing rain in the forecast that might hamper our efforts to get home in front of the big screen T.V. before kickoff. The Wine Expo from 1:00 to 5:00, and Super Bowl from 6:30 to 10:30. It couldn’t have been planned any better than that.
There was no shortage of winery reps and distributors wearing Patriot jerseys, and impromptu raucous chants of “Pats”, “Pats”, “Pats”, did take place at a few tasting tables here and there. The scene was pretty cool, and I’m sure that plenty of wine geeks there were concerned that all this football hoopla was making this into more of a party than a professional tasting. Well when you start pouring 1800 different wines to thousands of people, things just happen. I like seeing people just enjoying wine. Tasting notes or not, spitting or not. Wine tastings should always be this much fun.
The set-up for the pouring tables that covered the exhibition hall floor of the World Trade Center were spaced out nicely, and the aisles were nice and wide at most points to accommodate good crowds around most of the tables. Plenty of spit buckets were in place to either pour or spit into, and water jugs were being replaced fast enough to wash out that tasting glass a hundred times or more. The 450 wineries represented were sectioned into regional groups and there were rows of wine accessory vendors representing glassware companies, magazines, cheese makers and more. An all around wine extravaganza, with a diverse crowd and lots of wine “know-how” floating around.
I made the trip into the Expo with one of guys, Anthony Giza, and we had all of our gear ready when we arrived. Pads of paper for note taking, pens and pencils, back up pads of paper, cameras, and business cards. Well that lasted about 20 minutes and then all went to hell in a hand-basket real quick. It was just too much fun and wine for us to keep up the notes. Pens got lost, pads of paper got dropped and winery reps kept pouring until we couldn’t rinse out our glasses fast enough. We really wanted to get some good tasting notes but some times shit happens.
We did keep track of some of our favorites from the plethora of wines being poured and while my partner hung out at the one Sake table I was able to enjoy and get into some seriously nice wines. These are some I really liked and need to find a bottle of to spend some time with and get some tasting notes on. This is a list of some of the wines that will be getting a second look at from the Expo.
1999 King Estate Reserve Pinot Gris
2000 Bonterra Viognier
2000 Domaine Moulin-Tocussel Chateauneuf-du-Pape
2000 Sanford Pinot Noir
1999 Spice Route Swartland Flagship Syrah
1998 Pepi Two Heart Canopy Sangiovese
2000 Jacobs Creek Reserve Chardonnay
2000 Acacia Pinot Noir
2000 Cousino-Macul Chardonnay
2000 Limb Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
1999 Bonny Doon Le Cigare Volant
1999 Ahlgren Livermore Valley Zinfandel
2000 Andrew’s Hope Coastal Region Pinotage
These wines were good enough to get etched into my memory banks and will get some tasting notes up into the wine review section soon. My partner and I knew that we where failing on our tasting notes mission so we did the only thing we knew we could do, commandeer somebody else’s. We found a young lady with a full notebook of tasting notes and decided that she was the one to get us some quality info for this article.
She looked as if she was seriously into her note taking when my partner and me bumped into her to get her attention. She didn’t seem to mind us invading her personal space so we grabbed her notes and ran like hell. When Molly caught us and demanded them back, we gave into her nice smile, but asked her for 3 of her favorites from the Expo so far, and this is what we got,
- 1996 Bodegas Senior de Nava, Crianza, D.O. Ribera del Duero-“Rich and smooth with lots of black cherry flavors.”
- 1999 Bodegas Estancia Piedra, Toro Seleccion, D.O. Toro-“Surprising balance between huge tannins and ripe fruit.”
- 1999 Bodega Europvin-Falset, Laurona, D.O. Tarragona-“Complex aromas and flavors of plum, licorice, nuts, and some chocolate.”
We noticed that she was concentrating solely on wines from Spain, and yes, we wanted to know why. We found out that she works at a restaurant in Boston named Tapeo, which specializes in Spanish cuisine and offers a nice wine list with about 50 Spanish wines on it. Thanks for your help Molly.
Things started slowing down around 4:30, and most of the pourers were packing things up quickly. After 2 days of tipping bottles and dealing with crowds they seemed ready to get out of Dodge. Getting out of the city was a breeze, since the game was just starting, and the streets were completely clear. The $65-$70 ticket price is well worth it and the blue teeth for the night are just a sign that you had a good time. See ya there next year.
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