Boston Wine Expo 2013 – Thank You & Highlights

The 2013 Boston Wine Expo has come and gone. Overall I thought it was another well executed and well attended event. There were many wines, lots of foods to sample, an array of lifestyle vendors and all together I saw lots of smiling faces.

Thank You!

A number of thank you’s are owed. The organizers of the Boston Wine Expo took great care of a group of bloggers who were on hand sharing their experiences and creating buzz for others who might be watching the social networks for updates about the expo. My two-day admission to the Grand Tasting was comped, I was provided with tickets to give away to readers (Congrats to Kurt, Liz and Wayne!) as well as a discount code to share with blog visitors who might be interested in attending.

( Bloggers and wine reps tasting & learning at the Boston Wine Expo. )

During the event there was a "Blogger Lounge" overlooking the expo floor where coffee and water was available, and several times each day vendors were invited to pour wines and engage with us on the labels they represent in a more personal setting. Volunteers working in the lounge were able to answer questions on where seminars were located and what other facilities were available at the show. Nicely done!

Thank you's go out to

Resource Plus (Sharon, Janet and others)

Boston Guild of Oenophilists

Seaport World Trade Center & Seaport Hotel staff

All the vendors, sponsors, supporters

Boston Express (for getting me there and back safely both days)

Attending the Expo both days I had the pleasure of cruising the show floor looking for interesting wines with several groups of friends. It was great to meet Liz (@travelwinechick) in person. I had a great time with Richard (@RichardPF), Kurt, Christi, Todd (@vtwinemedia), Wayne and Meredith. Marie (@mariepayton) and I missed each other on Sunday afternoon, but it turned in to a cute joke about whether I was really there! Chatting with Terry (@drinkinsider) and Ray (@frenchoaktv) about beverages was fun as always! It was also nice to see Elizabeth and Matthew, at the Finger Lakes tables no less, fellow NH food and wine explorers who I've run into a couple time at events. I didn’t cover as much ground as I originally planned (I'm always optimistic!) and some of the highlights I’ll share next were worthy of a return visit on the second day so I could share them with friends who hadn’t tasted them yet.

One suggestion I have for the event organizers is that it would be eminently more helpful to attendees who might want to “plan ahead” to have the vendor list and floor map electronically (a PDF would be fine, but smart-phone-app it if you think that will help) for review ahead of the event. Would delivering the label and vendor information via a smart phone app be better here? Actually I don’t think so, and not just for this information specifically. Something more social in nature (like the Second Glass Wine Riot App) might indeed be successful with the right features and promotion.

The Social Media café in the middle of the expo floor had tweets from the event scrolling and the folks from Drync were promoting their direct shipping app active for the wines from the event in this same location. I don’t have an iPhone so I didn’t get involved in the Drync smartphone app activity.

( Social Media Lounge )

The first-thing-in-the-morning trade sessions are always the best opportunity to learn more about the wines, where they are from and how they are made, something I use to take the “pulse” of the industry. There just aren't as many people to fight through. I heard a number of reps talk about freshness, concentration of flavors but not necessarily color in red wines, and more restrained use of new oak. The recent vintages are primarily 2009 and 2010 with many reps suggesting that these years either are already or are beginning to taste well. Plenty of 2007 and 2008 wines were also poured, and I’d have to cross reference my notes before I could say which of the two groups was legitimately tasting better.

One aspect of the event that I had some conversations about on Saturday but really witnessed first-hand visually on Sunday was the change in balance between wine & food/lifestyle vendors and non-wine floor space. There appeared to be fewer tables pouring wines. On the flip side the event didn’t seem any less well attended, and I heard great things about the food, so until more feedback comes my way can't say whether this was a good or bad change.

During the afternoon sessions, when the crowd at each table was generally much larger, I took more opportunities to talk with fellow expo attendees. I love the diversity of the attendees to events like this. I talked with two women about their “wine" club (started as "book") and the challenge of consistently finding values that are both new and interesting. I sent them over to check out the Spanish and Portuguese wines where I knew they will find wines that fit the need. The three of us also talked about sensory exercises that groups of wine enthusiasts could use to sharpen their tasting skills which they can then turn around and use to explore and better develop a sense of what they like. I was excited to have a wine culture conversation with them, because in the end the Boston Wine Expo wouldn’t really be successful if it didn’t increase the desire of casual and enthusiastic drinkers  to explore more of the world of wine. I really hope these two ladies do in fact check out my blog and email me their wine questions. I’d love to share what I know to help pick the next destination in the journey.

Hey Jason, how about the wines?

Highlights from the Boston Wine Expo 2013

(in no particular order)

Berlucchi Franciacorta Sparkling Wines

Sparkling wine is a constant curiosity for me now. I think it is the texture. There is so much range and I am always looking for new and interesting textures to try. The elegance of the Berlucchi Franciacorta sparkling wines was joyful to experience. Both were crisp and clean with fine, prickly bubbles. The rosé style was just a hint sweet, pale pink in color and tasted of crushed, dried flowers.

Chateauneuf-du-Pape & Rhones

I didn't spend enough time at the Chateauneuf-du-Pape & Rhones tables because I didn't find anything that really grabbed me. The most recent vintage of both seemed leaner and more austere to me than the profile in minds-eye.

The Finger Lakes Region

The Finger Lakes region had a great presence at the Boston Wine Expo again. As a disciple of the products AND the region I have tried enough of the wines and visited some of the region to know that there is little chance one would be disappointed to visit and taste. Get out the word!

With a combination of wineries, wine trail groups and the local winery associations the Finger Lakes region had 10 tables in total! I tasted some of the Riesling at Wagner Vineyards, the Gruner at Dr. Frank's, Seyval from Hunt Country, the Ravines 2011 Dry Riesling and Game Bird Red from Heron Hill, which I found particularly interesting. I heard great things from others about many of the same wines as well as both the Cabernet France and Meritage blend from Wagner. 

I had a chance to talk with Katie Roller and Stephen Lee from Wagner about their Expo experiences. They both agreed that there had been lots of consumer interest in the wines and they were answering lots of questions. I brought several groups of friends by to check out what the region is doing. It made me realize I need to plan another warm-weather trip to the area!

Finger Lakes Wine Country

Finger Lakes Wine Alliance

( Lots of activity around the Finger Lakes tables! )

Garrafeira Vinho Tinto Alentejo 2002

Of all the red wines I tasted at the Expo Grand Tasting this wine was the most interesting. It has a spiciness to it that is so complex. I easily detected black pepper and brown spices, but there was so much more that was elusive. I am still somewhat unfamiliar with Portuguese wines so I can only rely on feedback from friends that suggests that this spicy attribute is something I can explore more with wines from different parts of the country. Exciting!

Moonlight Meadery

Nobody is going to be surprised that I mention Moonlight after a tasting event. Rock solid as always. Fran was working the table when I visited with friends and he nailed some rather specific fermentation questions (asked by a friend) with confidence, which of course made me smile. I got to taste some Utopian, which is always a pleasure. The current batch is tasting drier to me than I recall. I might have to invest in some to do further periodic tasting!

( Experienced Romance by the Glass with Moonlight Meadery. )

Codorníu Raventos Sparkling Wines

You got it, more sparkling wine! 

I tasted the Anna Codorníu Rosé in the Blogger Lounge on Sunday and tasted the Brut at the Codorníu Raventos table a bit later that day. Both are crisp and focused, and the rosé being as dry as it is it finishes with a blast of tart red fruits.

Corte Di Dionoso Amarone

This wasn't the best Amarone I tasted all weekend, but it was a very delicious start. I didn't write the vintage down but I believe it was a 2007. Richly fruity but with a surprising angularity and dryness to it. The typical stylistic sweetness was not in the proportion I expected for a young wine. Still being a medium plus bodied wine it finishes with an restrained sweetness that almost tastes like it was made in the lean vintage.

Stay tuned for a post on the Soave & Amarone seminar I went to on Sunday of the Expo.

Neige Sparkling & Neige Cidre de glace

Beverages made from apples and I are great friends. Sparkling ciders made with heirloom, vintage and traditional cider apples can be all as elegant as Champagne, but bring their own unique aromas and flavors thanks to the apple. I love them.

The Neige Sparkling Apple Wine has a balanced apple profile with flavors of both tart cider apple as well as those I more associate with dessert apples. It is plenty carbonated and served cold would be a fine stand in for something sparkling made from grapes. The cidre de glace (ice cider) is viscous liquid apple sugar. Definitely a very fine taste and an example where hard work and a concentration of resources can create something highly sought after!

Son Prim Petit Celler CUP

This wine is from the new-to-me region of Mallorca, which is the largest of the Balearic Islands off the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Made from a blend of Mantonegro, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot this wine presents a good balance of fruit and earth with an interesting savory element to the finish. This was the boldest and most characterful wine of the offerings from Son Prim in my opinion.

Roberto Ceraudo Rosé

Both of these rosé wines are made with the Gaglioppo grape in Calabria, Italy. The silver label is aged in old barriques and the copper label is not. Both wines were very straightforward and smooth with the expected hints of lees and oxidation/oxygenation from the barrel aging in the silver label version. The ability to taste the same wine made in two ways was an exciting opportunity. In research the wines, they are not yet distributed in the US, found the following article from The Wine Traveller on the wines and their producer.

La Guardiense Guardiolo

I don't have a lot of experience with the grape Aglianico, but I do know that when used to make a decent wine the grape adds a layer of wildness to the mix that excites me. This wine also includes some Sangiovese, a combination used in many areas where both grapes are grown in Italy. The wine is flavorful but not demanding, dry with a nice thread of acidity that builds through the finish. A very food friendly wine and also one that could take a chill and bring refreshment on a hot day. And all for likely between $11-13!

Those are only some of the highlights from the weekend. I estimate I tasted about 100-120 wines over the course of two days, and while my perceptions were mixed, there were plenty of wines that would be worth another taste in a different setting.

Next up will be separate posts on the two seminars I attended during the expo. One was on Bourbon and the other included both Soave and Amarone!

Cheers!

Jason

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The World of Wine Comes to Boston

In just about one month the Boston Wine Expo, now in its 22nd year, will be held at the Seaport World Trade Center in Boston. The world of wine is vast and the Boston Wine Expo is a great opportunity to sample an exciting cross section of what that world has to offer. Combining commercial wines from all over the world with some of the big names wine aficionados follow and a dose of locally produced wines as well as spirits and food, there truly is something for everyone.

In the past I have quipped that it is possible to travel the world one bottle of wine at a time, and attending festivals and events like the Boston Wine Expo is one of the ways to be exposed to wines and regions that are new to you and that you might not easily find otherwise. These types of events can be busy so getting more than a couple seconds to ask a question or learn more might be hard. You should however be able to get a taste and spend as much time with it as you need, letting it tell you the story and take you to where it is from. One recommendation I make with regards to large format festivals like the Boston Wine Expo is to list out some places/wines you would like to explore in advance and then consult the festival guide when you first arrive to develop a plan for part of your time there. An early peek at some of the wineries and wines that will be available at the expo can be found at the Expo Winery page.

During the expo there are also seminars (for an additional fee) that delve more deeply into specific regions, or focus on a particular producer and provide tastings of other beverages, like Bourbon. As I was perusing the seminar schedule I noticed a seminar entitled “Bourbon Masters: Buffalo Trace’s Master Distiller, Harlen Davis Wheatley”. Readers who know me personally know that I enjoy a good glass of bourbon and Buffalo Trace is certainly one of the best out there. So I signed up. I look forward to sharing what I learn and my impressions of the samples I get to enjoy during the session!

I have not yet fully developed my own tasting strategy for the expo, but I’m sure I’ll be scouting for wines from regions I am not familiar with, like those from Cantina Produttori Cormons, Comelli Paolino and Torre Fornello in Italy, and checking for new releases from a few producers, perhaps from the Finger Lakes in NY State, that I do know. As a blogger ambassador for the event I will be sharing not only my own stories but those of others I interact with. While I roam the expo floor I will be looking for smiling faces and excitement, and I’ll want to know what you are tasting, what you think of it and your overall impressions of the expo. I’ll also be scouting for tips on wines to try that might not have hit my radar.

If you haven't purchased your tickets yet, you are in luck. Use the promo code "wineblog" to get $10 off Grand Tasting tickets for either Saturday or Sunday.

See you at the Boston Wine Expo next month!

Jason

Winners of the Boston Wine Expo Passes

Last week I announced a drawing for two passes to the 2013 Boston Wine Expo. Traffic to the post was decent, but there were only three comments, and a comment was required to be entered to win. The upside for the three people that did comment is that their chances of winning were pretty darned good!

In a random drawing the winners were Elizabeth Smith and Kurt Grausam! I will be contacting the winners privately to get their free pass on the way to them.

Thank you to all the people who viewed my post (too bad many chose not to enter) and to the three entrants for helping me give away the passes. The Boston Wine Expo is a fun event and I look forward to attending it myself so I can explore more of the world of wine!

Cheers!

Jason

p.s. Yes I know I am a day late announcing the winners, but that is just how the busy holiday season is turning out for me!

Boston Wine Expo 2013 - Win a Free Pass

*** Contest winners have been announced

Yes you read that correctly, 2013. I am already looking into the new year and thinking about what adventures I might be able to send you on with a free pass to the Boston Wine Expo being held February 16th & 17th, 2013.

In October I wrote about the plans for the new and improved Boston Wine Expo including the big commitment to social technologies and social outreach.  Forging a closer relationship with area bloggers was part of those plans with one of the perks being that as a Blogger Ambassador I was going to be able to give away free passes.

Have you been to the Boston Wine Expo before? If not, here is your chance! With thousands of wines from more than 15 countries there is so much to take in at the Boston Wine Expo. What will you explore?

The free passes will be drawn randomly from comments left on this post. And not with any ordinary comment either. In your comment I would like you to describe in a couple of sentences how you would "attack" the Boston Wine Expo if you were to win a free pass. With so much to explore decisions have to be made. Is there a must-visit region or producer for you? Is there a new vintage of an old favorite you are hoping to try? Comments must be posted before the end of the day on December 10th. Your e-mail address must be included in the comment and you have to be able to attend the event as the free passes have no redeemable value and cannot be exchanged for cash. I will draw and announce two winners (one pass each) in one week on December 11th.

The Boston Wine Expo does really want to be your friend and so do I. Leave your comment to win a free pass to the Boston Wine Expo. Good luck!

Cheers!

Jason 

The Boston Wine Expo Wants to be Friends

The Boston Wine Expo is going to get more social. With social media that is. This was clear from the presentation at a recent blogger event where some of the changes for the 2013 Boston Wine Expo (BWE2013) were shared.

So what are some aspects of the event that are new or will be changing?

• A new Blogger's Lounge will be available as a dedicated space for interviews and blogging activities.
• An improved mobile app will provide attendees with the capability to rate the wines they taste, manage lists of favorites as well as interact with the expo via survey questions.
• In a new Social Media lounge located in the center of the Grand Tasting all participants will be able to see what wines are trending from feedback via the mobile app as well as see what people are "saying" about BWE2013 on Twitter.
• Wine sales will now be permitted at the event. Attendees will be able to place orders for wines they like before leaving the expo!

As always attendees will be able to taste wines from many wineries (over 200), showcasing products from more than 15 countries, experience dozens of food and lifestyle exhibits and enjoy food from more than two dozen restaurants. Special seminars and celebrity chef demonstrations will also be part of the schedule again next year.

The blogger event was a mini food and wine showcase hosted at Action Kitchen located in the Seaport Hotel. The best food item I sampled was a crab cake (several actually) and I neither got a picture or any information on it. Bad food blogger!

The wine was flowing with bottlings available from France, Italy, California and New York State. The most interesting wine I tasted was the Bressan Verduzzo Friulano. This wine is a contradiction in my wine world. The nose zigs and zags back and forth between typical red and white attributes and then when you get a taste letting the tannins settle in it really feels like you are drinking a red wine. But it is a white! White fleshed fruits do dominate the nose and mouth, and the finish is dry with a subtle nutty quality to it. The tannic structure is unusual for a white, but it really works. It is always nice to come across something new, but when it is also so different it makes a tasting that much more interesting!

Also announced was the Boston Wine Expo Blogger Ambassador program that will partner bloggers with the Boston Wine Expo. Participating bloggers will be media personalities for the expo, will be provided with several tickets to give away on their blog and a discount code for readers to use for ticket purchases. More on this program will be announced as we get closer to the event.

As I was standing in a room of food & beverage bloggers listening to the details on the social media commitment being made for BWE2013 I got to thinking, "what have the folks behind the expo learned about their audience that prompted these changes?" Moving to integrate social media into such an event isn't even remotely radical as an idea in 2012, and some people might suggest the expo planners are arriving late to that party. I tend to be pragmatic by nature and when also giving benefit of the doubt I suspected the efforts to do this now were sincere and reasoned. So I asked.

The following is a transcript of the follow-up questions I used to interview Ed Hurley of Resource Plus, the company that provides the event management for the Boston Wine Expo.

Me: What were the motivations to incorporate the social aspects and the new app into the event?

Hurley: We were motivated to incorporate social media more heavily into the Boston Wine Expo for the following reasons:

• We recognize that social media has become the main method in which to communicate to a wide audience with similar interests.
• We also realize the influence that blogger’s like yourself have on fans in the wine and food community and we are excited about the changes that we have been making to the Expo that we wanted to share them with you in the hopes that you will find them to be positive and share them with your followers.
• Our wineries and sponsors have regularly been asking us what our social media campaign looks like and how they be a part of it. We quickly learned that social media is important to these groups as well.
• We want to be recognized as key portal of information regarding the food, wine and hospitality industry in New England.

Me: What expectations do you have for how more social media awareness and the mobile app will impact the event?

Hurley:  Our motivations for the mobile app came from the realization that in the age of smart phones, our audience prefers to have their information presented in this manner.  Through a mobile app, we are able to present consumers with all the information they need to know about the Expo as well as guide them from wine tasting table to wine tasting table while in the show. We hope to be able to help attendees create a list of favorite wines that they taste at the Expo and offer solutions as to where they can purchase the wines locally.

Me: Were there specific findings about the demographics of the BWE attendees that made this appropriate to do now?

With regard to demographics, our research shows that 51% of our audience is between the ages of 30 – 49, 65% have household incomes above $100,000 and 64% of our audience is female. This helped lead us to the conclusion that our audience is one that utilizes social media on a daily basis and mobile apps are a big part of their daily lives.

Me: Involving the press in BWE is nothing new, but crafting a program specifically for bloggers is new as far as I know. What are the goals of having a closer relationships with local bloggers? What can we do for you now, then and later?

Hurley: Our expectations for social media are this…if we continue to present top wineries, compelling seminars and popular chefs then the food and wine community will get excited about what we have to offer and will spread the word to their friends that the Boston Wine Expo is the place to be on February 16 and 17 of next year.

The goals that we have regarding the development of a closer relationship with you and other bloggers are:

• To keep up to date through your help – You know a lot about what the public likes in regard to food and wine and can help recommend to us certain restaurants, chefs, etc. that we should invite to participate in the show. You have the pulse on the wine and food community.
• To get your opinions – You are a good sounding board for the continuous changes that we are looking to make in the show as it evolved over the years.
• To entice you to help spread the word about the Wine Expo – As a prime influencer over many followers, you can help us spread the word of the exciting things happening with the event. In return, we have a strong platform as well and can offer you free tickets, discount admission codes, etc. to provide to your followers to spread goodwill. We can also support your blogs through our social media efforts. 

Me: Are the vendors and presenters aware of the new social and blogger changes? If not, does it make sense to involve them early on? Would their own outreach efforts compound the work you are already doing? If so, how do you expect they will be involved in additional promotion of the event before and during? Are there any vendors or brands that would like to connect with bloggers ahead of the event?

Hurley: The vendors and presenters are becoming aware of our new emphasis on social media and the blogger community.  We have begun to reach out to them for newsworthy stories regarding their organizations that we can pass along to your community. Also, as I mentioned above, several of our exhibitors and sponsors are already heavily invested in social media and have been asking what we are doing in this arena.  This illustrates that their own outreach efforts compound the work that we are doing as we are both trying to pass along relevant information to the community.  We have already begun engaging our exhibitors in our social media campaign. When an exhibitor signs on, we look for important news about them that we can share with our followers. We also ask them to provide us with news that we can share with our audience.

Another example is the recent Bloggers Event. When we put the word out that we were holding the event, we immediately got the participation of the nine wineries that were present along with our food sponsors. They recognized the importance of the blogger community and wanted to be a part of it. I believe that as we move closer to the event, we will see more vendors want to get involved as well.

The motivations and expectations shared above seem well reasoned and legitimate to me. Having participated in several Second Glass wine events that are heavily social I fully expect a return on these commitments. I am personally excited for the 2013 Boston Wine Expo and can't wait to share more about the event as February creeps closer.

So will you be friends with and like the Boston Wine Expo in 2013? I certainly hope so. I attended last year and enjoyed sampling new-to-me wines from many producers representing quite a few different places. Add more social interaction to that mix and I fully expect that attendees will be able to get more and better hints on wines to try before the show is over. And even better, attendees will be able to order wines that they really enjoy before they go home. Closing that loop ensures that producers who have wines that really shine will know that consumers won't have to spend lots of time searching around for a shop that carries their favorites!

Cheers!

Jason