This past weekend I attended the Marty’s Grand Food and Wine Extravaganza in Newton Massachusetts. The billing promised:
“Come taste nearly a hundred wines from all over the world! Enjoy terrific gourmet food, smoked salmon, artisanal cheeses, handmade chocolates, and the creations of Tempo Bistro!
Featuring Chateau D'Yquem, Chateau Mouton Rothschild, Dom Perignon Champagne, Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon and many, many others!”
Knowing that the place would be mobbed with pasty wine geeks and winos looking for a free buzz, I arrived thirty minutes prior to the tasting to stake out the best tables. Despite the relatively smaller size, Marty’s of Newton is the Mecca of Boston wine purchasing. It was this size constraint that made my early arrival essential in figuring out where the hell everything was. Around the store, hastily constructed card tables and 4-foot utility tables were filling any nook or crawlspace available. Handouts of the table’s contents were available, but their location remained a mystery. Table 1 sat next to table 10. Table 7 was halfway across the store from 5,6 and 8. Wherever you thought the table should be, it wasn’t. Similarly confusing was the location of the food - the smoked salmon beside the Aussie reds, the Foie Gras at the Italian red table far from the Yquem. But, I digress. I was happy that Marty‘s could throw this free gala, and the confusing placement of the tables only furthered the advantage I got from arriving early. Once the wine began flowing, the store filled with a mixture of blue-haired dames singing for heavy pours of anything alcoholic, and shifty-eyed wine geeks juggling pads, pens, stems and cheese samples as they single-mindedly plowed through lines to cherry pick the best. Amy was shoved by one such wine geek in line, and announced that she would wait in the car for the duration of the tasting. I briefly debated whether defending Amy’s honor was the right thing to do, but decided that tasting more NV Champagne was the correct choice. I tried to taste fairly, choosing the good or “interesting” bottles and only skipping those which were likely to be predictable. The 1998 Dom was nice, though not comparable to the 1996. The NV Moet Rose was fine, but priced based on name rather than quality. The Terry Theise table had the best selection of the day - grower Champagnes, Leitz Dragonstone, Hexamer, Donnhoff and Y’quem among others. It was just a pity that the man pouring these wines was a dick. I, of course, understand how it must be to have a half dozen stems greedily thrust at your face, but if there is a genuine interest in one of the wines along with well-meaning comments, at least display some desire to answer questions (or even return the tone). For example, if someone asks the dosage and blend of a Taillet Champagne, rather than shove a meaningless photocopied Wine Spectator review in their face, why not attempt to answer? I don’t need to read the Spec review - I just tasted the wine, I know what it tastes like. Anyway, the problem I had with many of the NV Champagne that were being poured (and there were quite a few), was that the starting price is now $50 for these wines. With so many bottles priced at the same bracket, I need to be shown something noticeably different before being moved to buy… simply being a solid NV Champagne is no longer enough.
Of the other wines on the Theise table, the basic QBA Donnhoff was nice. The Hexamer Quartzit was soda-sweet, but fun. The 2002 big “Y”, was actually surprisingly restrained for Yquem… less botrytis and intensity, which allowed some interesting secondary notes to show through even this young. Not an Yquem for the long haul, but if you’ve got the means, not a Yquem to skip without consideration, either. It is worthy to mention that I found the 1997 Mouton Rothschild alarmingly drinkable, which further confirms my enjoyment of poor vintage Bordeaux that doesn’t taste like Bordeaux.
Of the rest of the wines I tasted, many were poor, some were drinkable, and most were overpriced. Even with the promise of 25% off a mixed case, you’re going to have a hard time selling me a modest sin-Crianza from Bierzo for 19.99. In truth, the drawback of these large public free tastings (at any venue) is that most of the tables are pouring wines that can’t sell themselves. Despite the variable quality of what was poured, the food provided by Tempo Bistro was phenomenal, easily the best I’ve had at any large-scale tasting. Kudos to Marty's for getting them involved.
After an hour, the store became really overcrowded, like a sack with a few too many potatoes. I picked up two wines for purchase - neither being bottles that were poured. One was a half bottle of 2002 Strub Niersteiner Brückchen Kabinett on clearance for $5, and the other was a bottle of 1994 Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon on clearance from $54 to $39.99. The latter bottle I grabbed as a curiosity, having heard the Aussies tout the greatness of this wine repeatedly. Upon having the wines scanned by the register, the Tyrrell’s came up as an even $10. Seeing the error, the clerk called over Marty, who in turn called over the store manager to figure out the problem. None of them had an answer, so I chirped “It’s Australian Semillon - a wine store paperweight”, they looked at me, paused, and agreed. A sad day for Australian wine, but a good day for my wallet (though I stopped and purchased a bottle of 2001 Beaucastel Blanc on the ride home…).
Best,
Joe