Boston Wine Expo 2017 Recap

This past Sunday I had a great time attending my first Boston Wine Expo. Time flew by while I tasted wines, snacked on the food offerings, and talked to a ton of people who are passionate about what they do. Read on for more pictures & tidbits from the day!

The day started off on a cheesy note at the Say Cheese (and Wine) seminar, led by Meredith Fitzgerald of Whole Foods Wellesley and Len Presutti from Martignetti Companies. It was really cool to taste a lot of cheeses that I haven’t had before, and normally wouldn’t pick out to pair with wine, on top of some cheeses that have been on my bucket list.

I was definitely a little in over my head when it came to the specifics of the wine half of the seminar, but felt a lot more comfortable with the cheeses. The most useful things I learned? Don’t be afraid to pair cheeses and wine that draw out the tastes of each other. You only need to throw your cheese out if it has red/orange mold on it. Try new things, pair different combinations to see what you like, and go with what you love! Our first two wines had two cheeses paired with them each, and the room was pretty evenly divided on what pairing tasted better. It just goes to show that everyone ultimately has different tastes and that’s perfectly ok.

I asked the people from Carmel Winery for a wine that wasn’t too expensive and good for a casual night at home. The 2013 Selected was perfect and actually my favorite out of all of the other wines I tasted at their table.

How pretty are these bottles?! Boston ended up with a 60 degree day so it was definitely rosé season, perfect for Notorious Pink. I wish I could have taken home the whole bucket.

This Duchessa Lia was a sweeter, sparkling red dessert wine that gave me serious warm and fuzzys. Why? Because this is exactly the kind of wine my grandmother loves, and serves at holiday dinners.

This Spanish wine from La Maldita was easy to drink, pairs well with all of my favorite foods (pizza,) and was also the winner for my favorite label of the night. Anyone else get Amy Winehouse vibes?

Now, the food! I was able to sneak into the VIP section and try some of the offerings from Ruth Chris Steak House. They’re always a favorite of mine and if you haven’t been to their restaurant in the Old City Hall, you’re missing out.

The Fortuna Sausages I tried were all delicious. I will definitely be keeping an eye out so that I can throw them on some pizzas in the near future. The hot Soupy was especially great.

Cabot! I love them and have had all of these cheeses before, and they’re always great to snack on. They were also sampling tomato soup which I could have eaten much much more of.

The pulled pork sliders from Kings were probably my favorite snack of the day. The pulled pork was perfection and again, I could have eaten these until my stomach was full.