Vintage Voice
Boston Wine Expo '99 Report


The Boston Wine Expo is held every winter at the World Trade Center in Boston. The show is extremely large, with hundreds of wine producers represented, and thousands of people -- both professionals and amateurs -- tasting the wines. Besides tasting the myriad wines available on the main floor of the show, visitors can choose to attend hour-long seminars (for an extra charge, of course) on specific topics in wine and food. Since the show is crowded, and the pace is rushed, my notes tend to be brief, and I did not have much time to spend on each wine, particularly on the main floor. The seminars offer a chance to slow down and focus on a smaller number of wines which are usually not available on the main floor.

Overall, I think the '99 Expo was quite successful. Crowd management seemed to be a little better than in the past two years. Sure, they should have turned down the heat, and many people seemed to miss the crackers which had been supplied at previous shows. Because of the lack of good food options, I always treat the expo as a BYOB -- Bring Your Own Baguette -- event, so I didn't miss them. A few smaller independent winemakers expressed reservations about the large percentage of their production which had to be committed to the event. Still, the wine flowed freely, and I tasted plenty of interesting ones.

If you would like to attend one of these events, the next Boston Wine Expo is scheduled for January 20-21, 2001. You can find details on my Boston Wine Expo Information Page and on the official Boston Wine Expo website.

Seminars:

Tokaji Seminar -- Stellar introduction to these excellent dessert wines
-- Discussion by Hugh Johnson
-- Royal Tokaji Wine Co. 1993 horizontal tasting notes

Hugel Seminar -- Wines and philosophy of the noted Alsace producer
-- Discussion by Roger Bohmrich, M.W.
-- Hugel tasting notes

Main Floor Wines:

Highlights -- My "Top 20" wines tasted on the main floor

Full Lists By Region: (alphabetical by producer)

North America
California (80 wines)
Washington/Oregon (12)
Canada (8)

Europe
Spain/Portugal (20)
France (11)
Other Europe (6)

Southern Hemisphere
Australia/New Zealand (19)

 

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