Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/122736
due Master Sommelier, Gloucester north q+a Sample Savour Talking wines with master sommelier Kathleen Erickson of Gloucester's Savour Wine & Cheese. when it comes to choosing wines, it's fun to pick the brain of someone in the know. With a background that includes 14 years as top chef at Chicago's Ambrosia Catering; professional ties to chef Rick Bayless, star of PBS's "Mexico - One Plate at a Time"; food and wine pairing experience at the four-star Topolobampo; and certification from the Court of Master Sommeliers, Kathleen Erickson is more than qualified to dish on wine. As a former consultant for boutique distributor Maverick Wines and head of The Cork wine program in Illinois, she acquired a wealth of information that, ever the academic, she spun into a five-part wine series, "Become a Wine Expert," now offered at Savour Wine & Cheese in Gloucester. What made you purchase Savour Wine & Cheese? After researching the markets in Chicago and Scottsdale, AZ, I found the North Shore to have two enticing elements: curious and sophisticated "foodies" and wine-buyers, and very few fine wine and gourmet food shops. My interest has always been in bringing small-production, unique, artisanal wines to the public. My vision was to provide a highly educated wine staff and opportunity for customers to try wines before buying them. My assistant wine manager Skip Cribari and I offer decades of experience in the wine industry; [his] special interests [are] Italian, Spanish, and Californian wines. My areas of expertise are French, German, Austrian, Oregonian, and Washington State wines. What's special about Savour Wine & 192 nshoremag.com May/June 2013 NSMayJune13_DueNorth.indd 224 Wine Wise Kathleen Erickson. Cheese? We have five state-of-the-art wine tasting machines from Napa Technology that allow our customers to taste 20 different wines any time, free of charge. [We] give customers suggestions, but the system allows people to explore on their own. We [also] sample out our cheeses, artisanal ciabatta breads, Ariston olive oil and balsamic vinegar (which we sell in bulk), cured meats, chocolate, homemade biscotti, and custom-roasted coffee. Describe your lecture series. I have been teaching [it] for more than 10 years. It's a practical course, full of "insider information." [I] center it around the concept of taste—how to taste wine, how to describe taste, how to discern problem tastes (wine faults), how to find wines that taste good, how to make those wines taste their best, and how to find the best-tasting combi- nations of food and wines. Everything is "hands on." Each week, we taste anywhere from eight to 12 wines. Savour Wine & Cheese has been open for a few months now. What pleases you most about its progress? Simply getting the doors of Savour open! We opened at the end of June in 2011 and lost everything in a fire 10 weeks later. We had an uphill climb to find the right place, raise the capital, and build all over again. We joined forces with Beach Gourmet and now we share space with our wine store, tasting area, cheese shop, open demonstration kitchen, and chef's table, where chef Matt Beach and I host wine dinners. I would say we are about halfway to where I would like to be. I would like to continue doing more [teaching] and possibly host a food show. savourwineandcheese.com —Kiley Jacques photograph by sean litchfield 3/19/13 1:57 PM