As the most in-the-know folks in the city, Yelp Boston Elites were treated to a satiating Sunday evening of fine food and wine pairings at the hottest new vino spot in town, The Urban Grape! Not just another grape purveyor, this super-dynamic wine shop promises a unique experience, organizing their selection not by region or grape, but by weight! After tasting hundreds and hundreds of wines, owners TJ & Hadley Douglas categorized their inventory with a revolutionary system that assigns each bottle with a number according to their weight, one being the lightest in style, while 10 is the heaviest. Because they believe wine is an experience, their approach allows you to more easily pair wine with food, while allowing you to branch out from your typical choices by directing you to selections of similar weight, instead of just choosing "New Zealand Sauvignon Blancs" or "Oregon Pinot Noirs." In short, they're removing intimidation from the wine experience. And if you ask us, it's working!
To illustrate their philosophy on experience, The Urban Grape welcomed Yelp Boston Elites into their store for a private tasting event on Sunday evening featuring small plates created exclusively for us by Aquitaine and wines chosen personally by TJ and The Urban Grape staff. Check out the full menu:
aioli
corn polenta cake with vanilla porter braised short rib
2008 Chateau Pesquie Terrasses Grenache/Syrah
vegetable gazpacho with creme fraiche and crouton
2009 Terredora Dipaolo Rosae Novae Aglianico
Shrimp Cocktail with avocado mousse and fresh mango chutney
2008 Pine RIdge Chenin Blanc/Viognier
Crusted Pork Tenderloin on crouton with warm chevre and bing cherry
relish
And that's not all! Boston Elites were invited to help create The Urban Grape's tag line for their brand-new store! With a copy of their mission statement in hand, Elites entered the tag line contest by summing up The Urban Grape's philosophy in just 7-10 words! Congrats to our semi-finalists: Calli C, for her idea, "Sensational Wine. Simplified" and Christopher M for his creation, "In vino veritas."
Throughout the evening, Elites toured the store, led by owners TJ and Hadley, learned about the versatility of Aglianico thanks to Heath and Noah of The Urban Grape Staff, discussed biodynamics and tasted sixteen different wines (ranging in price from $12 – $38) from the state-of-the-art Enoline Elite, a self-serve wine tasting system that allows you to try sips of wine sold at the store! Pictures of this fabulous evening can be found here, courtesy of Tatsu I. See what people are saying in the reviews or pen your own opinion here.
A big thank you to TJ, Hadley, Noah and Heath at the Urban Grape, and the entire staff at Aquitaine for enlivening our palettes and making this an evening we won't soon forget!
Cheers,
