Progressive Drinking: A New Way to Buy, Drink, and Learn About Wine

在城市葡萄in Boston’s South End, owners TJ and Hadley Douglas upend wine-shop conventions by organizing bottles from light-bodied to full-bodied rather than by varietal or region. They call this the “Progressive Scale”—a way of buying, drinking, and learning about wine that they expand upon in their interactive, incredibly approachable wine guide,Drink Progressively($27, Spring House Press).

F&W:你结婚了，你一起经营一家商店。这是如何运作的？

H：Separation of church and state is essential! TJ’s the wine buyer and director of sales staff, and I oversee our communications and events teams.

TJ:Hadley puts it a great way: She sells the store, and I sell what’s in it.

F&W:什么是逐渐喝酒？

TJ:It means thinking of wine from light-bodied and high-acid to fuller, with more fruit. It’s like doing a dinner—you start with a cold salad with a tart dressing, then your richer entrée.

H：The best thing about our store is that people come in with their wine blinders on—“I only drink Cab,” “I hate Chardonnay,” whatever—and we’re able to help them break out of those boxes. Drinking progressively really allows your palate to change and grow.

F&W:What inspired you to turn this concept into a book?

H：So much of what’s out there about wine makes it seem overly difficult and esoteric. We wanted to take all that pressure off, to write something that would give people a toehold so they wouldn’t have to remember thousands of varietals and regions every time they go into a wine store.

F&W:你提到不想写葡萄酒百科全书。亚搏电竞怎么Drink Progressivelydifferent?

TJ:Starting at a very basic level makes people feel more comfortable with trying new things. This book is fun; it’s not scary. It’s got great pictures and amazing recipes, and our whole goal is to help take the intimidation out of wine.

H：I love to cook and pair the right wine with what I’m eating, and if you take away those varietal or regional rules and just say, “Let’s pair this body to body, acid to acid, fat to fat”—that’s much more how my mind works. I really am the everyday wine drinker!

F&W:You’re both advocates for promoting all kinds of diversity within the wine world. Is that an uphill battle?

H：Obviously we’re an interracial couple; increasing the number of people who feel comfortable with wine through all demographics is hugely important for us. But diversity within the wine world, whether we’re talking the ratio of men to women, or people of color to white people, is still woeful.

TJ:作为一个例子，当我在楠塔基葡萄酒fes-rival工作时，有我和dlynn proctor，这部电影中的家伙亚搏电竞Somm,有人为他误解了我 - 我越来越重达50英镑，更高6英寸。我想看到更多的努力。它会花时间，但我们的目标是为每个人腾出葡萄酒。亚搏电竞

TJ and Hadley’s top picks for the season.

“We love this light, fresh Gamay—think of it as pure, unadulterated ‘grape lemonade.’ Toss it in the fridge, and then serve it chilled.”

“如果你喜欢大，胸葡萄酒，那么你会喜欢这个澳大利亚罗纳风格的亚搏电竞混合。阳光浸泡的葡萄是自然的全身又一漂亮的葡萄。

“This particular Sancerre that we stock is ethereally light-bodied, with zingy minerality and exalting acidity. It would be perfect paired with oysters!”

“This Chardonnay’s malolactic fermentation and oak aging beef up the wine’s body, pushing it to the far end of our Urban Grape Progressive Scale.”

“Reds in the middle of the scale value structure and tannin over fruit and juiciness. Like Chianti, this Bordeaux needs food to truly come alive.”