A Taste of Summer

As recently as 20 years ago, fine wine was considered exotic, a beverage for those with disposable income and an alien palette. Wine terminology was foreign, prices were daunting and the industry was decidedly a man’s world.

Today, there are a bastion of women wine buyers, sellers and vintners. Fine wine has become accessible, a part of our daily lives, and women like these have made that possible. By REBECCA LAVOIE

NICOLE BRASSARD: WINE MArketing specialist,
N.h. state liquor commission

If you are enjoying a glass of wine in New Hampshire, chances are Nicole Brassard selected it for you.

As the Wine Marketing Specialist for the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission, a position she has held for eight years, Brassard chooses and buys the fine wines for sale in the state’s retail liquor outlets, restaurants and private wine shops.

“I’m not sure people in New Hampshire realize the extent of the role the commission plays in New Hampshire’s wine industry,” Brassard said, but it has become her mission to spread the word through consumer education and through the network of local vintners and shop owners serviced by the organization.

On a daily basis, Brassard meets with brokers who present products they would like to sell in New Hampshire. These might be new wines, or they might be wines requested by private shop or restaurant owners who would like to buy them wholesale and offer them to their own customers.

She then presents her recommendations to the three-panel Liquor Commission for a final decision. Once approved and purchased, the wines are assigned a SKU (there are more than 11,000 currently available for sale in the state) and sold or wholesaled to the consumer.

Brassard isn’t a pencil pusher who makes her choices lightly. A 20-year veteran of the commission who began working at a state liquor store cash register, Brassard is also an accomplished cook who began her career in the restaurant industry, cooking and running kitchens in some of Manchester’s best restaurants.

It was her head chef position at the Atlantic Wine Company that cemented her transition from food to wine, as she realized that she had the palette to appreciate wine and food pairings, and that wine was likely to become a more popular choice as customers learned more about it.

“When the state went into the fine wine business in the mid-1980’s, I knew that something was changing, and I wanted to be a part of that,” she said.

While leaving the restaurant industry to initially work in a state retail outlet represented a big lifestyle change, Brassard said she knew her role in the wine business would take on a new form.

“The wine industry has done a wonderful job, evolving and educating consumers, and making wine less pretentious,” she said. “I’ve loved every minute of being a part of that.”

NICOLE BRASSARD'S PICKS

A “robust red”: 2005 Casillero del Diablo
Private Reserve Cabernet-Syrah Blend

A “clean and deep white”: 2006 Erruzuriz
Wild Ferment Chardonnay

amy labelle: labelle winery, amherst

By day, 36-year-old Amy LaBelle can be found behind her desk at Fidelity Investments, where she works as a corporate lawyer.

On weekends, she can be found in her barn, crafting the fruit and cooking wines that have made LaBelle Winery a thriving business with products in some of New Hampshire’s finest food and wine stores.

“I don’t sleep much,” LaBelle said.

LaBelle always knew wine would be a part of her life. A longtime wine aficionado, she spent her life trying to think of ways she might someday work in the industry.

“I considered combining wine and law, but as my interests were getting piqued, I was stuck with a sudden inspiration to do something more,” she said.

LaBelle’s inspiration came while on a vacation to Nova Scotia, where she spotted a tiny sign pointing to a local vineyard.

“They way the wines were presented, and the way they tasted ... I knew I’d found what I wanted to do,” she said. Within a month, LaBelle was making her first batch of wine in her Boston apartment.

“I’m the kind of person who makes a plan,” she said, explaining that while she was perfecting her crafting process, she also wrote a five-year business plan that mapped how she’d go from kitchen vintner to successful winery owner.

The first part of her plan came together when LaBelle found Allison’s Orchard in Walpole, who soon convinced her to help them make wine using the apples they grew there. In the fall of 2005, she produced her first commercial batch, which quickly sold out.

“It was a great experience to learn about the right mix of tannins, sugars and flavor profiles,” LaBelle said of her partnership with Allison’s, “but soon we were looking for a winery of our own and decided to build our barn right behind our home in Amherst.”

LaBelle Winery specializes in wine made from locally grown apples and berries, as well as grapes grown in the Finger Lakes region of New York. Other products include seasonal wines, as well as unique cooking wines made with flavors like jalapeño peppers and onions.

The vineyard has doubled its production each year and has grown to the point where LaBelle’s husband, Cesar, has decided to become the vineyard’s full-time operations manager, leaving his own day job at Fidelity behind.

LaBelle wines can be purchased at NH State Liquor stores, at Butter’s Fine Food and Wine in Concord, Jasper’s Homebrew in Nashua, The Meathouse in Bedford and Salem, and The Wine Studio in Manchester.

A complete list of retailers can be found at www.labellewinerynh.com.

AMY LABELLE'S PICKS

From LaBelle Winery:

Seyval Blanc: “A nice, light, crisp, Reisling-style white. Perfect with seafood or chicken.”

Red Raspberry: “Decadent and addictive, this wine smells like fresh berries in a bowl and pairs perfectly with chocolate dessert.”

Colline dreyfuss: Owner, Main street Wine Cellar, keene

Colline Dreyfuss has no doubt why there are so many more women wine shop owners and vintners than there used to be.

“Overall, women’s palettes are more refined, we tend to pace ourselves differently, but most important, we are better at communicating the flavors we are experiencing,” she said.

Dreyfuss, 40, used to be a Web site designer, spending her days writing code and doing graphics. These days, she can be found in her cozy underground shop, the Main Street Wine Cellar at 95 Main St., Keene, which she opened in 2006.

Most days, her Blue Merle Great Dane, Beaudreux, can be found there too, greeting the customers who have come to buy wine and soak up a little of Dreyfuss’ knowledge and enthusiasm.

“Wine was how I created my social circle,” she said.

Dreyfuss said she got her feet wet sharing her expertise, hosting blind tastings at her home to entertain her husband’s work colleagues and their spouses.

“This was the only kind of party where the women didn’t gather in one room while men talked shop in another,” she said.

Even while she was a site designer, Dreyfuss was often called upon to consult with friends in the restaurant business who needed help with their wine lists and pairings.

She soon found her annual tasting parties outgrew her home, and that recommending wine to friends was a passion she enjoyed more than creating Web sites. This passion led to trips to wineries around the world, and ultimately, to Dreyfuss’ own shop, which has its own old-world vineyard atmosphere right below Keene’s bustling Main Street.

The Main Street Wine Cellar reflects Dreyfuss’ desire to promote women’s continually flourishing interest in wine. She has a display in her store of wines made by women and maintains close relationships with the women vintners she’s met in her travels.

“It’s my mission to educate the people of Keene about all the wonderful wines I discover, not only those created by women,” she said, “but one of my favorite things about this business is the fabulous and fascinating women I encounter, many of whom began just as I did, as enthusiasts, and soon found wine taking over their lives.”

COLLINE DREYFUSS’ PICKS:

On whites: “I make it my mission to teach anyone who will listen about Rieslings. My favorite is Two Princes from Nahe Valley in Germany. Shclaus Wallhausen is the winemaker.”

On reds: “I’m a red enthusiast, but rather than pick one wine that’s a favorite, I advocate talking to every customer and sending them home with something they’ve never tried before, based on what they tell me they enjoy.”

Rebecca Lavoie is a freelance writer who lives in Hopkinton.