Interview with chef Alex DeWinter of Grill 23 & Bar - Boston, MA

Amy Tarr: How did you develop an interest in wine?
Alex DeWinter: I grew up watching my mom drink it. She was the “5-in-the-afternoon glass of merlot” kind of person. I grew up in a house where you could not drink until 21. When I got to college, I wasn’t a beer guzzling guy. I just used to buy Woodbridge mags. Out of college, I started to bartend. One day we had a wine tasting with a rep and I said, “How can I get your job, how does that work” So I started to dink more and more wine. And I started to remember it the way people remember lyrics of a song or lines from a movie.

AT: Describe your fondest wine memory.
ADW: There are many wine memories! Both in terms of the best wines I’ve had and the great times of just having wine. There’s always wine. When friends or family get together, wine is definitely the theme. Certainly enjoying wine with my wife – she was in the restaurant end, catering, and cooking. It’s hard to imagine wine not being in my life. It’s not one memory, it’s a constant.

AT: How did you get to where you are now at Grill 23?
ADW: It was a long rough road. I started working at Maggianno’s in college, where I experienced that wine tasting. Right after that I called up some wine distributors and got a job. I was super green. I sold a totally esoteric Italian portfolio for a year. Then the company went out of business. So I went to work in a wine shop called Calvert Woodley Wine in DC - they are in the top 10 wine shops every year. They do a huge Bordeaux business. So that rounded out my knowledge of French wines. I took a break after a while and worked construction, waited tables at this little pizzeria – a DOC pizzeria – and managed one of my old accounts again, doing his beer, wine, gourmet foods and grocery. My wife move up here to Boston. So I moved up and interviewed with a couple importers. My sister went to college with a guy who runs a big distributor. He said I know a woman who’s looking for help with her list at a restaurant. In DC most of the people buying wines were the restaurant managers, not wine directors. How could a wine program necessitate one person much less 2 or 3 people? I interviewed with Natalie, and she and I hit if off right away. So fortunately I was put in with her. And that was it. Then she left me and I was stuck in charge.

AT: What courses have you taken?
ADW: When I first started at the wine shop they sponsored me at some distributor-given classes. It was a five –week program. I got a certificate at the end. I did a little bit of stuff with the Society of Wine Educators in DC. In my opinion, if you’ve got the Oxford guide to wine and if you can read (and drink), you’re pretty much there. While formal training is very interesting and beneficial and helpful, I think the most important thing is drinking and learning, meeting with people who represent and make the wines. If you have a lot of time and do these classes, that’s great. When I see people who are driven to be the youngest MS in the country, that’s really impressive. Like Andrea Immer was like 28 when she got her MS. I know my palate well enough. I know what wine tastes good. I’ve tasted all the great first growths from all the great vineyards. If I can tell you what the wines taste like and match them to your taste, then that’s enough for me.

AT: What is your philosophy on wine and food?
ADW: Eat it and drink it! People want to put a muzzle on me when I say this but people want California wines. The breadth is very narrow on the whole. How hard is it to pair a cabernet with a rib eye? Insert red wine here. When Jay does a chef’s menu or a special dinner, we sit down and pair wines and food. What you think might work best might not go well at all. I did a tasting recently and the wine I thought was going to be the best pairing was just ok. The least expensive wine of the bunch turned out to be everyone’s favorite pairing. It also depends if you want to create a perfect marriage or highlight the wine over the food or vice versa. I’m into balance and drinking wines that come from the same place as the food – that’s why I’m into Italian wines. If you’re dining on wild boar, you should be drinking Nebbiolo.

AT: Do you favor Old World or New World wines? Why?
ADW: I always talk a big game about Old World wines, but I really like New World wines. As far as running this restaurant, New World wines are the bread and butter. It’s a lot less terroir, but it’s fun to see someone’s personal expression of a wine.

AT: Tell me about a perfect wine and food match that you discovered.
ADW: Jay does a short rib Wellington with tamale and I served a Grenache with it. The food is super, super rich and that wine is super rich, but it also has a lot of heat or alcohol. It’s served with a heavy reduction sauce, You could have used a Barolo to cut through that, but I was really into the richness of the Grenache.
AT: What wines do you favor for your cellar at home?
ADW: I have about 5 bottles at home. I don’t have time or money or space to wait around with wines for 20 years. Right now at home I’ve got a bottle of California syrah. Valpolicella, some cheap Tuscany wines. All under 20 dollars. I have drinking wine.

AT: What are your ultimate career goals? Where do you see yourself in 5 years? 10 years?
ADW: My career goals are to eventually work in sandals! I don’t want to get out of the wine game. 5 years from now I don’t see myself in a restaurant. Too many hours, the chaos factor is too high. I’d like to be a distributor or importer and have someone say to me, “Here’s a rental car, here’s a map of Spain – bring me home some winners!” My strength is being able to match someone’s taste, knowing what a universally good wine is. If someone likes merlot or cabernet, they are going to like that one wine. I’d like to be able to find those things. It’s also a people business. If I was locked in a closet somewhere not talking to guests or vintners, that wouldn’t be too much fun.