This week for our Wine Intelligence Unit Spotlight interview, we bring you Brian Connor: wine ambassador and bad ass of Liquor World in Cambridge. You'll be sure to find Brian sampling all that the Riot has to offer, in the interest of "research" and "quality control" of course!
What's the wine that got you into wine?
Whatever Port I could get for $7 or less back in my early twenties... yeah kinda gross, but I wanted to be just like Jack Kerouac.
When did you first get into wine?
During my days as a struggling artist, I got a part-time job at a liquor store. I got tired of people asking me questions about wine and not knowing the answers, so I tried as many different wines as I could get my hands on and read as much as I could. Curiosity quickly turned into obsession.
What's the worst wine-induced mistake you've ever made?
During the first night of our honeymoon in Spain, my wife and I drank so much Priorat out at a restaurant that we forgot to pay the bill. I think we're still wanted in Barcelona! Also, I got married...
What's something great that you see in our generation of wine drinkers?
I'd say it's people's willingness to try new things. I've noticed that the older generation is very set in their ways when it comes to things like brand loyalty, wheras younger wine drinkers are far more eager for discovery and willing to take me up on recommendations.
If you were a grape destined for wine, in what region of the world would you and your vine-mates want to grow, and why?
I'd like to be a Corvina grape in the Veneto, destined for a nice bottle of Amarone. Those grapes get to lay around in the sun on straw mats all day!
Which wine do you think Darth Vader enjoys while plotting to take over the galaxy?
Darth Vader is very misguided and a bit pompous, so I bet he pretends to like Bordeaux in order to impress the Emperor. In the same sentence, he'll also mention how much he "hates Merlot"...
If you could live on only one wine for the rest of your life, it would be....
Cava. It goes with everything.
