Call them sommeliers, call them wine stewards, but don't call them stuffy. There's a new breed of winos in town, and they're making the art of vino hip, fun, and accessible. It used to be intimidating to order a bottle of wine at dinner; a tuxedo-clad octogenarian would shuffle up to your table, sneer for a bit, then silently (yet obviously) judge you when you didn't swirl and sniff your glass like a connoisseur. No longer, thanks to the fine-dining dynamos of Boston. You're in good hands with people like Kate Smith of the Butcher Shop (552 Tremont Street, Boston, 617.423.4800), Jason Irving of Harvest (44 Brattle Street, Cambridge, 617.868.2255), Erin O'Shea of Eastern Standard (528 Comm Ave, Boston, 617.532.9100), and Marco Deary, who does double duty at Via Matta (79 Park Plaza, Boston, 617.422.0008) and Radius (8 High Street, Boston, 617.426.1234). Taking the wine world by storm with passion, dedication, and enthusiasm, these young guns are shaking up wine lists all over town - but they won't shake your confidence in the process.
