Not that long ago, ordering wine with dinner at most Boulder restaurants was less complicated. You just had to answer a simple question: Do you want red or white?
“In the early 1990s, there were only a half dozen restaurants in Boulder with strong wine lists,” says master sommelier Brett Zimmerman, owner of Boulder Wine Merchant. “The level of wine appreciation wasn’t anywhere near what it is here today. Slowly but surely, things got better around here.”
Boulder may be the center of the craft beer universe, but for one weekend it will also be a big-time wine town. Zimmerman’s 14th annual Boulder Burgundy Festival will attract hundreds of serious wine lovers Oct. 21 and 22 for seminars, tastings and French wine dinners.
The recent Michelin Guide spotlight on Boulder eateries likely wouldn’t have happened without a supportive wine community. “I think the clientele of Boulder is a pretty sophisticated diner now, and wine is a big part of the Michelin,” Zimmerman says.
The number of Boulder County eateries catering to those tastes has risen rapidly. “Now, there are dozens of local restaurants with good wine lists,” he says. “You walk into small restaurants and even they have well-selected wines to go with the theme or the cuisine.”
A Boulder native, Zimmerman didn’t grow up dreaming of a career sipping the world’s best wines. “My first job was washing dishes — eventually they let me make pizza, at Roman Village Pizza,” he says. “Wine service was a bottle of Chianti in a basket.”
By the time he was in high school, Zimmerman was already working as a back waiter at the Flagstaff House restaurant. “That was the first place where I actually started to build some of that wine knowledge,” he says. “After that, I worked at Ristorante Laudisio and learned about Italian wines.”
Boulder Wine Merchant, with its singular focus, was a pioneering business when it opened in 1980. After Zimmerman bought the shop, he began appreciating wine in earnest.
“I’ve always had a passion for French wines and I wanted to have more of our community engaged with them at restaurants and stores,” he says.
There was a selfish motive, too: If Boulder was seen as a Burgundy market in the eyes of national distributors, Zimmerman reckoned even more French wines would end up here.
In the past, the Boulder Burgundy Festival has brought in famous producers and experts from across the planet. This year, Zimmerman says the event is focusing on the wealth of Colorado wine talent, including Boulder’s Jeremy Schwartz, lead sommelier at Michelin-starred Frasca Food and Wine.
While many of the Festival’s events are sold out, tickets to the Oct. 22 Grand Tasting are still available; it’s an uncommon opportunity in this state to sample and learn about rare vintages.
Zimmerman will also be on hand Nov. 2 at Blackbelly’s multi-course Bordeaux for Better dinner benefiting nonprofits such as Sophie’s Neighborhood. Tickets for Boulder Burgundy Festival: boulderburgundyfestival.com.
The cultural shift is apparent almost every day at the Boulder Wine Merchant, Zimmerman says. “We have lots of talented local wine people come through my door and the conversations I have are much more in-depth than before,” he says. “There’s a higher level of wine knowledge and a higher concentration of people who know what’s going on.”
Local Food News: State’s PSL Obsession
Yuki Pizza & Wings has closed at 385 Crossing Drive in Lafayette. Its nearby sister eatery, Colorado Wok, remains open, offering a stellar take on sesame chicken.
Denver’s La Diabla and Molotov Kitschen + Cocktails are on the New York Times 2023 Best Restaurants List.
The Colorado culinary community is mourning the death of Matt Selby, a gifted and acclaimed chef best known for his 15 years at Denver’s Vesta Dipping Grill.
Colorado is the state with the most internet searches for “pumpkin spice,” according to analysis by Gambling.com.
Culinary Calendar: Dining With Farmers
Numerous local farmers will supply and attend SOIL Boulder’s Oct. 13 Harvest Dinner at Lone Hawk Farm in Longmont. The multi-course meal includes green tomato relish, local giardiniera, and grass-fed beef served with heirloom corn grits, roasted Red Wagon poblano chiles and MouCo Camembert. Tickets: bouldersoil.org
Expert local chocolatier Sima Amsalem teaches a hands-on workshop in making chocolate pralines, truffles and other treats Oct. 26 at The Studio Boulder: bit.ly/SimaWorkshop
Send information about upcoming Boulder County food-oriented events to [email protected]
Taste of the Week: Ramen @ Dragonfly Noodle
Dragonfly Noodle Black Tonkotsu Ramen. Credit: Edwin Zoe
The first slurp of rich broth at Boulder’s Dragonfly Noodle offers layers of flavor supported by a savory scent. The bowl is anchored by a tangle of noodles topped with slices of cherrywood-smoked pork belly, perfectly boiled egg halves, fried shallots, spicy sprouts, cloud ear mushroom and green onions, with a spritz of black garlic oil on top. Each bite of Dragonfly’s black tonkotsu ramen is a separate pleasure. It isn’t surprising since the Boulder eatery is guided by noted noodle nerd Edwin Zoe, and is one of only two local lrestaurants that makes its own ramen noodles. Zoe’s other eatery, Zoe Ma Ma, recently picked up a Michelin-Recommended designation, and has gotten some attention from the James Beard Foundation.
Another don’t-miss item at Dragonfly Noodle is the lobster roll bao, a cool upgrade on the traditional Maine sandwich packed with lobster tail, celery, butter, smoked paprika-togarashi mayo and green onions, all on a house-baked bun.
Zoe’s house-made fresh ramen noodles are also available to take home and cook.
Words to Chew On: Love and Noodles
“Eat, drink, man, woman. Basic human desires. Can’t avoid them. All my life, that’s all I’ve ever done. It pisses me off.
Is that all there is to life?”
—From Ang Lee’s iconic film Eat Drink Man Woman
