TASTING NOTES

Written By: Rebecca Nimerfroh

Broaden your wine horizons with Alanna Lucas of Nantucket Wine & Spirits.

Alanna Lucas was too young to see the first liquor store her parents Mary and her late father Chick Walsh started on Broad Street back in 1973, but she became one of their employees as soon as she was of legal age. Today, as the owner of Nantucket Wine and Spirits, Alanna enjoys seeing the familiar faces that pop into her store year-round, and takes pride in stocking the shelves with interesting and delicious varieties of wine to spice up any oenophile’s palate. “The fun begins when you gain the customer’s trust and get to know their preferences,” explains Alanna. “It’s fun for me to steer people in directions that are still comfortable but maybe not the same thing they typically have every night.”

For this summer season, Alanna encourages her customers to try a light-bodied, slightly chilled red such as Beaujolais, Barbera, or Cabernet Franc. “A little chill to the wine can make a real difference, and change your whole mind on red wines,” she insists. “All of a sudden a red wine becomes really refreshing, which is fun.” As for the perfect hostess gift, she recommends something unexpected. “I always try to bring something I don’t think the person will know about.”

“There can be a stigma of wine being a bit snobby and no doubt it can be—but it doesn’t have to be,” she says. Although wine can be intimidating, Alanna says that the best wine is the wine in which you prefer. “At the end of the day, drinking wine and enjoying it with friends and family is the objective. Everyone’s preferences are different, so there is no wrong answer when it comes to what you can like or not like.”

Visit Alanna Lucas at Nantucket Wine and Spirits located 31 Sparks Avenue, connected to the mid-island Stop & Shop.

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