Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/455266
74 / the tasting panel / january/february 2015 Mathias Weigmann sold 3,120 glasses of the Oyster Bay Pinot Noir in 2014. Oyster Bay at the Langham, Boston It hasn't taken long—only a little more than a year—for Oyster Bay's Pinot Noir to become the top-selling red by the glass at Boston's Langham Hotel. Hotel Manager Mathias Weigmann serves it at all three restaurants at the property, tallying up 3,120 glasses sold in 2014. The restaurants serve a mix of Boston locals and international hotel guests. "I have a goal for what kind of wine I wanted to sell, and for me, it was not a surprise that it was doing so well," he says. "It fits very well in the medium range of our wine list. It's not the highest or the lowest." Weigmann says he thinks it attracts people usually drawn to a Cabernet Sauvignon, but who now "want something more easygoing" throughout the meal. "Obviously we're promoting it by the glass, and it is also a recommendation from the list because it's a great wine to pair with steak or a lamb or a roasted chicken with pepper and tomatoes, and roasted vegetables," he says, adding, "I would even serve it with sea bass." The German-born executive trained as a chef and worked in Abu Dhabi, Shanghai, Beijing and London before coming to the United States. His international experi- ence gave him an understanding of a global palate and a "viewpoint of what is important and what is not." When asked about other Pinots of the world, he noted that while Burgundy is often the standard-bearer in the category, it is often regarded as complicated and fragile, and not for everyone because of their regional uniqueness. "They're more complicated than other wines . . . fragile in their profile; they need to age," he said. "Oyster Bay's Pinot Noir is more approachable; it's more the kind of wine you open and drink and enjoy. It has an easy profile. It has the typical Pinot Noir flavors, but what I really like is when you first get into the wine, you have a strong reason to stay with the glass. It opens up more and to see the char- acters of the region carried out in the [glass] is fantastic." Weigmann says the "EnZed" Pinot shows some min- erality and aromas of coffee and wood. "And what I find really interesting—there's no heavy mushroom or woody notes; it's quite a fresh wine. It has a bright profile without being over ripe." —Lana Bortolot PHOTO: JOSH REYNOLDS