Community Spotlight

Owner Mike McCarthy

Your Holiday Wine Shop

Woodstock Beverage can help with your wine selections—and more!

by Linda A. Thompson-Odum

Locals and visitors have no trouble finding Woodstock Beverage. It’s the last store in the village, near both the police and fire stations. And it is the place to go for anything that has to do with beverages—beers, spirits, and wines.

“We have more wines than anyone in the region,” owner Mike McCarthy says. “I’ve never counted how many, but two-thirds of the store is wine. You name it and we have it or can get it. We have some wines that date back to the 1930s and could be sold at auction. And a lot of our wines and spirits are produced in Vermont.”

McCarthy has a 40-year background in wines that started right out of college when he went to work for a wholesale company. He’s originally from New York, but had a second home in Vermont. Ten years ago he and his wife—who he met while skiing in Vermont about 45 years ago—wanted to move to the state full time. He purchased Woodstock Beverage, which he describes as “my candy store. My wife and I enjoy wines and have traveled extensively tasting wines around the world.”

Woodstock’s unique nature was an attraction to McCarthy. His customers can range from weekenders, foreign visitors, and second-home owners to local farmers and residents. He says, “The thing about Woodstock is it is truly a functional town. People support the local merchants and the merchants support the local people.”

For the holiday season’s parties and gifts, McCarthy recommends grower champagne. While the large champagne houses such as Mumm and Dom Perignon may get their grapes from multiple vineyards, grower champagne is produced on the same estate where the grapes were grown. These sparklers are often rated just as highly as the more well-known names but usually cost less.

McCarthy also notes the popularity of Prosecco, the Italian sparkling wine. He says, “It has replaced Asti Spumante, though Prosecco is not as sweet and the bubbles are finer. Many restaurants around here serve it by the glass with a little bit of St. Germain elderflower liqueur.” For more specific ideas, McCarthy made these recommendations for this holiday season:

• Cinnabar Mercury Rising—a Bordeaux-style red wine from California that has a plush mouth feel and a lot of complexity, with aromas of blackberry, black cherry, toasted oak, dried herbs, earth, and cocoa. McCarthy notes this wine would go well with anything from duck and beef to pasta and pizza. “It’s that versatile of a wine,” he says. ($15)
• Sharecropper's Pinot Noir—from the Owen Roe Winery in Oregon, this wine has a rich, creamy texture with flavors of black berries, blueberries, and a hint of dried wild rose essence. McCarthy describes it as “luscious.” ($25)
• Sterling Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon—a big, bold California red with spicy black cherry and briary blackberry aromas, with subtle hints of cedar and mocha, and flavors of ripe black and red fruits, with a touch of clove and allspice. ($26)
• O'Reilly's Pinot Gris—another Oregon wine with floral and stone fruit aromas and a clean, crisp finish. ($15)
• Chalone Vineyard Chardonnay—a California wine with flavors of citrus and pineapple, bright acidity, and lots of minerality. McCarthy says it is ideal for seafood or Vermont cheddar. ($12)
• Schug Carneros Estate Chardonnay—this California selection has a ripe, spicy tropical bouquet with flavors of citrus, pear and apple-butter and a crisp, clean finish. It will pair nicely with cream soups, seafood, fowl, veal, and pasta dishes. ($23)
• Marc Hebrart Premier Cru—a grower’s champagne that McCarthy describes as medium bodied and rich, with flavors of blackberry, currants, chalk, slate, yeast, and smoke. ($48)
• Vilmart & Co. Grand Cellier—another grower’s champagne that has a light straw color and aromas of smoke, pears, peaches, and tangerines and good minerality. McCarthy suggests this wine in place of Dom Perignon for “the same bang for the buck.” ($80)

McCarthy’s shop also has a large selection of Austrian wines and is the go-to place for spirits and beers. He specializes in craft beers and hard-to-get kegs from around the world. Plus there is a large humidor filled with a wide cigar selection.

“With the economy being the way it is, spirits are showing tremendous growth,” McCarthy says. “And overall wine and beers are holding their own, but in our store the sales are up.”