By Dan Murphy
Chelsie Lincoln, the newly hired general manager of the Cellars at
DeLuca’s Market on Charles Street.
Chelsie Lincoln might have admittedly been somewhat unfamiliar with the Cellars at DeLuca’s Market on Charles Street prior to taking over as its general manager on Monday, Oct. 6, but she was certainly no novice when it comes to wine.
Lincoln hails from Oak Park, Calif., located just north of Malibu, and earned an undergraduate degree in linguistics from Cal State Northridge in 2010. Though she was originally set on pursuing a career in teaching after college, Lincoln decided instead to change tack by enrolling in New York’s prestigious CIA (Culinary Institute of America).
“I was interested in food and wines and knew I wanted to do something in that world but didn’t know what,” said Lincoln, who added she matriculated to CIA because she was seeking a “vocabulary lesson” on food and wine.
Unlike most of her friends at CIA, who are now chefs, Lincoln said she never had any aspiration of working in a kitchen and instead always knew she was “only interested in wine.”
Upon graduating from CIA in 2014, Lincoln relocated to the Boston area to pursue a master’s degree in gastronomy (food studies) from Boston University. The esteemed program was founded in 1991 by Jacques Pépin, a popular French chef, author, culinary educator, television personality, and American celebrity chef and TV personality (as well as then-Cambridge resident) Julia Child.
Lincoln focused on wine and writing in her studies, and while in school, she also started working at the Wine Press – a specialty wine shop located in Brookline near her home.
She was soon working at the Wine Press’s other location in the Fenway, as well as serving as the lead (and sole ) editorial staff member for Upper Glass – the Wine Press’s wine subscription service which boasts between 100 and 120 monthly subscribers.
Subscribers to the service are sent a selection of four wines each month, along with an emailed newsletter on the latest wine news. The digital newsletter would also spotlight a different Boston restaurant each month, for which Lincoln would interview the establishment’s sommelier, wine director, or chef.
In her new role at DeLuca’s, Lincoln said she hopes to make gradual changes to the wine selection, slowly integrating more “wines of place,” as well as wines that haven’t been “manipulated” via the addition of flavor enhancers, such as oak chips; vanillin (i.e. a substance obtained from vanilla beans or produced artificially and used to flavor sweet foods); or Mega Purple – a popular grape-based compound often used to darken wines.
When selecting new wines to sell, Lincoln said she carefully considers the “terroir” – a French term that describes factors that affect the flavor and body of a wine including climate and geography, as well as the winemaker themselves.
“If you can find a wine at Target or Total Wine, I don’t want to see it here,” said Lincoln, who added that since DeLuca’s is a family-owned, local business, they also want to support smaller, independent winemakers.
Lincoln’s immediate predecessor, Donovan Wirtanen, recently stepped down from his role at DeLuca’s to serve as a firefighter in nearby Weymouth.
“It’s not every day you meet someone who is a Burgundy aficionado and saves lives,” noted Victoria Aiello, who, together with her sister, Caroline Aiello, owns DeLuca’s Market on Charles Street. “While we were sad to see [Donovan] go, we’re so excited to see where Chelsie’s experience, ideas, and enthusiasm take us.”
Meanwhile, the Cellar at DeLuca’s Market on Charles Street offers wine tastings every Friday from 4 to 7 p.m.