Jeff Mathews celebrates 40 years of working at the Boulder Wine Merchant

Jeff Mathews celebrates 40 years of working at the Boulder Wine Merchant and recommends a few of his favorite wines before his retirement later this year. He’s one of the most beloved wine professionals in the U.S. and he’s watched the industry evolve in ways no one could imagine “back in the day.”

Please join us on Wednesday, November 20, 5-7pm, when Jeff will be pouring some of his favorite wines and sharing his insights and favorite memories at our weekly complimentary tasting.

Jeff and his family came to Boulder from California in 1961 when he was still a youngster. His interest in wine and food was sparked by Graham Kerr’s popular “Galloping Gourmet” television series and by the thimbles of wine his father would share with him for special meals his mother, a superb cook, had prepared.

By the 1970s, Jeff had “cut his teeth” in retail at the now legendary Fashion Bar clothing store.

His time there was followed by his wildly successful career as a Boulder-based DJ playing “all disco” at a 3.2% bar, an 18-years-and-older club, one of the many that were popular in the state at the time.

More work as a DJ followed at the Harvest House. But after many years working behind the mixer, he was ready for a change.

He and a friend happened to be looking for a great Champagne one day and Jeff wandered into the Boulder Wine Merchant, a shop that had only been open a few years. The shop was owned by Jim Drevescraft and Sally Mohr was a clerk.

As he tells the story, Jeff had been doing a little reading about Champagne and his interest in the wines and how they were made sparked Sally’s attention.

“Wow, you know something about wine!” she told him.

“If I worked in a place like this, I could learn a lot more,” he replied.

“We’re actually looking for someone,” she said.

And the rest was history. In 1985 he began working at the Boulder Wine Merchant. A few years later Sally and Wayne Belding bought the store. Both of them would later become Master Sommeliers — he, the thirteenth person in America to achieve the title, and she, the second woman in America to do so.

Sally and Wayne took the young aspiring wine professional under their wing.

“They taught me how to taste,” remembers Jeff.

Getting to taste a wide spectrum of wines, says Jeff, has been one of the most compelling experiences of his four decades in the wine industry.

“The most interesting thing has been the tasting,” he says. “We got to taste EVERYTHING” back then, “even Domaine de la Romanée-Conti because it wasn’t so expensive.”

Brett bought the store in 2010 and exposed Jeff to a more varied amount of fine wines.

“I like tons of different wines and tons of different price levels. But the thing they have in common is balance and elegance. Those are the things that appeal to me the most. That’s been my basic philosophy about wine.”