My invitation stemmed from responding to a mini contest in Friday's edition of the Red White Boston daily email "Why You Drink What You Do" in 15 words or less. My response: Sophisticated and classy meets I love the madness associated with a dirty vodka martini evening, won me a spot. 
{Circa 2008 @ Delux}Since I am always looking to expand my wine knowledge, combined with the facts that a) I had no Saturday plans, b) I live so close by and c) I have walked by Federal many times but have never wandered inside, I thought why not take Cathy up on this fun little contest. I headed downtown for the 2:30 tasting time. The exterior of the liquor store is currently undergoing construction, but if you can see the little black circle in the bottom of the shot, that's were I was headed!
It is located adjacent to the Old State House. 
Unsure of what to expect, I entered under the construction facade into a tiny hole in the wall jam packed with wine bottles. 
The staff who were extremely welcoming, noted my interest in the building and and explained to me the hand painted tiles on the wall date back to the 1800's and came over from the Netherlands - specifically the dutch village of Delft. 
The green tiles as seen above the door in the tiny vestibule are extremely rare. 
Onto the wine tasting. 
I love how there are bottles just tucked into the crevices of the walls. 
I felt like I was on a mini adventure as I wandered to the cellar and around tiny hallways filled with boxes and boxes of wine and liquor. 
Our host Peter had a number of Ports for us to taste, all varying in age and complexity. 
We began with a 9 year old Quinta de la Rosa Finest Reserve. 
He explained this was similar to your basic table wine, a less complex port to start. Next we tasted three vintage Burmesters, the first an LVB (Late Vintage Bottle) Porto aged five years (a baby compared) in oak vats in order to preserve the deep color and fresh fruit flavors. The second a 2001 which moved up in complexity and tasted little drier than the previous. The third was a real treat - a 21 year old vintage Colheita Porto.
Aged in small oak casks since 1989, the result, as you can imagine, is a different character all together. 
Tawny in color with an intense aroma, this extremely complex wine with delicate flavors goes down smooth and lingers on the palate. A crowd favorite, we all gladly accepted second and third tastes. 
Peter told stories and offered advice as he poured, such as how to choose wine as a gift for someone: ask how old they are, where they grew up, and what they're having for dinner. Solid. We learned that certain grape varieties are an endangered species. The Pugnitello, a dying vine was actually found in an Italian woman's backyard and brought back to a normal existence. Oh yes, all sorts of fascinating stories were told as I enjoyed these sweet - but not traditionally sweet (the English made them sweet, Peter explained) Port wines in the basement of what was once an Old Belgian Chocolate store and is now the cellar at Federal Wine & Spirits. 
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