A Warm Welcome with Alicia Towns Franken

“Wine is naturally inclusive.”

This is one of many statements that stood out during my conversation with Alicia Towns Franken. I wanted to chat with her – mainly because she’s a legend in the wine industry – but also because she has graciously committed to sharing her expertise with Wine Unify, its awards recipients, and community.

Alicia has been working in the wine business for over twenty-five years. She served as the Wine Director for Boston’s famed Grill 23 & Bar, worked as a wine educator and consultant, and currently runs her own consulting and events business, Towns Franken Consulting, where she hosts private and corporate wine events. Reminiscing on her wine career, Alicia said, “I love the restaurant industry, but I really love events. Events are like welcoming someone into your home.” I could feel the warmth in her voice over the phone, the genuine care for hospitality that she has, and I wished I’d met her earlier in my career. She makes wine feel so welcoming, and likens it to an “ingredient on the table” – a component among many that make great food and great wine such an experience. We laughed together about how we mostly drink white wine and Champagne these days rather than red wines unless it is -5 degrees outside, but then we got down to business, discussing everything from how important quality is to wine selection, prioritizing customer preferences, and her advice to young professionals coming up in the world today.

Beginnings

Alicia began her career as a server at Grill 23 & Bar. She recalls how supportive they were of her, as she started out as a server and rose through the ranks of the restaurant in the years after. Like so many wine professionals, there was one wine that changed everything – a bottle of 1986 Penfolds Grange Hermitage. “Back when it was called that,” she laughs. For her, it was illuminating: “All this glycerin, pepper…I wondered how it could hold all that power in a velvet glove.” This spark led her to have an insatiable appetite for the world of wine, and she offered to do everything to immerse herself in it. She wanted to know if she could restock, if she could learn to read labels, if she could help with inventory.  Within a year, she was running the wine program.

I paused her here to ask what she thought about young wine professionals today. Some take one wine course and expect to be running wine programs. Her response, “You have to do the work.”

In her mind, that includes more than moving boxes and taking inventory, which of course is how many get started. “Education is key, but it is more than one class or one article,” Alicia says. “You have to have a foundation. And you have to recognize and appreciate classics.”

She referenced a young winemaker who wanted to start making a Pinot Gris in the United States, yet when asked about inspirations, admitted that she had never tasted Pinot Gris from Alsace. “We must celebrate creativity and new ideas, but there has to be a respect and reference to the wines that make those emerging styles possible.” She likened this to respecting wisdom in the wine industry.

“There’s room for everyone and everything in this industry. We want to make room for our youth, but we don’t want you to throw us out with the bathwater.”

On Selecting Wine for Wine Lists

One of the biggest challenges for sommeliers and wine directors is balancing three critical pieces: selecting wines for the list that make customers comfortable; introducing customers to new things that will challenge them and expand their palates; and of course, making money. It is all fine and good to have a creative selection featuring new, undiscovered wines, but if all of the wines on the list are unfamiliar, a customer can feel overwhelmed.

Alicia and her team always prioritized quality. “Quality was important whether it was a $30 bottle or a $10,000 bottle. Knowing that something is correct, in balance with alcohol, fruit, and acidity is so important,” she says. “But I also liked to challenge customers. Your job as a sommelier is to help educate, to open up the world of wine, but palates are incredibly personal.”

She continued, making the point that the goal in all of this is to get more people to enjoy wine. “You cannot get mad at a customer for loving what they love. It is not up to me to dictate what they drink. I am there to enhance the experience.”

Alicia and her team, which at the time included only women, all tasted and selected wines for the list at Grill 23 together. Alicia emphasized the importance of multiple perspectives, and fondly recalled a moment with one of her assistants, who asserted a strong preference for merlot. “But,” Alicia explained. “She was from Pomerol! Of course, she loved merlot! She knew it so well and in a different way than any of us that were exposed to it on a regular basis. Really, who doesn’t love Pomerol?” Alicia noted that these sorts of associations were critical to building a wine list; many American consumers might think they don’t like merlot, but perhaps would know that they love right bank Bordeaux. It all comes back to education. 

When I asked Alicia if anything had frustrated her about the wine industry, she said, “Over the past few years, I have felt frustrated by the preciousness of wine. Many young sommeliers are trying to buck tradition and select wines that are unique. That is fine, but a wine should not be painful! A wine should not assault my palate.” Her reference rings true in the world of wine today, where wine lists can seem inundated with natural wines (we both questioned the true meaning of such a category, and whether it is actually definable) or wines that are intentionally crafted to challenge common notions.

I laughed as she elaborated. “I was tasting with this group recently, and all of the wines they brought ended up tasting the same. There was nothing distinguishable about them; they were all trying to break the mold without being interesting. And then someone pulled out a classic wine, from a classic region, and a classic producer, and everyone sat up and paid attention; they were impressed and inspired.” She continued, “Classics are classics for a reason. They belong on a wine list in some capacity.”

Perspectives on the Wine Industry

Alicia fondly recalled how wine drew her in and became an all-encompassing passion, how supportive her employers were, and how working in an industry like wine can connect us all. But she also recalled times when people seemed to be surprised to see a Black woman managing and directing a wine program.

“It’s that surprise factor that always bothers me,” she said. “Of course, most of the high-paying jobs in the wine industry did and still are going to white men. But it should not be surprising that a Black woman holds a position of power in this industry. It’s not remarkable. It all comes back to education and giving someone a chance. A Black woman is just as capable of doing the same job, but they need to be given the opportunity to do it.”

She continued, “Wine can be so welcoming because it’s not about your race or your gender; it’s about your palate. Things frequently happen over a bottle of wine; conversation, connection. There is a lot that can change about the wine industry, of course, but I absolutely love it. And we have to remember that at its heart, wine is naturally inclusive.”

Working with Wine Today 

When I asked Alicia what pulled her away from restaurants, she replied, “My family. The restaurant industry is not conducive to raising a family. Personally, I did not want to be working while everyone else was playing,” she laughed.

She continued, “I wanted to be home for dinner. Sunday through Thursday, we have family dinner. And I want my children to see wine the way that I do – a component of an experience. But I’ll tell you this,” she said, “It was so much easier being a wine director than a parent. When a bottle of wine misbehaves, you can send it back!”

Alicia has successfully turned a career as a wine director at a restaurant into a career of creating events, where she can make people feel even more special. Today, Alicia owns and operates her consulting company, where she draws on her background in the food and wine industry to create memorable experiences for small groups as well as events for hundreds of people. This business has allowed her to stay involved in a career she loves while also being able to spend time with her family, watch her children grow up, and appreciate wine in their own right. Her life in wine proves to aspiring wine professionals that if you work hard, truly care about hospitality, and prioritize what’s most important to you, you really can experience it all.

My conversation with Alicia left me feeling like I’d been speaking with an old friend, sharing a glass of wine, and talking about how wine has shaped us, professionally and personally. Even though we’d just met, she made me feel like I was being welcomed into her world and offered a seat at her table. This is how wine should feel. This is how experiences should feel. When you talk to Alicia, you can see that hospitality is not something the she ever had to be taught, it’s something that she naturally possesses. Her ability to connect with others, make them feel like they are a part of something special, and bigger than them, has undoubtedly defined her career over the years.

As Alicia says, wine has the ability to welcome us, bring us together, and if it’s doing its job, bring us incredible pleasure along the way. Let’s all be sure that we have our glasses ready for what Alicia pours next.

Alicia is on Wine Unify’s Board of Directors, will serve as a mentor, and an ambassador. We couldn’t be more lucky to have her.

Written by Mary Margaret McCamic, Master of Wine, one of Wine Unify’s co-founders.