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CHRIS NELSON ’95: BLUXOME STREET WINERY
Chris Nelson ’95 is co-owner of Bluxome Street Winery, a brand new urban winery in downtown San Francisco’s revitalized SoMa neighborhood. SoMa was a winemaking mecca in the early 1900s. Chris wants to bring both the wine aďŹ cionado and the novice back in time to the heart of San Francisco winemaking. His winery offers a transparent and intimate terroir experience. A chemist by training, Chris and his wine bar aim to awaken the wine taster’s ďŹ ve senses with the art of winemaking. In Bluxome Street Winery’s tasting room, customers gaze out huge 8’ x 10’ windows onto vats of grapes, stainless steel presses, and fermenting oak barrels. On the wine tasting tables, ights of Sauvignon Blanc let the customer savor and compare each glass’ long ďŹ nish. The sip should â€œďŹ‚ow like a wave,â€? Chris elucidates, adding the acidity “opens up the palate.â€? He explains further that the hints of green apple in the wine reect the grape’s natural malic acid, which also exists in sour apples. He grew up in North Carolina’s Research Triangle Park, where his mother was a cancer biologist for the National Cancer Institute and his father a biochemist for PďŹ zer. After Choate, Chris majored in chemistry at Vanderbilt. He was told that while he took to the material, the jacket didn’t quite ďŹ t him; chemistry seemed a little tight in the shoulders for this hockey player, a little too formal for this big Bob Dylan fan. Chris needed to stretch-out his science background to make a custom ďŹ t.
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