Wine stores in Boston???

I’m moving tomorrow. I spent most of the last five years in New Jersey were I had the joy of shopping at Winelibrary, Chambers, Crush, etc (Been in Toronto for the last few months but wont even start on the Ontario wine scene". I am moving to Boston and have NO idea about what stores are good options in the area. Any recs??? My inlaws live 30 minutes from Winelibrary so I will likely still do my heavy shopping there but I will need good local options

Nejaimes in Lenox is the best, but it is a 2 hour drive. Not a fan of most local stores. Glad I am in NY.

My top 5 are Martys, BLM, Blanchards, Lower Falls & Upper Falls/Post Road. While all are not right in Boston, they are all within the 95/93/mass pike corridor for the most part. The shops in downtown are limited with my favorite being Federal Wine and Spirits.

No sales tax in MA and the market is aggressive with pricing so it wouldn’t surprise me if you find that most prices are equal or better to the Wine Library. Of course, Cindy and the other flash sites will always have a deal for you.

Len had a pretty nice cellar list out today if you get the Federal emails.

Nathan,

Keep an eye on the Off Line topic when you get settled and meet up with some of the locals

I moved away from Boston a year ago, but here is my take on wine retail there.

Wine in Boston Metro tends to be a bit on the high side of retail. Definitely watch out for the stores’ various 20% off sales as that tends to put the wine in a reasonable price range.

As for good stores, Marty’s is pretty good, Blanchards as well. Upper Falls has some of the better pricing. BLM is a great wine shop in Allston/Brighton area and they do a free wine tasting on Saturdays where they pour 7-10 wines…however, their wine pricing is definitely on the higher end. Also, look out for Marty’s annual “Killer Cab” tasting. Once a year they invite all of their distributors in to pour top california cabs for free. Expect 45 cabs priced $20-150 each. Finally, The Wine Press in Brookline is probably my favorite shop. They have some reasonable pricing, but the best part of their store was the monthly newsletter where they offered crazy deal prices on really good wine in limited quantities to get you to come into the store. For instance, I bought a bottle of Stag’s Leap Fay for $25, and a couple bottles of Dunn Howell Mountain and Napa Valley for $25 each.

Nathan,

Welcome to the state where the real shot was heard around the world. Marty’s is the place, Peter will take care of you. Table & Vine in western Mass is also worth a trip sometime (take a leaf peeping trip and stop in).

Definitely agree with these two. Marty’s is probably my shop of choice in the greater Boston area. If you’re looking for something downtown I also might recommend Brix, although last I checked (at least at the Financial district shop) they were keeping some pretty upscale wines hanging out on shelves at room temp. Cambridge Wine & Spirits over near Alewife isn’t too shabby; they have a pretty decent selection and do have temp-control storage for their higher end stuff.

Welcome to the area!

One could also add Central Bottle & Provisions in Cambridge, as well as Urban Grape in Chestnut Hill.

Gordon’s in Waltham, especially for French wines. 20% off mixed cases. Delivery in their own car for $10 anywhere in town.

Federal Wine & Spirits in Govt Ctr for French and Italian.

The Wine Bottega in the North End for le vins naturels, preindustrial wines, etc.

And, finally, the little wine shop at Dave’s Fresh Pasta just outside of Davis Sq-Somerville for a small variety of interesting selections. Great sandwiches, too. Mediocre pasta, oddly enough.

Rapid in Stoneham (@ 10 miles north of the city…near 93 and 95/128 intersection) is great in terms of getting you whatever can be gotten in Mass quickly and for the best price.

Peter at Marty’s is my call. Other good suggestions though - Blanchard’s (Allston and West Roxbury), BLM, Federal, and a big shout for Rapid in Stoneham.

Wow. Thanks for all of the recs guys. I will definitely be making the rounds to these shops (and the insider info on tastings and specials is especially helpful)!

All great shops, so thank you peeps for including Marty’s in the list. Some of you recommend my shop, but I don’t recognize your names. Try saying “Hi!” to me will ya?!?!?

Nathan L: I’d be happy to find any wine on your wish list (if I don’t already have it in stock).


By the way, our Killer Cab tasting is Saturday, October 1, from 1 to 4 pm. We’ll have wines from $15 to $200 on the tasting tables, all available at the tasting for 25% regular shelf price (that day only). I’m trying to pare the list down from 9 dozen wines to 5 dozen. I don’t think pouring more than 60 Cabs is prudent with Berserkers showing up!

The Terroirist profiled The Urban Grape in Chestnut Hill today:

http://blog.terroirist.com/?p=5775#more-5775

I have never been there but it sounded interesting.

+1 on sandwiches at Dave’s in Somerville. We took our daughter to visit Tufts this summer and the tour guide suggested Dave’s for lunch. We enjoyed it a lot.

I hate to say it now that Peter is here, but Marty’s is probably the only wine store in the greater Boston area worth going out of your way for. (Disclaimer: A distant but beloved relative works for Marty’s).

BLM used to be a very special place when they were connected to an importer. Back in the day, they had extra low prices on Ridge wines because they were the sole distributor in MA. Same for DeGrazia wines.

With most of the stores mentioned here (other than Marty’s), I would be concerned about storage conditions. Though no one has mentioned the worst offender in this regard: Martignetti.

One other caveat is that there seems to be no gray market in MA, so wines like Giacosa are ridiculously high priced.

Since folks have also mentioned Nejaimes and Table & Vine in Western MA, let me add the Spirit Shoppe in S. Egremont. I am a long-time customer of the first 2, but discovered Spirit Shoppe a few years ago. An excellent shop and they can ship in the state.

One last comment is that it is still very hard to ship into MA, so this will affect your mailing lists if you are on any. Though with your in-laws in NJ, hopefully you can have wine shipped there.

Marty’s is my go-to store especially when Tom and Peter are there.

The cut out bin at Martignetti’s on soldier’s field rd is a gold mine. I recently got some 08 Zind humbrecht gewurz for 11 bucks. The cut out bin is about 20 ft long , 2 sides and often has incredible deals.

Recently a new player has surfaced, Wine Bunker in reading. In June they bought out a bunch of South African Graham Beck wines from the Importer and liquidated them for pennies on the dollar. I bought an 05 cab for under 5 and an 03 shiraz/viognier for 6 bucks a bottle, both normally close to 20/btl. Over the past 2 weeks, they have offered a Faiveley and 09 bordeaux futures deal. Sign up for their email.

Also, don’t forget about Costco in Waltham. They are the biggest retailer in the country and the selection and prices are great . Jorge Ordonez’s Botani , a great muscat from Southern Spain for 13 bucks as well as a rustenburg south african chard for 13

I should have mentioned Vintages: Adventures in Wine in West Concord (and now Belmont as well). They were just getting starting when I last lived in the Boston area (just down the street in Acton), but recent emails show a real strength in Italy and other area, with very competitive pricing: