Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Sweet Thoughts: New Wine Store

As I mentioned previously, three stores in Melrose will soon be selling wine. One of those stores is Sweet Thoughts, which is owned by Carl Caratozzolo and Jerry Pulaski. This store is located at 504 Main Street, next to Turner's Seafood.

They sell a variety of items, including giftware, gourmet foods and chocolates. I stopped by the store recently to ask them a few questions about the wine they will soon stock. As this is a new endeavor for them, they will partially learn as they go along, adjusting matters when necessary. To start, they will stock about 50-60 different wines, which might expand if there is later found to be a need and desire by the customers.

Obviously with such a limited selection, they really need to be careful what they select. I learned that one of their distributors will be Adonna Imports, which is one of my favorite purveyors of Italian wines. So they certainly seem to be choosing some excellent wines to carry. I suspect they will take great care in which wines they stock. They will hold wine tastings, though any schedule is tentative. They should have tastings at least once a month.

They are not trying to be a full service wine store. Wine will simply be an additional item to complement their other wares. It seems many people come to the store to buy gifts, and wine often can be a nice addition with some gourmet foods and glassware. They have a very loyal customer base and hope the addition of wine will enhance that base.

It is an interesting store and worth checking out. I'll be sure to report back again when they finally start carrying wine. The fact they will carry wines from Adonna Imports will be a good reason to drop by and check out their wares.

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