Victoria Hill Wine, Spirits & Gourmet: An Update on the New Shop

Eight months have now passed since Victoria Hill Wine, Spirits & Gourmet in Melrose replaced the former Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet. I worked at Beacon Hill for about 12 years, and have continued to work at the new Victoria Hill. I previously wrote an update about Victoria Hill at its third month anniversary, and now I want to update my thoughts and insights about the new shop. 

First, Victoria Hill is an artisan wine, beer and spirits shop which is intended to be a destination shop, not merely a neighborhood store. Its objective is to attract customers not only from Melrose but also from all of the surrounding communities. This is done by offering products that aren't available at other local wine and liquor shops, including the big box shops. The diversity of their selection continues to always expand, and have been greatly welcomed by the customers. 

To expand their wine selection, new wine shelves, such as the one pictured above, have been added, allowing the shop to stock even more wine selections. As an example, the shelves above contain Portuguese wines, from Vinho Verde to Port, Madeira to Douro still wines. Spanish wines are on similar new wine shelves.  

There's also a new shelving unit for Sparkling Wines (from Crémant to House Champagne, Cava to Grower Champagne) to Rosé Wines (from Provence to Txakoli, Italy to California). Overall, the shop now stocks approximately 600 wines! 

Victoria Hill also carries about 125 "Natural Wines," which is used as an overall designation for wines that are Biodynamic, organic, sustainable, or similarly produced, whether certified or not. To more easily locate the Natural wines, you simply have to check the new wine price labels, shown above, and look for an "N" in the right hand corner. More Natural wines will be coming in the near future too.  

The wine selections also now come from about 25 different countries, including less commonly available wines from regions including Croatia, Lebanon, Georgia, Armenia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Uruguay, Slovenia, Switzerland, and more. Wines from additional countries will also be added over the next several months.   

I have continued to conduct Wine Tastings every Thursday evening, from 5-7pm, and every Saturday afternoon, from 1-4pm. The tastings showcase diverse wines, exposing many customers to wines, countries and grapes they have never previously sampled. Customers have been very appreciative of this approach, and open to tasting more unique wines. They have often found new favorite wines, buying wines they wouldn't have purchased on their own, wary of buying a wine they've never experienced or knew little about. There have also been plenty of repeat customers who regularly come to the tastings to experience these new wines. 

The shop also conducts Beer Tastings and Spirit tastings on Friday nights. Please come by any of these tastings to expand your palate and taste some delicious and fascinating new wines, beers and spirits.  

Besides the diverse wine selection, the beer and spirits selection has also grown in numbers and diversity. The main beer chiller above contains many different craft beers, including plenty of local selections. The spirits selection has also expanded, including some harder to find items, from Blanton's Bourbon to Chartreuse.

Much positive progress has been made during their first eight months, and the store has plans for additional changes. They are also open to suggestions and recommendations. If you live in Melrose, check out Victoria Hill and see what your new neighborhood wine, beer & spirits shop has to offer. If you live outside Melrose, please also check out Victoria Hill as you are likely to plenty of selections that aren't available at your own neighborhood wine shop. And please come to the wine tastings and learn more about the wonders of wines from all over the world! 

Victoria Hill Wine, Spirits & Gourmet
538 Main Street, Melrose
(781) 665-3332
Hours of Operation: Monday to Wednesday: 10am-8pm, Thursday to Saturday: 10am-9pm; Sunday: 10am-7pm.