It’s our very first guest blog. None other than my momma! She and my dad visited the store yesterday and she had a “Hello Lover” moment on the wine wall. And she had it for the only non-California Chardonnay she’s ever had and liked. So, with no further ado…Blange.

“You know how hearing a song can jog a long forgotten memory? Or maybe a certain smell can suddenly make you remember your grandmother’s kitchen – well I discovered yesterday that the same thing is true with a label on a bottle of wine.

It was probably ten years ago in Tuscany. We were driving from Rome to a Tuscan villa boutique hotel where we (me, my husband, and another couple) were spending a few days. We were certain that we would be able to find a great spot for lunch along the way. This did not happen. And we got lost. By the time we finally reached our destination- way beyond lunchtime – hot, starving, thirsty and  frustrated – we were more than ready to unwind. We were greeted by the hotel manager who immediately made us feel like we were most honored guests in her own home. Tired? Come rest. Hungry? Give us ten minutes to conjure up the perfect repast. Thirsty? A bottle of wine is on the way. We were guided to a table under a grape arbor. A lovely breeze cooled us as we took in the long, long breathtaking view of the Tuscan hills. Ahhhhh! Out came a bottle of Blange, chilled to perfection, light, refreshing, Italian. We were in heaven. It was a meal to remember, satisfying in every way, and a moment in time that I will never forget.

Walking down the long row of wine bottles at The Urban Grape yesterday afternoon, I stopped short. There right in front of me was that memorable bottle of wine: Blange. The bottle itself speaks of summer meals. The glass is clear revealing the pale honey color of the wine within. The label on the bottle is stark white with gold lettering. The most wonderful memory came flooding back to me of that fabulous lunch in the heart of Tuscany. I proceeded to buy a case of Blange: nectar of the gods, light and airy, flowery and perfection for lunches on warm summer afternoons or summer dinners on screen porches. I can’t wait to open my first bottle. Perhaps tonight. It has been a warm summer day on Martha’s Vineyard.”

[My parents have told us this story so many times in the past ten years that I almost feel the same memory when we drink this wine. And now you can too!]

We are nearing the two week anniversary of our opening and it’s hard to believe it’s only been 12 days. It has gone by so fast, but has also felt like we’ve been open for months. Things are definitely starting to click at the store, and we’re getting excited about all of the opportunities that lay ahead of us. In order to share all of our news, we are starting a new blog entry that you will see from time to time. For the moment I am calling it “Grape News!” (get it?) but given that I’ve had two glasses of wine, I might be thinking the name is cuter than it really is. So, I’m open to suggestions!

Inventory – About 99% of our wine inventory is in house and shelved, but TJ loves to shop and can’t stop buying wines (we used to take care of this shopaholic issue by sending him to Target, but he’s been too busy…hence an incredible selection of wines). All of this adds up to mean that our inventory will remain fresh and interesting. We are starting to taste the portfolios of smaller distributers and wine makers, which means we have some incredibly unique and highly allocated wines on our wall.

Our craft beer section is now home to over 100 craft beers, available in six-packs and bombers. Starting this weekend our resident beer guy, Noah, will start unraveling the beers for us with a weekly guest blog.

As for the bourbon section, it is growing daily. I’ve never seen so many beautiful bottles in one place and wish that I liked the stuff just so I could have an excuse to buy one. We are lucky to have many bottles of the highly allocated Pappy Van Winkle (we used to have to get it from my brother in Texas), among many other hard to find bourbons, scotches and whiskeys.

Tastings – Starting next week The Urban Grape will be offering free wine tastings on Thursday and Friday nights from 5-7 pm and Saturday afternoons from 1-3 pm. The ever entertaining and charming Ryan Sansosti from Ruby Wines will be in the store on Thursday July 1, pouring Charles & Charles Rose, Forefront by Pine Ridge Sauvignon Blanc, Falchini Vernaccia di San Gimignano, Two Paddocks Picnic Pinot Noir, and Aramis Shiraz Cabernet. We look forward to seeing you at the first of these weekly tastings!

Events – Our media day last week generated lots of fun events that we can’t wait to announce in more detail. But as a tease, we can tell you that we will soon be hosting a Yelp Elite event for Yelp’s best reviewers, a Boston Uncorked event, a Second Glass Crash Course, a blogger event hosted by Michelle from The Economical Eater that focuses on wines under $15, and a Champagne tasting followed by a showing of Eclipse at our neighboring movie theatre. If you are interested in the Eclipse event on June 10 (late afternoon showing followed by a Champagne tasting and Team Edward vs Team Jacob face-off), please let me know as soon as possible so that I can start to get a head count.

Our events kick off on Wednesday June 30th from 6-9 pm with TJ pouring Cooper Hill Pinot Gris and Piazzo Barbera at Ted Baker on Newbury Street while they preview their new clothing collection. Be sure to stop by and say hello to him!

Media Visits – Our media tour has continued this week with visits from Stephen Meuse, who writes the Boston Globe’s amazing Plonk column, Julia Timakhovich from the Boston Wine Examiner, the well-respected wine writer Jonathon Alsop from the Boston Wine School and, in a flurry of love and honey, Chef Robin White – who declared on Twitter (@canapes45) that anyone “within 100 miles” should immediately visit The Urban Grape!

Odds and Ends – Look for our first newsletter on July 1. If you’ve not yet signed up, please do so by clicking here, or leave your email with us at the store. Our amazing triptych by Mary Steinbacher has arrived and is being installed on the back wall tomorrow. Our logo’d Urban Sampler boxes have arrived and look fantastic – even better than we hoped!

And we got a little extra signage on our windows, which should help passersby know we are open and ready for biz-nezz.

Last but not least, our Enomatic selections will change on MONDAY, so make sure you stop in to see our next 16 selections of wine – free to taste any time!

You may find this hard to believe, but yesterday I took a day off. This is a huge compliment to my staff that I felt comfortable leaving the store in their care at the tender age of nine days old. But my brain was fried, and I needed to see my kids, my wife, my house, and do a few errands…like go to the bank and do a week’s worth of deposits!

The Urban Grape is partnering with The Capital Grille on their Master Wine Tasting Event, and Hads and I had been invited in a few weeks ago to taste all the wines and have dinner. It had been years since we’d been to The Capital Grille, so we decided to head there for dinner last night. We knew we were in for a treat, and were excited to actually speak to each other for the first time in weeks!

The first thing we noticed was the exceptional service. The staff has been exceptionally trained to make every diner feel like a VIP. We were greeted by name by the hostesses, and then warmly greeted by our friend Dina Trueheart, the Sales and Marketing Manager at the Newbury Street location (The Urban Grape is located just across the street from the Chestnut Hill location, but we live near the Back Bay location, so that’s where we headed last night). From there we met the GM Chris and our waiter Christopher, both of whom were eager to give us an incredible dining experience. Christopher basically had Hadley eating out of the palm of his hand at “hello,” and sealed the deal when he said looks familiar because he has “one of those Massachusetts faces.”

For the next two hours, we ate. And drank. And ate. And drank. And then to end we polished off two desserts after insisting that we would just have a bite. Our tasting consisted of Figs with Goat Cheese and Proscuitto with a Balsamic Reduction, Calamari with Hot Peppers and Lemon, Oysters, Beef Carpaccio with an Arugula Salad, Heirloom Tomato and Mozzarella Salad, Bone-in Kona Rubbed Sirloin with Shallot Butter, Herb Seasoned Kansas City Sirloin, Asparagus with Hollandaise, Haricot Vert, Lobster Mac and Cheese, Au Gratin Potatoes, Coconut Creme Pie and Flourless Chocolate Cake.

I’m not even kidding.

My steak was incredible, and a seasonal special that they are just running for the summer. I’ve never squeezed lemon on a steak before, but I was glad I did last night. I don’t know how they managed to make a huge steak taste like a “light” dinner, but they did.

With all of this incredible food we tasted through the ten wines chosen by Master Sommelier George Miliotes. The Urban Grape carries all of these wines, and while I had tried many of them, there were a few I was curious to learn more about. As a group, the wines were interesting and memorable and paired very nicely with all of the food we sampled. My favorites were the Freemark Abbey Cabernet Sauvignon Blend from Napa Valley and the Craggy Range Te Kahu Merlot from New Zealand. Hads loved the Craggy Range Te Muna Road Sauvignon Blanc (New Zealand), The Teruzzi & Puthod Terre di Tufi from Tuscany and the Craggy Range Te Kahu Merlot. While not a favorite for our palette, the Cambria Bench Break Chardonnay from California is the epitome of a big California Chard. If this is your type of Chardonnay, run don’t walk to pick this up!

While all of the wines were outstanding, it really was the wines from New Zealand that had us raving (the two from Craggy Range and the Wild Rock Cupid’s Arrow Pinot Noir). We could drink these wines all night, and, in fact, we did! The Master Wine Tasting event is open to all diners at The Capital Grille from now to September 5th. The current wines will switch out on July 26 and will be replaced with wines from California, Spain and Australia. The cost is $25 per person, and you can sample all the wines or just chose a few that you’d like to pair with your meal. Hads and I didn’t have our camera, but if you’d like to see some pictures of the food and read another great review of the event, please check the Wellesley Wine Press blog, which reviewed the same event yesterday.

I can’t end the blog without talking about the coconut creme pie. We really were full when it came to the table and really did swear that we were just going to have a bite. But Hads and I demolished that pie like we hadn’t seen food in a month. Literally could not get enough of it. I’m going to be dreaming about that pie until we can get back there again!

After you’ve tasted the wines at The Capital Grille you can purchase them from The Urban Grape. And if you sample them at the Back Bay location and live in the city, don’t worry! Because we travel back into the city every night we are happy to deliver the wines to you.

Thanks again to The Capital Grille for a wonderful dining experience. It’s one we hope to repeat again soon!

If you’ve been to the store, you have probably noticed that while TJ loves most wine varietals, regions and styles, he has a real affinity for the big bold reds (7-10 R on The Urban Grape progressive scale). I love these wines too, having grown up in a family that believes if it wasn’t grown in Italy or Napa then it isn’t really worth drinking (my brothers and I have diversified, my parents not so much).

Given this love of everything jammy, fruity and bold, you might be surprised to hear that come the first signs of spring, TJ and I start obsessing over all things Rose. Rose wine, Rose bubbles, Rose in rocks glasses with an ice cube…Rose, Rose, Rose. So when TJ received a bottle of 2009 Domaines Ott Rose as an opening day present from one of his suppliers, we knew it wouldn’t be long before we dove head first into the bottle. Father’s Day provided just the right occasion.

First off, the bottle. It’s breath-taking – shaped like a genie bottle and promising to grant you any wish you may desire. Peeling back the foil revels the top of the cork printed with “Domaines Ott,” which was a touch I really loved as it was unexpected and fun. The wine itself is delicately shaded, lightly pink with a faint salmon hue. Hand picked and aged for six to nine months in oak casks, the rose is a blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Grenache, Cinsault and Syrah.

Heralded as “the world’s finest rose” our expectations were quite high, and it didn’t disappoint. We both felt it had great flavor and quite a bit of texture to it, which kept it from becoming too “Kool Aid-y,” a scientific term we use for Rose wines that almost go down TOO easily. We paired it with a Thai Beef salad that had lime, peanuts, mint and hot peppers in it, and the food did not overpower the wine at all.

And on a hot muggy night such as last night, who wouldn’t look forward to this ice cold glass of rose (especially served in these beautiful Domaines Ott glasses!)?

Domaines Ott is highly allocated and hard to come by, but we are fortunate enough to have two cases at The Urban Grape. If the weather stays this hot, you may have to fight me for it!

It’s that time again, Father’s Day.  And if you’re like me you’ve left your shopping until the last minute. Although I guess this year I did have a good reason. The boys and I are taking TJ to Aquitaine for brunch on Sunday and I’ve promised to find him a custom made iPhone cover that has The Urban Grape logo on it. I hope to have that in hand for next year’s Father’s Day. My own father has placed an enormous wine and booze order at the store and to that we will add a fun bottle that he can put into his collection. My father has never happily ventured below a “7R” on our progressive rating system, so I know just where to shop for him.

As for YOUR dad, TJ picked out a special bottle from four different price ranges, all of which will be at the store through Sunday. Come on in and pick one of these up for your dad (or baby daddy). Or, better yet, bring him in for a wine tasting and let him pick out a great bottle with the help of our staff!

Under $30 – Educated Guess Cabernet Sauvignon 2007 $22

I think we are sort of obsessed with this wine. It’s in our Enomatic and we’ve written about it before on our blog. It’s just an all around solid Cab that won’t break the bank. Inexpensive enough to pop open on a Wednesday night, and nice enough to serve to dinner guests. This is a big boy, weighted “9R” on The Urban Grape’s progressive scale.

Under $75 – Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon 2005 $63

This is a fruit forward, big, tasty Cab with flavors of red currant, cherry, blackberry, blueberry and vanilla (a residual of oak aging). This wine will taste great now, but is also a good candidate for cellaring if your dad is into that kind of thing. The winemakers believe the 2005 will peak around 2018. It’s got a great value for a wine that is worthy of adding to a collection. The Jordan is an “8R” on our progressive scale, which means it is still approachable even if your dad likes a more medium bodied red wine.

Under $150 – La Spinetta Barbaresco Vigneto Valeirano 2004 $140

Ah, La Spinetta. How we love this winemaker. This is a special bottle of wine for a special occasion, especially if that occasion includes red meat. It’s a complex wine with light spice and fine tannins. If you’re like me you will also love that rhino on the label. Makes me smile every time I see it. If you give this one to your dad make sure you stick around to drink it with him! “7R”

And Above – Chateau Lafite Rothschild Bordeaux 2000 $2500

Can you go wrong with a wine that has a history as deeply layered and interesting as the Chateau Lafite Rothschild? The original vines were planted in the 1670′s and the vineyard has lived through family drama, lack of heirs, war, and 300+ years of ups and downs. A favorite of Thomas Jefferson, it continues to impress and set the standard for Bordeaux today. The 2000 “will reveal its splendor with age,” and comes from one of the best modern vintages. You can find this in our temperature and humidity controlled Eurocave.

Scotch – Macallan 18 Year $165

I think TJ pulled this bottle as a hint, should the iPhone cover not work out. He loves Macallan and, frankly, it seems most men agree with him. This is a great bottle of Scotch and a surefire hit for Father’s Day. Aged in Spanish oak casts, the Macallan has a beautiful Mahogany color and tastes of dried fruits, spice and orange.

If you need a little more inspiration to visit the store, please read The Economical Eater‘s fantastic review of The Urban Grape! She was particularly impressed with our huge selection of wines under $30!

It’s going to be a while before TJ can post a blog as he is still getting about 4 hours of sleep a night and drowning in inventory that needs to get on the shelves, punch lists that need to be completed, and staff that needs to be fully trained. It will all get done, but his days are flying by and he barely makes a dent in his to do list. The other night he forgot to eat dinner, the poor guy, and let me tell you that just doesn’t happen very often with TJ!

Yesterday we really were not able to accomplish anything on our to do lists, but it was for worthwhile and exhilarating reason. The Urban Grape hosted its first media day! From 11:30 am to 8 pm, we talked ourselves silly to all sorts of creative and interesting bloggers, reporters and radio/tv hosts. Each and every one of them was supportive of the risk we are taking with the progressive set up of the store and felt that The Urban Grape has the potential to be not just a fine wine shop, but a destination wine shop. Insert sound of prayers being answered right…here!

For months TJ and I have fallen into bed at night completely exhausted, only to find ourselves wide awake staring at the ceiling two minutes later. We knew in our heart of hearts that TJ’s concept for The Urban Grape was a winner, but there is always the possibility that it just won’t resonate with people, or that some major detail will fall through the cracks and the start out of the gate will look more like a stumble. When we breathlessly read the first blog reviews of The Urban Grape this morning it was like a huge weight had been lifted. Yes, there is work to be done to make the store the best version of itself, and yes, we have holes in our inventory and yes, we are not exactly sure how to run our computer system, but the vision has translated. The Urban Grape is no longer just a passion or a dream, it is a reality…and dammit, I think we just may have nailed it!

But you need to be the judge. Read the reviews below, come in and experience the store, and let us know what you think!

Bonjour Bruxelles – The Urban Grape

GirlyGreenGirl – Urban Grape: First Impressions

TravelEatLove – The Urban Grape

There are more reviews to come tomorrow, as well as lots of cool events that got cooked up and maybe even a television appearance for TJ in the not too distant future!

Everyone seems to be loving the tasting machines, and we’ve been selling a lot of the 16 featured wines. But one wine seems to have everyone talking – the Picpoul de Pinet from Domaine Felines Jourdans. I personally think this is a pretty perfect wine, especially to pair with shellfish or a light, citrusy fish dinner.

First, the grape. Picpoul de Pinet is one of the oldest varietals and is grown almost exclusively in the Languedoc region of France. In recent decades it has primarily been used as a blending grape, especially the red Picpoul. The white grape (Picpoul de Pinet Blanc) has had a rightful resurgence and winemakers are again featuring 100% Picpoul wines. Much to my personal delight.

The Domaine Feline Jourdan version features a blend of grapes grown on three different vineyards. Each vineyard’s terrain and soil vary greatly, and the winemakers believe it is this layering of flavors that makes their wine so special.  The lowest elevation is the Felines vineyard and abuts the Thau Lagoon and the Mediterranean Ocean. Don’t you wish you could live there too? The grapes grown in this vineyard are citrusy and fresh. The La Coulette vineyard is a higher elevation and benefits from the Mediterranean winds which keep the grapes warm and the ground moist. These grapes taste of distinct fennel and have a roundness of flavor. The last vineyard is the Les Cadastres, and is on the east slope of a long hill. The winemakers note that the soil on this slope dates back to the Jurassic period and while we are not sure what that really means, we are sure that if they find a dinosaur bone there our three year old will be on the next plane to France. The grapes grow near a pine forest that protects them from the Mistral and Marin winds. These happy little grapes taste of exotic fruits and have a flowery aroma.

Once blended, the wine has a lightness but complexity that makes it very fun to drink. This is a wine that will keep you interested from the first glass to the last. And did we mention that Picpoul de Pinet means “lip stinger” in French? So named because the high acidity of the grapes.

We’ll be featuring the Picpoul for at least another week, so come in and try it today!

Yesterday was our opening day and it was a truly amazing experience. We would have blogged about it last night, but we were both beyond fried (case in point, while talking to a customer yesterday I had trouble remembering what day of the week we are doing our Tuesday Tweets…um, that’d be Tuesday!). It took many late nights but our amazing staff and tribe of unpaid helpers got 85% of our inventory logged into the computer system, tagged with prices, and up on the wall. I still can’t believe we did it!

There were lots of great moments from yesterday. Far and above was the incredible welcome we got from our new community. Whether it was neighbors who have watched the store develop, local businesses who are excited to see us move in, or customers who stumbled in thinking they had gone into Rosie’s for a cup of coffee and then stayed to sip some wine (it happened twice!), everyone was generous, kind, and embracing. So many old friends came from near and far to lend their support that a few times the store started to feel like our living room. And that was exactly right, because it really is an extension of our home and we’re glad it felt that way to so many people.

We’re thrilled that everyone responded so enthusiastically to the progressive set up of the store. The layout was a relief to the more novice wine buyers and intriguing to the more experienced, which was exactly what we had been hoping for. The tasting machines were also a big hit (surprise!); and yes, you really can taste all 16 wines for free!

I loved the sweet woman Chris who came in and asked if our baby was feeling better. So people really ARE reading the blog! Our top sellers of the day were Kung Fu Girl, Alice Prosecco and Educated Guess, all wines that we have profiled on the site.

Tomorrow we will get back to telling you more about tasty wines with interesting stories, but for tonight a great big THANK YOU and a couple of more pictures.

It really is 72 feet of wine!

The Urban Sampler 4-pack with our craft beer and spirits behind.

TJ has been living at the store, and I’ve been living with the kids so I haven’t seen the store in a couple of days. Remember the scene in Sex and the City when Carrie walks into the Manolo Blahnik store and purrs, “Hello, Lover…”? Well, that’s how I felt when I walked into the store today. Wait, not about TJ (well, yes about TJ…yikes…you know what I mean), but about all the old friends I saw on the wall of wine. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos so tonight’s blog will just be a pictorial journey of the store as of about 3 o’clock today.

Looking forward to opening the Masi Amarone

TJ calls this "Nectar of the Gods" with a gorgeous label to boot.

The Enomatics, just waiting to get filled up with our tasting wines.

Beautiful sake bottles

This is how I plan on spending my summer, right here...

I'm feeling very proud of this picture. Maybe I'm just overtired...

Some people who shall remain nameless have pre-ordered a few cases of this right here. Okay, it was my parents.

The Urban Grape - a little something for everyone.

Artisanal tequilas

Why, hello in there.

Yes, that does say Beer for Punks...

Why has TJ not informed me of the Alice Rose?? So excited to try it!

When we say wall of wine, we mean wall of wine. 72 feet of it, actually!

Okay, lots of wine left to inventory and stock. See you Saturday!

The picture is blurry, but your eyes do not deceive you. That IS wine on the floor of The Urban Grape. About 40 cases throughout the store, and another 450 cases coming tomorrow – starting at 7 AM!

One of the cases you see is filled with the Le Vigne Di Alice Prosecco, a delicious and delicate sparkling wine that we are really loving right now.

The bottle is particularly breathtaking – it’s made of clear glass that shows off the just-a-hint-of-yellow color of the wine within. It’s hard not to pop open one of these bad boys right now to celebrate this momentous day.

Only two days to stock the shelves, train the staff and bang through the construction punch list. We may be crazy, but we’re having fun!

(Please remember that our new opening day is Saturday June 12. We will be open from 9:30AM to 11:00PM. See you then!)