The Urban Grape

If I could give this wine store and the entire staff a million stars I would. We recently hosted my friends bachelorette here at this incredible establishment and I was blown away by the support, kindness, and professionalism Urban Grape displayed from the moment I reached out to the actual night of. The overall team and event organizer (Brittany!!) were the best to work with throughout the whole process and helped to make the night oh so special. Above the impeccable customer service, the catered food and detailed (&customized!) wine tasting menu were out of this world and our bride to be (&all of our dear friends) are still talking about how wonderful it was. Thank you to the entire team at Urban Grape for making our night so memorable! You are the absolute best and cannot wait to come back!!

The Urban Grape isn’t just a wine shop—it’s a community, a family, and a place that truly changed my life. I first walked in as a customer, drawn in by the incredible selection and welcoming vibe, and I kept coming back because every visit felt like a new adventure. The staff always took the time to share their knowledge, recommend the perfect bottle, and make wine feel approachable, no matter your experience level. That passion and warmth inspired me so much that I eventually joined the team—and spent over two incredible years learning, growing, and falling even more in love with wine. Working at UG showed me firsthand just how special this place is. The progressive scale system makes choosing wine easy and fun, but more than that, the people here create an environment that feels truly welcoming to everyone. Sadly, I’m moving and have to say goodbye, and leaving is bittersweet. The Urban Grape has been such a huge part of my life, and I’ll always be grateful for the memories, the friendships, and the incredible wines I discovered along the way. If you love wine, this is the place to be. You won’t just find a great bottle—you’ll find a place that feels like home. UG, I’ll miss you more than words can say!

I was extremely excited to come and explore the store. Chip, greeted my sister and we shared that this was our first visit to the store. he gave us an amazing experience! I must say he wasn’t the first person to great us and we were so glad he stop us from leaving ! He truly turned our experience around and quickly. he explained the how the store was set up and even educated us on a lot of wines. he also recommended a lot of wines (I purchased one) He even got me signed up to receive weekly newsletters from the store. I also spoke with Emily and she informed me about the special Tuesdays, let’s just say I can not wait to come back. I’m excited to be apart of The Urban Grape Community. My favorite part of this visit was the staff weekly pick. How amazing is that! The owners value their employees opinions. It’s also the perfect pitstop in the store for when you just don’t know what to try next!

Socially conscious and highly delicious. Best part of the experience here? The staff. Highly knowledgeable, personable, kind and helpful! Learning about the progressive drinking scale is a treat and the selection is insane. Everything is intentional, from the lighting fixtures to the counters. Big bonus: you can order online and they deliver on the Boston area! Can’t miss here, and can’t wait to go back again.

Great selection! Wife and I are always looking for new places where wine come from and they had a great selection of South African wine and will try a Long Island rose we bought. Overall great selection from around the world with a unique organization system for those intimidated by the wonderful world of wine!

Great store but wish they didn’t put “progressive scale” stickers on all of the wine bottles. They could show the (subjective) progressive scale using a little tag secured with rope or something like that, but it ruins the art of the bottle. The stickers are also very hard to take off, and if giving to someone as a gift, sticker is a bit tacky. The way they are sorted in the store by the scale is helpful and enough. Wine bottles are art, not meant for additional stickers.

Recently worked with The Urban Grape team for a corporate networking event and had a fantastic experience! Not only did Brittany have a great handle on all aspects of our event but she has a great relationship with another local vendor (Boardeaux) that streamlined our vendor management tenfold! Everything from our first meeting, thoughtful wine selections, through to day of execution was wonderful! I also have to highlight Alyssa who was our wine educator for the event and received great praise from our attendees. Thank you UG team and hope to work with you all again in the future!

Incredibly knowledgeable staff and an amazing selection of wines beyond the same old, same old you’ll see at your local liquor store. I’m always impressed with the down-to-earth guidance I get from the team here—always helpful, never snooty. Whether you want to select a nice bottle and trust that you’ll get what you’re looking for or explore a new wine based on types you’ve enjoyed in the past, you can trust that you’re in the right hands. I don’t know how they do it but everyone that I’ve come across here has been remarkably approachable and knowledgeable without remotely dipping into snobbery. Not the same for other shops that carry similarly off-the-beaten-path gems. They genuinely want to find you the wine that matches your taste and budget.

The thing I love most is the owners. They have a great mission of making wine more accessible to drinkers as well as makers. They specialize in supporting small businesses in selling wine, alcohol, liquor, and beer. They have scholarships for people who want to study wine making. Every Thursday they have tastings for the public. And they just opened up a new store in the Shaw neighborhood in DC.

Super modern, well curated wine shop with something for everyone. Knowledgeable assistance and a fun environment! It's set up by flavor profile, as opposed to region or varietal. That can be a bit confusing for those of us knowledgeable about wines, but it also makes you scan more of the store - and sometimes find unique bottles! Definitely a funky, hip wine store for the contemporary wine shopper.

Not a fan of the service model or their numbering system. It's exclusive and snobby, makes for an off putting experience if you're just looking for a nice bottle of wine

I walked in and was immediately greeted. Lots of wine, but I could see it was a more unusual collection. Rahoul listened to what I like in wine and what I was looking for. He offered suggestions and descriptions. I chose a white and a red. It was a fun conversation and I really enjoyed the exchange. I am sipping the white now.. Fabulous!!

We held a wine tasting at Urban Grape for the female members at our firm and it was wonderful. The staff was knowledgeable, willing to go the extra mile to support the concept we had in mind and made the overall experience seamless. Brittany was a helpful thought partner in bringing our event to life in a way that worked for our specific needs. The food provided by BoardsbyMo was fresh, delicious and the exact amount we were looking for to allow people to snack while they sip. Our wine educator was warm, funny and easily read the group to keep things short and fun. We will most certainly be back in the future.

The wine is great for those who can afford the selection, I think they could also make an effort to bring in more affordable natural wines. However, my low rating is purely for the horrible service. Hospitality has not aligned with the service from my experience, and that factor made it easy to go elsewhere.

I had read some articles about the store and liked the story behind it. Dropped in during one of the free public tastings they offer. There wasn't much by the way of info provided about the wine, just offering samples of a few wines. The store is set up using their proprietary progressive scale which I read about online and sounded interesting, but in practice without having a point of reference to begin with I wouldn't know how to shop and pick a wine there. I thought with the wine tasting they might have a few wines across the spectrum so you could then have a frame of reference but that wasn't the case. Store staff weren't particularly friendly, the cashier at checkout seemed annoyed I didn't have a profile set up and that I asked for a receipt.

I am a snobby non-alcoholic. I always love to find cool drinks. This was one of the non-alcoholic wine options they offered and although it is a bit pricey at $25 a bottle it was delicious! Even my sister who loves a nice glass of sparkling rose was impressed! We need more brands like this and more stores and bars to carry please!

Ralph is so kind and very helpful! such a cute shop :) So many options and they wrap the bottles up so cute

Urban Grape was the MVP of my Covid spring. I'm so grateful I had the chance to virtually meet Lydia and the UG crew as they guided me to tastings with makers all over the world. Early in quarantine, I found out about the UG's experimental new virtual tasting format. I didn't know anything about wine, but wanted to learn more-- and what better time? I ordered the Drink Progressively book (authored by Urban Grape's founders, TJ and Hadley) and attended the first tasting, where we learned about wine, the Progressive scale, and how to chill out and have fun with your wine. It was awesome and I immediately signed up for more classes. The format is great: classes and wines are listed online a few weeks in advance. Pick what you like and sign up for contact-free delivery (or pick up), and like magic, wine appears at your door and the wine maker appears on your screen. Classes vary depending on the wine maker: sometimes you learn more about the process and this type of wine, other times it's more of a story about the vineyard or winemaker themselves. My favorite was a Lambrusco maker who zoomed in from Italy. Beyond these solo tastings, you can also arrange a private class for groups like professional organizations or your work team. I had the pleasure of working with Lydia on two very different formats, one where the priority was budget and the other where some wine aficionados in the group had a lot of input into the planing. Both tastings were excellent and such a fun team building experience! I can't recommend Urban Grape highly enough, and hope you'll be able to sample some of their epic wines soon.

Love this place! First stopped by in the midst of the pandemic and made my selections a la their "covid counter" While it would have been lovely to browse in store the attendant more than made up for it. She was able to produce a variety of selections from my rather muddled requests. I ended up with three bottles that I quite liked and unfortunately dissappeared shortly after being brought home. The next time we stopped by all restrictions had been lifted so we were able to roam the store freely. We were prompty greeted by Brett...or maybe its was Brent. Whatever we were greated by a gentleman and a scholar who demonstrated a vast knowledge of wine but also knew history too. I see you BretBrent. My sister peppered him with a never ending array of questions some wine based, some cultural, hell even some philosophical. And instead of ushering us out to go find the nearesr library...or therapist, he answered all of our (ahem her) questions with ever growing aplomb. It's clear they hire really passionate knowledgeable staff who can cater to people like big sis who know all about wine and to philistines like myself who's most poignant wine inquires are usually along the lines of "Is it sweet or nah?" Check it it out.

A lifesaver! I live right across the street, and the convenience of ordering from here is amazing. The website offers many beers/wines and if you're unsure of which you're feeling there are filters to help you out in narrowing down price points, regions, etc. It takes less than five minutes for me to place my order, and then I just cross the street and they bring the order right out (already paid for) and even if I choose a bit of a later pick-up time. Great wine, awesome prices, and perfect curbside pick-up!

Very nice selections of wines. I discovered this place from a online tasting and decided to give them a try. I first order was home delivered and arrived pretty fast considering my location was well outside city limits. My tastes are primarily reds and they have a variety of types and ratings. The website ordering is easy and quick and all the available wines are updated frequently. Pricing is pretty good for the better quality wines but the more popular bottles go quickly. Definitely worth adding to your list of wine suppliers.

Back in September, I wrote a pretty harsh review about Urban Grape South End. After years of shopping here, their service had really fallen off. Apparently, they were going through some growing pains. I'm pleased to report that I've been back 3-4 times over the past month or two and UG is back! The new sales people are consistent, helpful, available, and friendly. They are deeply knowledgeable about the wines and work hard to match one's palate with one's purchase. It looks like they've figured it out. Keep it up Urban Grape!

The trendy way of buying and tasting wine Came in to see what the fuss was about. So basically you can taste all of the wines they have on their hand dandy tasting machine and apparently you buy one for your home for a couple thousand bucks. The staff is very helpful and knows if we could be wind tasting in there all day we would. The point of the tastings is to have a better understanding of. Which wine you want to buy from their walls, based on their interesting categories. They also have a beer section and DIY 6 packs!

I'm a beer guy, so I'm only focusing on that part of their inventory. I have been here before a few times, but saw another reviewer's rec to get your beer at Bacco's, due to their selection, so I went there first... nope. If you want variety, Urban Grape has 3 to 5 times more beers, all available as singles. So, I got dinner at Bacco's and walked to Urban Grape for the beer (better beers, cheaper, and variety). Heck, visit both and see for yourself, they are about 6 blocks apart.

Never shop at a store that marks up pappy van winkle 1000%. Who knows what else they're marking up. Their beer selection is slim and also overpriced. The help is also a bit snooty for my taste. Pro tip: Check out Baccos for a better beer selection and go to the Star Market down the street for more reasonably priced wine.

I buy a lot of wine. A lot. Like a locker full. I don't buy wine at UG usually (unless there's a sale on a bottle - I've gotten a few old vintage Brunellos at a decent price - but I don't really see many worthwhile sales). The mark up is significantly higher than most other wine shops in the greater Boston area. Paying $80 for a bottle of 2016 Chappellet Cab that is 33%(!) cheaper at Total Wine is bananas, for example. I get that Total Wine is generally the cheapest but that's an insane mark up. That said, the owners are nice, the staff is hit or miss but generally there to help, free tastings, good location near work, the private tastings are good for an office event, and the small but decent liquor selection (also overpriced but better deals can be had here) is good for a convenient bottle on the way to Back Bay station. The only time I shop here for wine is when I need a bottle of rosé or something similar for a dinner party or something else at a friend's place in the South End. Paying $25 for a $15 bottle of rosé feels better than $80 for a $53 bottle, I guess!

Urban Grape is my absolute favorite wine shop in Boston. The selection is wonderful, but what really sets UG apart is their fun, friendly, and knowledgable staff. Every time I walk up, I am greeted with such lovely people (most of which know my name, and go-to wine order) and I always walk away smiling. All of the UG staff are extremely helpful and willing to answer any questions or provide suggestions upon request. I highly recommend this wine shop to all of my friends and neighbors - so definitely give them a try! -Molly (your fav Savage Brut neighbor :))

The only thing I don't love about Urban Grape is that it is not near where I live... but that's more my fault than theirs. I love how the wines are classified and organized. I love their interesting selection of wines, many of which are from small batches and interesting wineries all over the world. I love the free weekend tastings. We usually leave with a purchase from the offerings. I love that the staff can make knowledgeable recommendations. I love that they keep track of your purchases to help you make more informed selections in the future. I love that it is right by the Back Bay T stop. I love that they allow dogs. Highly recommend!

Love shopping here! The staff never makes me feel self conscious about my lack of alcohol knowledge and I've loved every recommendation they've given. Highly recommend!

Great selections of wines. The staff is also incredibly helpful and knowledgeable and can guide you in the right direction if you don't know much. Great place!

The Urban Grape is a great new addition to the South End. My first visit to the store was this past Sunday for a beer and food pairing session called 'Beer for Wine Lovers'. We sampled 5 different kinds of beer and ate mini dishes prepared by the Mei Mei food truck. While we sampled everything, we learned a little foodie knowledge about the beer, how to pair it with food, and the best glassware to use. For only $20 it was a good amount of food and a fun Sunday night activity. The store has a trendy and open atmosphere with a lot of space for group tastings. They mentioned hosting a birthday party there last weekend. Just by passing the store I wouldn't normally think to shop there because it looks pretty fancy. Since my palate can't tell the different between a $100 bottle and Charles Shaw I tend to stick with cheaper wines. But, they mentioned that they had a big selection of wines in the $8 to $15 dollar range, which is a huge plus for me. I had a great time at the event and enjoyed learning more about their products so I plan to look for future tastings and events here.

This wine store is pretty much my happy place, even if I've only been once!! TJ (the store owner) is absolutely brilliant and friendly, and explained his wine organization system to me in a way that blew my mind-like Pandora Radio of wines! I was lucky enough to stumble upon a tasting this evening with a sommelier and an excellent selection of bottles, and everyone made it an easy and accessible experience. I don't live in Boston, but I would make an excuse to come to Beantown just to get back here!

BougHt some wine Beware of website descriptions Advertised one thing and delivered. Another and didn't recognized the mistake Trust BUT VERIFY

This is a super neat liquor store tucked away in in Back Bay/South End, by Back Bay Station. They have a really nice selection of wines (whites, reds, roses, you name it), liquor (vodka, whiskey (Japanese whiskey too!), rum, whatever you desire) and beer (ranges from Corona 12-packs to more craft beers you can buy one off for $5-9+ a bottle. For beer, its marginally pricier than your local supermarket. But if you're looking for a specific kind of beer, odds are that this place stocks it. They also have a really nice staff that is more than happy to help you out. If you pay by card, they can open up a free account for you that logs what you buy so if you like something you don't remember, you can just check the system! One other cool thing is the beer and wine tastings. A couple days a week, they have tastings that free! For events, check out http://theurbangrape.com/services/events/

I happened to be eating in the South End after work and was immediately drawn into this place. I was with two of my coworkers and lucky for us there was a free tasting going on. The event had a steady flow of approximately 20 people in attendance. In the middle of the store there is a wine tasting kiosk that allows you to taste each of the featured wines. The staff was very helpful in explaining the wine flavors and what they each paired well with. There was also a liquor and beer tasting going on. Unfortunately, the beer tasting ended before we were able to taste any. For liquor there was gin, whiskey, and absinthe. I would never think I would be sipping any of the aforementioned liquors without needing a chaser and actually be enjoying them. We had the pleasure of meeting the distiller and hearing their personal insight on the spirits. We loved our experience so much that my coworkers and I immediately signed up for their newsletter and plan on going back for another event soon.

Love this place! Their website is easy to navigate, and they provide a great selection of wine and beer! This was my first time with alcohol delivery and the person delivering the wine was incredibly patient as I worked out the hand off! Was pleasantly surprised to see the items came in a cute gift bag too! Would definitely recommend to anyone in the Boston area or looking to deliver within the Boston area!

Super selection of wine in an everyday bottle price range... $15. Let the friendly staff know what your price range is and they will help you find the best bottle of Wine in it. The deal: conveniently located in between Bostin's South End and Back Bay.

They don't answer the phone for delivery updates. Waiting on a $600.00 of wine delivery. No one answers the phone can't get updates.

Very helpful coding for how rich each wine is, and how "heavy" the taste is. They also host wine and beer tastings every Thursday evening, which is a very nice way to get acquainted with new wine flavors. I'm not a wine expert, but the prices are reasonable, staff is very friendly, and location is ideal right next to Back Bay station and a 7-10 min walk from Copley square. They also keep your name on file if you wish, so you know which wines you've purchased!

Great store. Except they close way too early. There are very few liquor stores in the south end and it's unfortunate that they close hours before other stores so you're forced to go elsewhere.

Excellent customer service here! My husband and I went to Urban Grape recently looking for a bourbon to bring to a friend's new house as a housewarming gift. Neither of us really drink whiskey, and Jack saw us struggling to choose and helped us out. We picked up the bottle he recommended, and he even gift-wrapped it for us. To our delight, the bourbon was a huge hit, and the couple raved to us about it more than once. The layout of this shop is nice and open and well-organized. They seemed to have a pretty wide selection, and the location is very close to several T stops. We'll definitely be back!

We had a 30+ person holiday party at the Urban Grape. Our group is very varied in their likes and dislikes, but everyone agreed that the wine tasting could not have been a more fun event for us. As the organizer I was so pleased with the quick communications and suggestions I received form the Urban Grape team. Everything went flawless and the professionalism of the staff allowed me to really enjoy the event, despite being the organizer. I highly recommend the Urban Grape for corporate events that almost everyone will enjoy and appreciate.

I scheduled a private tasting for 8 people for my sister's bachelorette. The event was reasonably priced and by far the highlight of my sister's weekend! Julie, the sommelier, and Chelsea, the event coordinator were incredible to work with. The store is beautiful and spacious, and the wine was diverse and delicious. As an added bonus, we were able to pick the text and picture to be placed on the front cover of the tasting pamphlet. We picked a picture of my sister in a wedding gown as a little girl. It was perfect. This is actually my first time leaving a review on Yelp, but I felt strongly about recommending this shop to other consumers.

I go here because it's conveniently on my way home from work. Unfortunately over the years I've found the employees to either not be helpful (I end up buying a wine based on their recommendation that turns out to be the complete opposite of what I like, and yes I was very clear I don't like jammy wines) or, most recently, the abhorrent wine snob, taking pleasure in telling you that "here our Barbarescos start at $50." Hire people that appreciate folks that want to learn about the wine. Not just name drop wine makers of vineyards they themselves have never been to, while you have. What would recommend instead that might be close? A classic Nebbiolo perhaps? Or convince me that I should go for the Barbaresco anyway, it's the weekend after all. It's really too bad. Such a great location, but as much as I love wine I can't stand wine snobs. There are some gems, a Burgundy that I love is the Domaine Ragot Givrey Premier Cru. Great value for the money! (IMHO) But I always think twice about coming to Urban Grape based on the experiences I've had.

Great wine and premium liquor store. There is a wide range of good wine and brown liquor as well as other liquors. The staff is very knowledgeable and can converse and recommend on all types. When searching for a bourbon, the owner let me taste test before I bought.

Seems more owner driven now. Great employees tend to leave, I miss the service that made this place special. Great concept, turned Walmart. And now, in the age of trump, sadly this is normal. Service has been replaced with greed. I like service. Stay away from the greed driven monthly samplers! They are designed to deceive! A reason to whine. Wine .

My all-time favorite wine store, period. I truly miss this place now that I moved to SF and can't find a wine store that comes close to matching what Urban Grape has to offer. They have free tastings every Thursday, Friday and Saturday and the range of offerings is unbeatable in terms of regional variety, quality and price point. I used to live 1 minute away from UG and would always go to their free tastings, and I was seriously the happiest to be able to just drop by, chat with wine dealers and staff, and pick up a few bottles. I also have gone to company-hosted events at this place and the quality is top-notch as well. Staff is always friendly and I never feel pressured to buy stuff. Seriously recommend this place.

Looks nice on the outside-- not so friendly on the inside :( kinda snobby :/ but they at least sell hard alcohol ;)

Over the last several months, I have become a regular customer here, which is weird since this wine shop is not in my work neighborhood nor in my home neighborhood. I find that every time I head into The Urban Grape, I learn a new little lesson about wines, beers, spirits...and also about geography, culture, history, and even a little bit about myself. That sounds like cheerleading, I know. But allow me to present my case: Not at all inaccessible, this delightful little shop in the South End is right around the corner from the Back Bay train station on Columbus Avenue. I found it when I was searching for a location for a bachelorette party that would roam about the South End. I moseyed inside and glanced at the high shelves of wine and immediately fell in love with the butcher block table where they were setting up for a free tasting later that day... What's that? Free tasting? Why, yes, I'd love to stick around for that. That's right, every week, they hold free tasting events to educate customers about different wines, beers, liquors. You read that right. They are trying to create educated consumers. Which was evident, when I asked a question about Rose wines. I was treated to a lesson by a very passionate staff member, who took me through the process that those delicious pink wines go through. I tasted all of the free wines, and then I stepped over the the wine tasting machine, affectionately called "La Principessa" by some of the staff and I tasted several of the dozen or so wines contained in the glass vending machine. Back to the bachelorette party, we totally booked it there and it was awesome. Chelsea helped me every step of the way, even creating a little booklet to hand out to the guests with maps of where the wines come from. Which brings me to the second lesson about wine that I learned at Urban Grape: tasting notes. I hate this part about wine tastings. I feel like it is the SATs and I never get the answer right...am I supposed to taste, cloves? What about fruit? Is it bad if I like the fruity wines? What if I taste bubble-gum in a fancy Reisling? Chelsea set my fears to rest: All of your answers are right. If you taste a wine and it reminds you of mint chocolate chip ice cream...cool. That's totally valid. Suddenly, I could just enjoy tasting wine. A few weeks later, I returned to the Urban Grape to get one of the wines we had tasted at the bachelorette party to take to the wedding, and in addition I needed some champagne for mimosas for the bridesmaids. Since I'd be mixing the champagne with Orange Juice, I wasn't looking to spend a lot...no worries, the staff person said. She pointed me to an interesting bottle of sparkling wine. I turned it around and it was below my budget (I bought 3 bottles instead of 2 for what I had budgeted). Lesson learned: Wine doesn't have to be expensive to taste delicious and be exactly what you are looking for. Then, I was hooked. Now, I try to go in at least once a month to find out what is new, and the things I have learned are endless: I like Zinfandel! Who knew? Rye Whiskey is like Bourbon's spicy older brother. It's delicious in Old Fashioneds (which they also have the hand-crafted bitters and much better maraschino cherries than other liquor stores) Wine in a box can be great. Especially for camping. The list goes on and on. It's why I keep going back.

Amazing shop! Great selection of all the best spirits and beers and wines you could ever want. Beautiful presentation. And they have lots of in-store tastings! They even carry this wine called "The Oyster" that restores 100 oysters per bottle!

What a beautiful wine store, with its glowing, well lit interiors, and not a speck of dust to be found! And the bottles that line the walls top to bottom are organized systematically from light bodied to full bodied like books in a library...down to the ladders in order to climb up and down to retrieve the find. Best of all are the tasting stations well stocked with wine glasses. Split between red and white/rose wines, and chilled to the appropriate temperature, these stations spit out a small quantity of glorious wine into your glass for a tasting. And of course, these bottles are arranged from light to dark, for ease of tasting and to cater to your palette. After tasting most of the wine at these stations and the helpful and friendly customer service, how can you not walk away with a treasure or two?

This store is very unique and seems to be more on the high end of things - walking by it, not really knowing what it was, we decided to go in on a whim and I ended up dropping over $50 on a couple of bottles of wine and beers. The store itself is vary spacious and stylishly decorated unlike most 'packy' stores around Boston. This one definitely stands out and the staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. We were able to sample some of their wine and also helped ourselves to some samples at their automated pouring kiosk which I thought was neat as well. They have a very interesting way to classify their wines on the shelves and although I can't recall exactly how it worked, once the staff explained it, it made sense. It's definitely not by region or country but more by taste profiles if I remember correctly. Whether you are going there for an affordable or nicer bottle of wine or a couple of bottles of beers, this is definitely a great place to go even if you're just looking for a six pack of Sam Light or even Corona or anything macrobrewed.

I attended one the Urban Grape's event "Beer Tasting for Wine Lovers" a Sunday night tasting. The food (provided by Mei Mei Street Kitchen) was spectacular, the beer parings were top notch, and the entire event will make me a frequent customer of the Urban Grape in the future. You can't ask for much more: a great space, knowledgeable and friendly owners/staff, and a unique selection that will necessitate leaving with 2-3 more bottles than you originally intended.

I have purchased several cases of wine from UB over the past few years and have found the staff to be exceptionally knowledgable and helpful. I also enjoy that the selection is expertly curated to include great value and selection at many different price points. I must also commend TJ and his staff for how they handled a recent issue I had with a case of wine that had purchased from the Chestnut Hill location that exhibited some spoilage. In my view, service after the sale is what differentiates the good from the great. Thanks Urban Grape.

UPDATE. Got a message from the staff at Urban Grape regarding my review, which is always impressive and appreciated. They said: "...about 50% of the wine at UGSE is in the $15 range, the reason being that we want everyone to feel they can stop by for a "daily bottle," not just for special occasions. So please make sure to let the salesperson helping you know that you'd like something in that price range and we will make sure to find you the perfect bottle." Score!

I'm neutral at the moment, on Urban Grape. I wanted this place to be my new go-to wine and beer shop, a la Social Wines in my former hood. I've found the staff to be knowledgable, to a point, but when pushed it is clear they're not passionate about their wares. Their beer selection is just OK and I find the layout of the wine area to require a guide if I'm to make any sense of it. Maybe I'll warm to it, but for now I think a packie will do just fine if I'm not making the journey to Social Wines in Southie.

I just stopped by this amazing place on a very random, off chance that I could find for a gift for a friend who I thought might enjoy a bottle of scotch. A few quick questions and I was directed to what is apparently the second coming as far as Scotch is concerned. He spoke of it's incredible popularity at a recent tasting that had sold out all they had but one bottle, the one that came home with me. The gentleman's knowledge was incredible, down to some amazing details and flavor comparisons. What I love is that there is a story to tell which makes the gift that much more interesting. Packaged beautifully, I was out the door in about six minutes. So hats off to the Urban Grape- easy, approachable, vast selection and a staff with a knowledge bar none.