BrewEngland Visits: Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet - Melrose, MA

As part of our beer hunt last weekend, Sarah and I decided to make a quick stop into Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet. It was a shop that Sarah has known about for years, as the owner Rebecca and she have been blog friends for quite some time. I recently began following Beacon Hill Wine on Twitter (@Beaconhillwine) and learned that they also carry craft beer. SO, considering we didn’t have anything special going on, we opted to take a ride to their Melrose store for a little bit.

Truthfully, I hadn’t been through Melrose before. Sure, I had probably driven through it once or twice, and my father even lived there for a while as a kid, but I definitely had not been downtown. My GPS, though not very old, has not been updated in a while. Though, we weren’t disappointed as half the fun getting to places is finding it. Nevertheless, after a little scenic route, we found our way to Beacon Hill Wine.

The shop is located on the corner of a busy downtown Melrose street (Main Street), but could not have been in a better location! Just looking at the building, we knew we were in for a treat once we went inside.

Now, with a name like Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet, you’d expect it to be full of wine. Well, you would be correct, as a good majority of the store is in fact wine; however, they have more than just fine wines!



For starters, they have a new gourmet food refrigerator that is stocked full of nice D’Artagnan meats, such as buffalo, elk, venison, and wild boar. If you haven’t tried some of these meats, you really do need to. They are delicious, and equally as important they are very healthy for you. They also pair very nice with local cheeses and beer!



Across the store is their selection of gourmet cheeses. They happened to have a few out for us to try, and we could not have been more pleased.



We picked up some Cabot Clothbound Cheese that was one of our favorites from the Vermont based company to date. It actually paired amazingly with our Flag Hill Winery desert wine later that evening.

They have a wide selection of wines, but to be honest I really don’t know a whole lot about wine. The little I do know could not do Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet justice, so I suggest heading to Sarah’s blog The Pink Shoe Diaries to learn about their wine.

Not to be discounted though was the great selection of craft beer at Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet.



The store had around four floor to ceiling coolers, stocked full of great beers. Of course they had their macro beers, but mixed in were the likes of Samuel Adams – including their new Double Bock and Imperial White, Long Trail Double Bag, Beer Works beers, Smuttynose Robust Porter, Ipswich Ale & Ipswich IPA, Wachusett Brewing’s Quinn’s Irish Red and (one of my personal favorites) Green Monsta Ale.



Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet also stocks some other great regional craft beer, including Ithaca Beer Co’s Flower Power and Cascazilla, Southern Tier 2XIPA, Dogfish Head Midas Touch, as well as bombers by Goose Island, Brewery Ommegang, and Lagunitas Brewing Company.




They have a great rack of Pretty Things Beer & Ale Project’s Jack D’or and St. Botolph’s Town, mixed in with Chimay and Duvel, which is located next to their amazing cheese case.



I ended up grabbing a six pack of Cape Ann Brewing Co’s Fisherman’s Navigator Double Bock. I have had this beer a few times, although only at the brewery or at beer events. It’s a very pleasant brew, and you can expect a full review of it here soon!



Like most of the places we visit, Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet is definitely worth the trip. Both Sarah and I found the shop to be very charming, and have more than what we were looking for. We only wish we lived in this cute neighborhood so we could frequent the shop on a regular basis.

Beacon Hill Wine & Gourmet is located at 538 Main Street in Melrose, MA. Proprietors Gene and Rebecca Beraldi also own Beacon Hill Wine & Spirits, which is located at 63 Charles Street in Boston. It is definitely worth the trip if you have yet to visit, and we will certainly be heading back soon!