Oenophiles and Amateurs Welcome - Remodelista
Photography by Justine Hand for Remodelista. Featuring over 800 wines that are grouped by weight, rather than varietal or region, the new Urban Grape in Boston's historic South End features a unique organizational system called Progressive Shelving. To help them realize their vision of an approachable, but innovative wine store, Urban Grape owners T. J. and Hadley Douglas, who previously clocked many hours as restaurant managers, wine representatives, and marketing directors, turned to the team of South End-based Oudens-Ello Architecture. A modern interpretation of traditional demijohns, Urban Grapes's original chandeliers came about in a group brainstorming session between the owners and architects. The owners and architects' vision of having the wine bottles float in air was executed by Marc LaRochelle of Metal Tech Industries in North Falmouth, MA. Paying homage to Bean-Town's many traditional taverns, Urban Grape's design features large windows that take in the view of the historic brick townhouses of Boston's South End. Encouraging customers to "take off their coats and stay a while," there's plenty of seating in which to lounge about at Urban Grape. Under the glow of the demijohns, Urban Grape's generous tasting table features cooling draws, so a chilled bottle is always on hand. Central to the design is Urban Grape's signature wine wall, a unique metal shelving system developed specifically for T. J. and Hadley, in which the bottles appear to float on air. Upon entering the store, guests may saddle up to the EnoRound Elite Tasting Machine, where they can sample 16 wines to determine their preferred palette. Urban Grape's progressive system seeks to demystify what can be an intimidating process, so that customers have more time to actually enjoy their wines, perhaps while seated in one of the store's Eames chairs. In additional to an impressive selection of wine a spirits, the Urban Grape also stocks over 400 regional and micro-brews, as well as 60 sakes.