central bottle

"Have you been to Central Bottle yet?" That's what a friend of mine asked me via email yesterday. Yes, yes indeed I have been to Central Bottle! It's a neat wine store in between Central Square and MIT on Mass Avenue that features a huge selection of wine, plus some cheeses, meats, and other culinary goods. I've stopped in three times over the course of about a month, and each time I'm taken aback by their super friendly staff, the selection that they offer, and the various events they have going on.

The first time I stumbled in was back on 1/29/10 when I tried to go see the I...You...We...Robot! exhibit at Space 242 in Boston after work. After driving around for half an hour and not finding a parking space, I gave up and decided to stop by on the way home (because I had driven by several times wondering what it was like inside).

I think they were doing some sort of wine tasting that evening right before I got there, and I was able to try a cabernet that the woman was pouring as I walked around and gawked at all the pretty wine labels.

And then I perused at the lovely dishes full of little bruschettas that they offer for a couple of dollars, which were located right next to the displays of meats and cheeses that they sell. There were yummy things I recognized like Scamorza cheese and Bresaola, plus many other delicious things I would love to experience some time.



Don't let the size of their wine selection intimidate or scare you away: they have a section of wines that are less than $15, so it's not all just stuff to save for a special occasion. I bought a bottle of a Chilean wine, Terra Noble Carmenere Reserva 2007, and Tony and I both really enjoyed it (went back to get a second bottle later).

The second time I visited, I took my sister-in-law there and she found a bottle of wine that she has only scene back in Italy. I think on that visit, we both bought some of the ricotta salata cheese to try. I remember admiring their light fixtures, too, which my sister-in-law said looked like they were made out of Italian sodas.

The last time I was there was with a friend on Valentine's night, on our way to dinner. This was when I picked up that second bottle of the Carmenere mentioned above. Since my husband had a gig that night, I was planning on making a nice dinner for us on Monday night to celebrate and I thought the Carmenere would go well with lamb chops (which, it did by the way!). We arrived to a nearly packed store because they were doing a special oysters and champagne event to celebrate the holiday. We didn't stay for the festivities, but it was fun to see the red Vespa that's parked at the front of the store all decked out with hearts.

We're going to their lamb and wine tasting event tomorrow (2/23) night which we are super excited about because well, we both love lamb and wine! (There will be a post about that later this week, I'm sure ...)

So now I ask, "Have you been to Central Bottle yet?" :)