Beer, Wine & Spirits in River Grove

In order to manage a collection of almost 10,000 libations, the staff at Sal's Beverage World must know their stuff when it comes to wine, spirits, and beers. The massive shop stocks shelves with bottles of wine from popular labels such as The Naked Grape and Snap Dragon, as well as 90+ point wines from Chateau Angelus. The inventory also boast more than 2,000 beers artfully brewed by domestic and foreign companies including Hoppin' Frog and Bear Republic craft breweries, while down the liquor aisles shelves are lined with a hearty collection of whiskeys, cognacs, and aperitifs, such as the Italian Cynar and Pernod 80 Proof. Sal's drink specialists also provide party planning services, regular beverage tastings, and run the Bacchus Wine Club, which offers members access to exclusive tastings of wine and ambrosia.

WineStyles Belmont’s Dionysian staffers dazzle palates with a globe-spanning array of world-class wines served at stylish private tasting events. Customers can select 14 lucky friends aged 21 and older to join them for the two-hour tasting, which can add glamour to holiday parties, casual comfort to corporate get-togethers, or refinement to rugby-match after-parties. At each tasting, guests mingle in cask-filled crannies of the elegant Belmont shop as they sample six unique, complex vinos. Knowledgeable staffers highlight each wine’s subtle notes and flavors, and answer questions about origin, grape varietals, and which wines pair best with cotton candy. Between tastings, guests can cleanse palates and sate appetites with nibbles of fine cheeses and crackers.

The experts at Wine Discount Center taste wine like it’s their job—because it is, actually. Every month, they taste hundreds of wines, assessing each one’s color, aroma, flavor, body, knowledge of American history, and finish in the same manner that the critics of Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate use to grade wines on their 100-point scales. This never-ending sampling and scoring lets Wine Discount Center’s team continually update and hone the selection at each location, regularly announcing new finds on the company's website and ensuring each bottle it stocks is worthy of 85 points or more. The oenophiles further enhance guests’ enjoyment of their wines by leading in-store tastings every Saturday at noon.

Following layoffs from corporate jobs, Jeffrey Durbin and Michael Banko decided to pursue their passion for wine. Drawing on travels to wineries all over the country, they opened The Gourmet Grape in 2003. During weekly two-hour tastings, they guide customers on a culinary tour across the globe, with stops including the United States, Chile, and New Zealand. Racks of fine international wines stock the shelves, as well as gourmet olive oils, vinegars, chocolates, tea, glassware, and decorative tableside accents. Like the stork when he’s in a pleasant mood, the duo bundles its wares in gift baskets, which cradle wines, chocolates, candles, and specialty flavored cheeses.

What was supposed to be a vacation to Napa changed Christopher Libby’s life. Visiting California's thriving vineyards made him realize that life was too short to dislike his career, so he quit his job. He then enrolled in school, became an executive sommelier, and beat Liza Minnelli in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors to win the right to name his wine shop Life’s A Cabernet. Inside, floor-to-ceiling cubbies highlight Libby's main fare—500 unique bottles of wine—though his shelves also display a collection of 75 craft beers, small-batch scotch and whisky, and handcrafted gin and tequila. In the spirit of wine appreciation, Christopher leads a club through which members receive a bottle of wine each month that he chooses, often a white, red, or bubbly vintage that pairs with the seasons.

Organic and small-batch wines fill swirling glasses beneath the soaring ceilings of House Red Vinoteca. At a rustic, reclaimed-wood bar, discerning staff members subject new elixirs to tastings and credit checks, and the chef makes changes to a rotating menu of vino-enhancing fare made from scratch. Plates bearing crispy flatbreads and desserts inspired by international culinary traditions glide back and forth between duos chattering beneath exposed-brick walls. The warm sway of live jazz rolls across wine-tasting events and bottle-laden shelves, and patrons sipping through tasting flights from Croatia, Lebanon, Morocco, Serbia, and Slovenia add delicate treble notes with clinking glasses.