Best of Boston

2012 Best Wine Shop, West

The Urban Grape

If only wine bottles could talk. Instead, most languish on store shelves across the city, relying only on crumpled winemaker-written blurbs and outdated Robert Parker ratings to convey their quality and nuances. The lucky ones, however, end up at the Urban Grape, where co-owner T. J. Douglas’s genius layout groups wines based on their common characteristics, enabling customers to easily find what suits their tastes.

7 Boylston St., Chestnut Hill, 617-232-4831, theurbangrape.com