Dear Joey,
Thursday November 15, marks the day that Savour Wine and Cheese opened its doors at the new location, 76 Prospect Street in Gloucester, a space almost triple the size of the shop previously at 24 Washington Street. The opening comes fourteen months to the day after a fire destroyed the location on Washington Street, along with Beach Gourmet, and unfortunately displaced five families from their homes.
Kathleen Erickson, co-owner and resident wine expert is back with her highly trained staff ready to offer their expertise and insight with food pairings. Erickson is a certified sommelier with a highly educated palate, allowing her to relate easily to a wide variety of wine preferences. “A good sommelier is like a coach,” says Erickson, “she has to be able to scout out good wines and match them with the buyer’s individual taste.” She is teaming up in the new location with Skip Cribari, who is from a long line of wine makers in California, owned his own vineyard in the Finger Lakes region in New York for six years, and was the wine educator for Winebow Boston for six years.
Patrons of the previous location will remember the state-of-the-art wine kiosks from Napa Technology, offering the unique experience to try before you buy. The machines are back along with the full service deli counter offering artisanal meats and cheeses and an extensive variety of hard to find, unique, small-productions wines at a great value. New features at the shop include a strong selection of craft brewed beers, refillable gourmet olive oil and vinegar, and small batch coffee which Erickson described by saying, “When I call in an order they custom roast it for me that day.”
Beach Gourmet has also found a new home in the new location offering a exhibition kitchen where Matthew Beach and his team of gourmet chefs can work in view of the patrons. Beach said they are going to be offering cooking classes in addition to a chef’s table where patrons will be able to sample a variety of dishes and wine pairings. Beach Gourmet continues to offer catering for events.
“This has been a long and trying rebuild,” said Erickson, “There are many people within the community to whom we owe many thanks.” Local builders and craftsmen came together to complete this project in just over a year. Savour would like to extend a special thank you to general contractor Bill Elwell and Associate, maker Marcel Albanese of Studio F. Kia, plumber Shawn Griffin, Morris Heating, Joe Latorre, Spittle Electrical, Properly Painted, the City of Gloucester Zoning Board, Licensing Board and City Council. We’d also like to extend a special thank you to Mike Luster and his associates at Rockport National Bank, and Shirley Morgan and all the other individual donors.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Erickson
Savour Wine and Cheese
Good Morning Gloucester 