The Wine Vine

Where personal service and wine expertise meet

We are a small family-owned and operated business where we take pride in offering a personal, friendly and “down-to-earth” approach to wine selection.

Our wine expertise was acquired from education, wine tastings, various wine organizations such as “The Wine Spectator” and from experienced hand picked professional suppliers and vineyards. We personally hand taste & carefully select every wine that joins our store’s portfolio and enjoy getting to know each of our customers by their first name as well as learn & understand their palates & help them find that perfect wine for their personal enjoyment or for that special occasion or just for that everyday dinner!

We have wines for every day enjoyment starting from $7 to the most sought after wines including our most sought-after Bourdeaux collection in our temperature-controlled wine armoire which you may also lease. We also specialize in special order, locating hard-to-find-wines and finding that specific year to celebrate someone’s year of birth or special event as well as custom design labels!

We also do private wine tasting parties & have a Tasting Loft for private tasting functions as well. We enjoy meeting and getting to know all our customers and make it our quest to exceed all your needs & expectations and can customize or tailor to your needs!

Wine is meant to be FUN & we sure do our best to make it the most enjoyable experience for YOU!

Our Goals:

To provide the best customer service possible

To make each client feel like the only client

To individualize each customer’s preferences.

Meet the Owners

Sang and Camille

Sang K Chhoeuk

Owner and Wine Apprentice

Sang is originally from Cambodia and was sponsored & brought over to America through local charities here in Worcester. He then grew up just two houses down from The Wine Vine in Worcester & went to Doherty High School and has a Bachelor of Finance from Nichols College. He worked two jobs to put himself through college at night and is where Sang & Camille met.

After their long days of work and night school they often would go out at night for dinner and a glass of wine where they realized that they both shared a common love for good wine & good food. The two wanted to share it with others in a comfortable and friendly atmosphere. This inspired them to open their own wine boutique and offer great yet affordable wines in addition to collectable wines that everyone could enjoy in a relaxing, warm and welcoming environment.

Sang brings his many years of cost accountant expertise along with his personable service where his love for wine comes to life. He has been certified as an official Wine Apprentice by “The Wine Spectator” for his gained knowledge of the wine industry. He is constantly following, studying & researching the newest wines and is well apprised of good vintages. Sang is also very well known for finding and special ordering hard-to-find wines for his customers.

All wine is personnally hand-picked and tasted under careful consideration before bringing it into The Wine Vine’s portfolio. Sang’s real gift is not only knowing his customers by their names, but also listening, learning and understanding their likes and dislikes; he is able to find just the right wine for their individual palates with his friendly and down-to-earth approach.

Camille Bouchard-Chhoeuk

Owner, Gourmet Food Specialist, Special Events Coordinator & Basket Designer

Camille was born and grew up in Worcester county for almost her entire life. She graduated from Notre Dame Academy, earned an Associate’s Degree in Business from Becker College & then attained her Bacheclor’s degree in Business Management with a concentration in Finance from Nichols College.

She brings a sales and marketing background along with designing skills acquired over her many years of professional experience as a marketing & sales analyst and graphic designer. She also has experience in creating, coordinating, conducting and hosting special events for a vast audience and really enjoys meeting with people.

Her creativity is well utilized in the hand selection of unique and specialty products and her custom made gift baskets. She also has acquired knowledge of the wine industry via “Wine Spectator” classes and various wine tasting seminars along with personal research.

Both Sang & Camille really enjoy finding the right wine, food and gifts for people; not just for special occasions, but mostly for every day enjoyment at very reasonable prices. But more importantly, the couple loves serving wine in a fun, friendly and inviting atmosphere where they very much enjoy getting to know you!

Camille went on, “A Better You” with Dr. Frank Fechner to discuss the health benefits, celebration of life and social aspects of wine and food in our culture today. A great interview and a lot of fun! Click on the image to view the video.

You may contact Sang or Camille directly at info@WineVine.org

Temperature Controlled Wine

A different degree of wine collection

Perhaps you’re more of a connoisseur or a collector, with special bottles you’ve acquired over the years through gifts and a handful of purchases that were a bit of a splurge over your everyday wine. No matter where you are in building your collection, we can help you refine your approach, improve your buying strategy and create a cellar that you, your family, and your wine loving friends will enjoy for many more years to come.

Our highly recommended & collectible wines are controlled by a highly precise thermostat, the cooling system allows you to constantly maintain the ideal temperature for your wine.

 

Temperature

Everyone seems to agree that temperature is the crucial variable. It’s likely that relatively few wines are spoiled by low humidity or light exposure, but many are ruined through storage at high and/or variable temperatures.

A temperature of 55° Fahrenheit and a Relative Humidity of 60-65% are ideal for long-term wine storage. The cool temperature slows the aging process, while the high humidity prevents moisture inside the wine bottle from moving into the cork and eventually evaporating into the air. Ultraviolet light exposure should be kept to a minimum.

 

Humidity

Why is humidity important? When corks dry out they lose elasticity. When wines are stored lying down the cork is in contact with wine at one end. Storing wines in humid conditions is thought to be beneficial because they prevent the other end of the cork from drying out.

 

Chilling White Wine

One way to chill a bottle of white wine is in an ice bucket or something that can act as an ice bucket.

Fill a bucket 2/3 full with a mixture of half ice and half water. Be sure to add the water since ice alone will not chill the wine as quickly. Put a bottle in the solution and leave it for 20 to 30 minutes. Add rock salt to the ice and water to chill the wine a bit more rapidly. Using ice without water will take more than an hour to chill properly. Use the water.

Another way to chill your wine is to put it in a refrigerator. It will only take two hours in order to completely chill it.

Never buy wine from a beer coolers. Most liquor stores keep wine in their beer coolers for weeks, or even months. It is to cold for wine to be in beer coolers. Wines that are too cold will exhibit less pronounced bouquet and flavors. These will become more evident as the wine warms.

Never put wine in a freezer. You will probably check for the first bottle or two or even three but eventually you will have a mostly frozen, broken bottle mess in your freezer. And even if you do keep the focus and manage to chill a bottle with the freezer method, it will still take longer than using ice and water.

Why go through all of these trouble. There is an easier way for a perfect chill bottle of wine.

The Best Way is to buy wine from digital temperature control cooler. You can find this at The Wine Vine.

Wine Serving Temperatures

Temperature(F.)	Which Wines:
45 degrees (F.) 7 degrees (C.)	Most white wines including Chennin Blancs, Sauvignon Blancs, Loire Wines, Rieslings and ‘everyday’ Chardonnays.  If they are served colder, the aromas and flavors will be minimized and you won’t get full enjoyment.
50 degrees (F.) 10 degrees (C.)	Full bodied, high quality white wines including Sauternes and rich white Burgundies.  Light red wines like Beaujolais.
60 degrees (F.) 15 degrees (C.)	Red wines including Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Bordeaux, Rhones and Syrah/Shiraz.