They have great wines. Waiting for delivery can take up a day. So best to go to the shop

One Star: Hey, it's open. Two Stars: It doesn't smell like urine nor do they sell Sparxxxx. Three Stars: Organized, competitively priced beer, wine and spirits. Specialty cordials and liqueurs are well stocked and multi-sized. Because, honestly, do you really need a fifth of Chambord? Four Stars: Looking for something not on the shelves? The staff begs you to let them order it for you. Gluten-free brews because celiac is so in right now. In-house cheese counter and constant tastings that cost ten dollars minus ten dollars. Five Stars: Bombers of Rogue Chipotle Ale, 21st Amendment Hell or High Watermelon Wheat and a refreshing selection of perries, whittled down to what you'd want to drink. It's as though they've taken the massive foot space of Downtown Wine and Spirits, and bring you the bottles that never gather dust. Bravo. read more

See all

Been coming to this store for 17 years since I moved to the neighborhood. Always reliably quality selection and knowledgeable staff. Recently I was headed out of town and stopped for a four pack and snacks to. Take with. Two sales associates were incredibly generous in with their time in helping me both make my selection and making sure I had everything I needed for my trip! read more

How could you not give this place 5 stars?! I've been goin here since like 2008/9. So Ive seen it grow from small and mighty dope to bigger and even better!!! They have so many local and micro choices when it comes to ALL alcohol [micro brews (beer, cider, etc), wine, liquors, mead, sake, and more]! Their snacks, cheeses, deli meats, chocolate, bread, EVERYTHING is primo :D They have weekly tastings and a cool program that logs all of your drink purchases. Another dope thing: they have a shelf in the walkin of broken packs so you can mix and match! The staff are all very knowledgeable and hospitable. The owner is often there too! If you want something they don't have, they always offer to find it and get it for you :) Thanks for being a great shop Ball Sq Fine Wines! read more

Ball Square Fine Wines - The sandwich and pickled ramps are from Penny Packers up the road but everything else if from Ball Sq Fine Wines... - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Somerville, Massachusetts

Tim, a tall man who occasionally works the cashier, is THE BEST! His recommendations are always spot on, and his knowledge of liquors spans a wide range. Seeing him always makes me smile!! read more

My favorite wine store in Cambridge or Somerville (and Boston, but if I'm honest I know Boston wine stores less). Great selection of wines. In relative terms, the representation of European countries other than France and Italy is especially strong (Greece always seems a particular focus). Rotating sales can be amazing value. They also stock all other kinds of alcoholic beverages (beer, spirits, liqueurs, sake). The selection also looks interesting, and there are rotating sales in those departments too. But I'm primarily a wine drinker myself, and I suspect it's fair to say they are primarily a wine store: I'd say wine takes up half of their shelf space, and everything else the other half. The staff is both friendly and unobtrusive. If you'd like help, they're there for you; if you prefer perusing their shelves at leisure, they won't bother you. read more

Although I have been in the habbit of making Downtown Liquors in Davis my go-to liquor store, this one is closer to my house, and within walking distance. After a quick emergency store trip there for some Sour mix and some ice, I found it to be the kind of liquor store that every other one should strive to be. The level of service there was incredible and I was able to easily and quickly get in and out of it. There was a wine tasting event going on inside and people seemed to really be enjoying themselves and I might want to investigate and try to get in on one of those in the future. Their selection of liquors and wines is solid and so is there beer and they even have a giant walk-in cooler where you can find all sorts of beers in individual bottles as well as packs of twelve and more. Everything from Heineken to Geary's Summer Ale, and tons of other various ones. Street parking is easy to find, their prices are good and they also carry a wide variety of other things, like bartending accessories of all sorts and even all kinds of cheeses! What's not to love? read more

Ball Square Fine Wines - Part of their big, walk-in cooler - Beer, Wine & Spirits Near Me - Somerville, Massachusetts

This is the best liquor store I've found in the area. It's unusual to find a place that has both an excellent selection and great prices. Knowledgable staff who are eager to help you find what you're looking for. They offer curbside pickup, which is a bit slow on fulfillment but very convenient, and they are diligent about making sure your order is correct. I am serious about scotch and cheese - this place is the real deal. read more

I just moved to the area and needed to get a gift for a friends birthday. I went into here to find some type of booze. It was such a cute little store. The workers, and I believe possibly the owners were in there. They were so friendly and sweet. They have a lot of different items in there. Huge beer section with a ton of different brews. The wine section is exceptional. They also have the self serve cooler where you can get the cheaper beers (corona, Budweiser, etc.). Something that caught my eye was the chocolate/sweets section and the cheese and meat cooler. You could make an amazing charcuterie board from just stopping here. I'm really glad this is such a great neighborhood liquor store. read more

I cannot say enough good things about this store. This has become my go-to location for wine, beer, liquor, and has a great selection of cheese, chocolates and other snacks, too. The selection includes expected "greatest hits" in some instances but, even better, has really unique offerings that I greatly appreciate. What I particularly appreciate is the extremely knowledgeable, helpful staff. I have yet to have a wine recommended to me that I didn't purchase a second (or third... or fourth) time and consider myself a fairly picky wine drinker. Further, they have a wonderful selection within a range of prices too and never make me feel silly for whatever amount it is that I feel comfortable spending. read more

A really cute store that has a great selection of cheeses in addition to wine. The staff is incredibly friendly and helpful with suggestions. I'm excited to return! read more

TWO WEEKS after I placed the order for a holiday weekend, and they apparently forgot to let me know they can't fill the order.

I've been coming here for more than a decade and have never left without a smile on my face. This was the first stop I made on the day I moved to Somerville (priorities!) and I immediately felt welcome and appreciated. All of the staff and owners are amazing. Seriously, the owner is doing something right to have such an awesome staff. Everyone is helpful, cheerful, knowledgeable and passionate. The selection here also can't be beat! Both the craft beer section and wine section have to be the best around. Prices are reasonable as well, and the weekly and special tastings are always super fun! read more

Excellent staff who are friendly and very knowledgable. They helped me tracking down a Vermouth I had in Barcelona. Great selection and my go to Wine/ Liquor store read more

Wow this place is amazing! Such a fantastic selection of cheeses and hard to find liquor and liqueurs. They have a full fledged cheese case! I picked up some delicious boucheron and an amazing truffle cheese that was as phenomenal as advertised. They also have an epic selection of absinthe more than I've seen in any store I've been to in New England! They also had all three varieties of Lillet- white, red and rose! Amazing! And they have lots of chocolate! Prices on the cheeses and alcohol were fairly reasonable but I thought their chocolate was very overpriced. Staff was super friendly and helpful! Will definitely be back here! Highly recommend! read more

I wanted to send a bottle of wine each to two Tufts professors who kindly helped my daughter. I looked up local wine shops on Yelp and found this one, Ball Square. I had never been there before and we live in the DC area. I phoned and got the wine manager, Dan Lech, on the phone. Told him what I wanted. He said that there was a $75 minimum on deliveries and that he could be flexible. We discussed which wines to select and decided on some Barolo from Italy. He selected the precise vintage and winery, suggested an inexpensive wine gift bag, and suggested a small note to accompany the gift. I gave Dan a credit card number over the phone and emailed him the address and the text of the note. He emailed me back with confirmation, it was $63, and no problem about the delivery. I sure appreciate a place like Ball Square that has good selection, is conveniently located, is happy to serve its customers, and is flexible. I would definitely use them again, whether visiting Somerville or remotely. read more

Chris, the owner, gave us an excellent recommendation for unique Champaign for our son's wedding back in July. It was a real hit! So, needing a good bottle of Champaign for my sister's golden anniversary, I called him again. He didn't disappoint me and he gave me great recommendations. This is a real gem of a find with very knowledgeable, friendly owner and staff and with great selections and very competitive prices. I will definitely call Chris next time I need something special to celebrate! read more

I have had nothing but awful experiences here, and believe me, I do love to get drunk. It all started 6 years ago, when I would shop here for wine and bring in my kid (who was 2 at the time) and I got carded. Sure, I'd gotten pregnant when I was 14, sure whatever. He wouldn't sell to me without my ID. So I went out into the car, got my husband (who is 3 weeks older than me) to buy what I had already left on the counter. He didn't card my husband, though he wasn't hauling a toddler. Maybe this person (the owner) feels that mothers shouldn't drink or maybe his mother was a closet drunk or something. Truth be told, I don't care. I don't look particularly young for my age. Secondly, they HATE accepting bottles and cans back, as they are required to. They look at you like a total piece of trash when you come back with a bag of empty cans and only begrudgingly return your deposit. Plus, when you go into the store struggling to carry bottles to return and your kid, they HATE you. HATE you. They look at you derisively as you struggle to kick the bag of bottles through the door that you hold open with one hand while dealing with aforementioned kid in the other one. They LOOK at you and don't help. Other customers will help you, but not the employees. I had avoided the store until yesterday. I went in there with my husband and my seven year old, a very sweet boy who they snapped at for looking at the wines on the floor. He was reading the LABELS, he thought some of the names were funny (names of wines are often funny, you must admit, such as one with a cat on the front, "haha, mom, this wine is for CATS! he said)". He wasn't going to kick them over and make a big alcoholic mess. You don't yell at other people's kids and expect parents to spend money (ok, I know a lot of kids in Somerville are terrible, but come on, our kid is a private school violin-virtuoso snob. He needs to start learning now which pinot noir to order if he's going to fit in. Really.). The owner will not look at my face when I am with my husband. He does "wheelings and dealings" with him, as I do not regularly buy any wine other than from Trader Joe's. He kept trying to make these under the table offers for wines that were allegedly better but still more expensive, and we had to order it by the case. I told the dude I had a price point, and that I wouldn't exceed it. But he wouldn't look at me, only my husband. As though HE drinks the wine at home or makes financial decisions alone! Jeeesh. Maybe the owner hated my new headband/dorag look. Whatever. So, after the owner dampened my appetite for a nice bottle of wine, which I might add, is INCREDIBLY hard to do, we bought a case of beer. We produced a coupon (from a Somerville "buy local" premotion booklet) that entitled us to 15% off any item in the store. The owner said that this really was only for wine, even though the coupon said it was for any purchase. He refused to honor the coupon, saying, "you won't find a better price anywhere for that beer. I am losing money selling you that beer." God. Get a grip. Anyway. I hate this store. I love other places, however, such as Kappy's or anywhere that won't make me feel like a loser or a bad teenage mother. read more

After that free microbrew beer tasting this weekend, which actually reminded me a lot of the fabulous elite yelp events I attends, how could you not give this place 4 stars?? True, we had to wait in line for a couple minutes, but for no money at all, this place brings in a bunch of different breweries, gives you a cup and a tasting menu, and you can go around and try as many and as much of the microbrews they have!! And did I mention it is FREE???? This is an awesome little, local liquor store, with a pretty great selection on wine and beer, and staff that is so helpful, it is hard not to love all of Ball Square because of this store alone. My friends Silas S and Deanna D both love coming here, and say they walk in and say how much they want to spend, what they are cooking, and they always find them a winning selection. Now that's service. PLUS on top of free beer tastings every now and then they also do free wine tastings too! In the exact same format pretty much! And on these special tasting days they also give some discounts on cases and things too! What could be better?? Oh ya, we got free shirts from Longtrail too. So they moved up in my beer loving world. I will definitely be back to this liquor store hopefully for more tastings and learn more beer and wine too from these knowledgeable people!! read more

This place is great for just about anything you might want to find, as long as you don't want to find anything that's not liquor or cheese. You can get a very wide variety of beer and wines, things you won't find at most stores, and not for insane prices. If you want it, there's a good chance Ball Square has it. Too bad my last visit gave me a bad taste, which colors all of my visits here now. Look, I get that Massachusetts has weird liquor ID laws, and I get that my wife and I both look young for our age. But we've been buying alcohol legally for about a decade, no one would ever mistake either of us for being under 21, and we both have legal ID. However, on a recent visit, we were only allowed to make a purchase after a lot of arguing and hassle because she has a State ID and not a MA Liquor ID or a Driver's License. Their claim was that legally, they were not allowed to accept a State ID, and anyone else who is allowing it is breaking the law. In case you don't know, the law is that any establishment has the right to reject someone who is using a State ID, because there are special protections for people with Liquor IDs. And if they had a sign up saying they don't accept State IDs, fine. But there is no sign about it, and they gave us a lot of attitude while telling us something that isn't true. If they're going to enforce a rule, they should probably know what the rule actually is. I'll probably go in here again, but it's a frustrating experience which could have been handled much better by the people working here. read more

This is the closest liquor store to my house, but i would go here anyway. They have an interesting selection of wines, including wines from Oregon. I love sparkling wine and i'm always bringing a bottle to parties or as gifts, and they have a decent selection with a wide price range. Friday nights are wine tasting nights, but i always seem to miss these. read more

This is a fantastic wine and liquor store! They have an amazing selection of wine from all over the world. It's always well stocked and well organized. The shop itself is very clean and pretty. The owners are very nice people who work very had on their wine selection and store events. The customer service here is definitely sets them apart from the other liquor stores. The staff is very friendly and helpful without being snobby or rude like some other wine stores that I've encountered. They have a weekly wine, beer & liquor tasting that is wonderful! We picked up a couple of bottles and at the last wine tasting we went to which were a great find. Minus 1 star since the prices are a little high but I guess it's a understandable since they are a small liquor store as opposed to a Kappy's or Atlas. read more

I stopped in here not too long ago on a search for a wine and came out with a 6-pack of Abita. That isn't a name I see often and with family in Baton Rouge raving about it (and I've had some on tap while visiting) I decided it was the choice beverage of the evening. The beer itself, eh. A pale amber, supposedly was supposed to be pecan-y and pecan it lacked. However, back to the store! There were two guys in there helping with two customers and I waltzed in and it looked cute, nice, rustic, clean and cluttered but in the 'I'm supposed to be cluttered' type way. I'm a freak, I know. It was cozy, how about that? Parking is pretty much street and meters out there on Broadway and that side street right there on the left.. right, depending on how you're looking at it. The focus is really on the specialty craft type beers, I mean it's not my kind of thing, I didn't see the typical brands I would normally buy but it would certainly do like another reviewer mentioned for the gluten free seekers, or an unusual brew.. not really my cup of tea but! I still liked it and as it is in the area of a friend of mines house, I may just be back there one day.. but for me it's about the cheapness of drinking at this stage of the game. read more

I love this place. The staff is very knowledgeable about their wines and are always more then happy to make a recommendation. In fact I think every time I've taken them up on a recommendation they were never wrong. In the front of the store they have a section of wines that are on sale or under $10/bottle. Which is always good when you're on the budget. Sometimes I wish their under $10 selection was a bit bigger. There's pretty much a little bit of everything in that store. Every time it's a little bit of something that I need, with out the outrageous mark up. Over all it's one of my favorite stores to stop by for a bottle of wine. Some times I've made picks that weren't 100% up my alley, but they've never been awful. I attribute that to the mastery and care that all the wines are selected there for sale. If everything you're selling is quality, then one can't go too wrong when trying to make a purchase. The reason it's only 4 stars is due to my desire for more $10 or less bottles (i wish i could do 4.5 starts). Other then that I would have given all 5 stars. read more

This place is awesome. There is a HUGE selection of wine, liquor, beer, and beyond-- any concoction involving alcohol is seemingly carried here. My favorite part is the walk-in fridge in the back where they store leftover singles so you can do a mix-and-match six-pack. Or just buy individual bottles. It's great. Other bits of awesomeness to note: free tastings, which apparently happen every Friday, and a small but decent selection of gourmet foods, which could be way pricier than they are. Hurrah Ball Square Fine Wines! Many a fun night has started here. read more

This place has an interesting selection of wines at a nice range of prices (something like $7 to $100 as opposed to $7 to $800). That means you aren't swamped with Burgundies out of your price range. There is a good mix of highly-rated wines from lesser-known regions and well-known wines from more highly regarded regions. I like the fact that they put Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate reviews up, and that so many of their wines have good reviews. I also noticed that they don't have reviews up for many highly regarded wines. It seemed to me they were discriminating about their selection. Beer selection looked OK but not excellent, liquor selection was good. The reason I'm not giving five stars is that I couldn't find any really good cheeses or interesting food to go with my wine. The guy behind the counter, who I suspect was the owner, was very nice about calling me a cab in the rain. read more

This is the place to buy liquor if you want something different. The have tens of kinds of beer from all over the world; same with wine and other liquor. 5 stars 100%!! If you feel like buying some good stuff go check it out!! read more

I've used these guys for a number of important occasions. Two examples: 1. The other day I bought my friend a bottle of scotch for his 40th birthday, on the recommendation of James at Ball Square; it exactly matched my request, and my friend loved it. 2. Before the birthday, we ordered 100 nips of bourbon to hand out as welcome gifts at our wedding, with Nate's help; all our guests loved them, and the price was exactly right. At the same time that we ordered the nips, we asked Nate what his dream bourbon would be, were he to receive bourbon as a gift; we wanted to buy a nice bottle of bourbon as a gift for a friend who designed our wedding invitations. Nate's bourbon suggestion was a home run with our friend. I love supporting them for lots of reasons. First, their staff are incredibly attentive. Second, they can handle the Internet: I've emailed with them, and searched their inventory on the web. (The latter is HUGE. Why do no other liquor stores around here do this?) Third, they will chase down every obscure liquor request I send their way: they've found me any number of bizarre bottles. Fourth, the staff are so, so friendly. Fifth, they're a local business, and I like supporting my community. I'm going to use these guys as long as they'll have me. They're the best. read more

Awesome wine selection - I always check out their extensive Bin Ends selection of reasonably priced and marked-down wines in the crates near the front of the shop as you walk in. They have a lot of tasting notes and hints to help you choose a wine while browsing which I massively appreciate. They have a great selection of craft beer, cider, and other beverages as well. Staff are friendly and helpful too! They also carry a selection of gourmet foods to go with your wines, such as locally-made jams and so forth. Free tastings often, though I've never managed to align schedules to be there for one. Definitely love going here! read more

1) Smart selection. Every wine is hand-picked. No low-end major market labels. 2) Friendly service. They all bend over backwards to help you. 3) Very good prices, even lower than Sav-Mor on liquor! 4) Given the square footage, good balance of interesting spirits/cordials/wine/beer/gourmet items. 5) Everyone working here WANTS to be here. Makes all the difference in the world, and speaks highly of the ownership and management. Somerville REPRESENT! read more

This the supplier we use here at the gallery I work at for our exhibit openings, and the entire staff couldn't be more pleasant. The deliveries are always on time, and we always get exactly what was ordered. I also know that the director of the gallery has a great relationship with the store and works personally with them to choose the best wines for our patrons. The store is also a couple blocks down from my house, though there's one closer, so I admittedly haven't been there too often. But anytime I have been there the cashier always has suggestions and I *love* how they constantly have sales and promotions. It's definitely lead me to try a couple different fancy pants beers that I otherwise never would have even picked up. And has added to my random collection of beer steins/pint glasses. :D read more

This place packs quite a lot into a relatively small space. Some of their items are a bit overpriced, in my opinion, as I can find the exact same wine or beer elsewhere for less... but they still carry a fair amount in the less-expensive range. You can also join their "wine club" thing online (it's free), which lets you track your purchases, make tasting notes, search for wines in stock, etc. Pretty cool. The staff is friendly and helpful, and kudos for carrying my hard-to-find favorite cigarette brand! Two vices with one stone - nice. read more

I was searching for a certain bottle of wine that I couldn't find anywhere. I called every liquor store I could think of, including Kappy's, who told me they would check and call me back. They called 2 days later. By then I had made my way down the list to Ball Sq. Fine Wines. I drive by it every day going to and from work and thought it was just a little overpriced wine store, but I was wrong. When I called they were extremely friendly and told me they could order it for me today and have it in the store tomorrow! You can't get better service than that! I stopped in that day after work and put down a deposit (which he told me he needed in order to order the bottle) and made the call to his distributor right in front of me. And, as promised, the bottle of wine that I had been searching for for a week, was waiting for me at Ball Sq. Fine Wines. Now I know where to go when I'm looking for something hard to find, they were a pleasure to deal with. read more

This place is pretty great. Awesome selection, friendly staff for the most part. Decent prices on most things, though you will occasionally see something that is $5 more there than anywhere else. My only complaint is that I have noticed many times that the price sticker on the item is incorrect, and will ring up a dollar or so more than the sticker. Its happened to me probably 50% of my many visits there...and Im a wuss in these situations, so I never corrected them until I finally got the nerve recently. They were perfectly polite about it, and fixed it accordingly. I would just keep an eye out for that. read more

I'll buy wine here someday, but for now I'm giving it five stars on a great beer selection given the non-warehouse location. The litmus test for me was (and usually is) that they had Dogfish Head Raisin D'Etre. Yummy. They got some good brews here that you don't see often enough. Case closed. read more

Unassuming store with a surprisingly wide and unique selection of wine, beer and liquor. Lots of great wine and craft brews that you don't see at any other larger stores in this neck of the woods. Why I gave it 5 stars - the staff is EXTREMELY knowledgeable and helpful. Once, I witnessed a man who walked in, gave them a price range of what he wanted to spend, explained he had a party that night and wanted a wide variety of different wines. They spent the time walking him around the store, explaining the different varieties of wine to him and really caring about helping to craft his night. On top of that, I seem to always buy a 6-pack here and get a free pint glass. Great little store, you'll be surprised if you stop in! read more

This place has a great beer supply and a knowledgeable staff. They recently expanded to include more craft beer and even thought they don't have a huge selection it is better than most other local shops. Other than that you have got to be on the lookout for their tastings. From Spanish wine, to sparkling wines, and beer there is always something interesting to try at Ball Square Fine Wines and Liquors. read more

This place opened just as my wife and I moved into the area. On our first trip out into the neighborhood to get the lay of the land, Ball Square Fine Wines was having a tasting event. It was huge! Awesome. Since then we have made this store our number one go to place for wine, beer, and liquor. Whatever you want, they will do their best to stock it for you. I have ordered kegs (all types, from Pabst to Smuttynose) from them and am always impressed by their attentive and quick service. Their beer selection, which has always been decent, recently went crazygonuts with the addition of a new rack of microbres and imports. They recently launched their website where you can track and record the various wines you've tried and would like to try. You can enter information at home and check up on it in the store! No more trying to remember the name of that wine you read about online. Great! Be sure to keep an eye on their tasting events. These things are always awesome with something like 30 different wines to try. read more

I still am here almost every day. Join their Wine of the Month Club, you get 20% off a case of wine and you can track all your purchases online! Always pleasant shopping here and that's why I'm a regular! read more

A diverse selection and ineffably-helpful staff make Ball Square Fine Wines one of the best liquor stores I've ever visited. Carrying dozens of different beers (many in six packs, plus a selection of twelve packs in their walk-in cooler), a wine selection that spans an entire side of the store, and a liquor selection that is regularly updated to reflect customer requests, there are few things that this compact store cannot provide. Should one find that, somehow, there is something missing from the diverse stock, the owners will gladly order the offending item, even if just a bottle or two is needed. Through their online club, Ball Square also makes special items, such as the limited release Samuel Adams Infinium, available to its loyal customers. This dedication to the customer is rarely found at any retailer, let alone a liquor store, exemplifying the uniqueness that makes this business a pleasure to frequent. Rounding out their offerings is The Tasting Station, a dedicated section of the store where regular, free tasting events are held. Though I've yet to attend an event, my experiences so far lead me to believe that I'll benefit greatly from their expertise, perhaps discovering a new favorite wine, beer, or spirit. read more