Wine and chocolate, the melding of the two, their textures and flavors, bitter and sweet, will be brought together this weekend at a special pre-Valentine’s Day tasting at the recently reopened Partition Street Wine Shop. Joining with the wine shop, located at 123 Partition Street, will be Lucky Chocolates of 115 Partition Street.
The tasting will take place Saturday and Sunday from 3-6 p.m.
Participants will learn which wines go best with which chocolates, said Suzanne Wald-Balsamo, who owns the wine shop with her husband, Jordan and brother, Richard Wald.
This will be the shop’s first tasting since it reopened just before Christmas after being shuttered for three months following a fire at the old location, across the street.
“People really came out when the shop reopened its doors,” Jordan Balsamo said. “It’s great being back in business.
“It’s our lives, it’s what we do,” he added.
The business community has been extremely supportive, hosting benefits following the fire and helping to make the Dec. 22 opening a success by purchasing gift certificates while the shop waited for the necessary state permits.
Patrons, too, turned out in large numbers, “making January for us the best we’ve had in the three years we have been in business,” said Wald-Balsamo.
Things are still in a state of flux at the shop. Shelves are being stocked, and the owners tasting new wines – sometimes as many as 35 or 40 a day, Jordan Balsamo said.
“We are slowly getting back to business,” he said.
And while the numerous snowstorms have negatively impacted many village businesses, the wine shop has stayed open. The couple along with their son, Isaac, live in the village and walk to work so they’ve managed to stay open when other businesses had to close.
One patron who was happy to see the shop back in business is Abbie Schiff of West Camp, who was at the store last week looking for a single-malt Irish whisky for her husband’s birthday.
Using their contacts within the wine and spirit world, they were able to find Schiff a 12-year-old bottle of Jameson’s.
“We are just thrilled to be back in business,” say the Balsamos.
And their customers are too.
Join the family! 
