By Monte Belmonte
For the Valley Advocate
The Bridge of Flowers may be closed to tourists this year but I can think of another great reason to visit Shelburne Falls — bowling! But this is a wine column. So, I’ll start again.
The Bridge of Flowers may be closed to tourists this year but I can think of another great reason to visit Shelburne Falls — wine! I believe Shelburne Falls may be the greatest wine-lover destination in the Valley, if not all of the 413. Shelburne Falls is not Napa. They’re not growing grapes at scale or vinifying anything there. But their motion-picture-perfect downtown has at least four good reasons for a visit if you love to imbibe the fruit of the vine.
PHOTO BY MELISSA BELMONTE
Monte Belmonte and Michaelangelo Wescott, who owns both Gypsy Apple Restaurant and the new Le Peacock in Shelburne Falls.
Let’s start with ol’ faithful. Gypsy Apple Restaurant. It’s not only one of the finest dining establishments in western Mass, but they’ve got a killer wine list curated by chef/owner and Level One sommelier, Michaelangelo Wescott. The French-inspired cuisine lends itself to a great selection of French wines, picked by a guy who is soon to become a French citizen, as his family hails from the French Caribbean island of St. Martin. But the menu and the wine list go beyond France. Michelangelo hosted an Iberian wine dinner earlier this year and paired the meal with his Spanish paella. They also hosted a wild game dinner and paired entrees, like rabbit and foie gras pate, with wines, like Casale del Giglio Bellone — a medium bodied white wine from Italy. Creative cuisine perfect for a curious wine palate. Now, I’ve known the chef for almost the entirety of the 18 years of the restaurant’s history, so I acknowledge the privilege I have when I tell you this about when I visit his restaurant — the last two times I was there, I didn’t even eat. I just invited myself back to the kitchen to share a glass of whatever might be open and chewed the proverbial fat with my friend, Michaelangelo. I was too full to chew any actual fat. Too full from Michaelangelo’s newest endeavor right down the street in Shelburne Falls — Le Peacock.
PHOTO BY MONTE BELMONTE
Le Peacock in Shelburne Falls, which opened in November and is steadily becoming one of the most buzz-worthy restaurants in the area.
Le Peacock just opened last November but is steadily becoming one of the most buzz-worthy restaurants in the area. And not without just cause. Michaelangelo is an ambitious restaurateur. You might remember his mid-pandemic venture on Main Street in Northampton, The Wine Witch. It was a nice idea for the brief time that it lasted. But constantly pulling the chef back and forth, up and down 91, from Shelburne Falls to Northampton was perhaps a bit more than he bargained for. Le Peacock is about a block away from Gypsy Apple and just down the street from where Michaengelo hangs his hat every night. But the culinary mission of Le Peacock in Shelburne Falls feels very much like what the chef was trying to accomplish in Northampton. Small plates of delicious food. Great cocktails. Great wine. Le Peacock has a little more of a speakeasy feel than the Northampton spot, which is lending itself to creating quite a late-night scene. And their prices are spot-on. I was too full to eat at Gypsy Apple on my last visit to Shelburne Falls because at Le Peacock my wife and I ordered an Arabian salad, a shrimp po’ boy, corn-beef latkes and pulled-pork tacos. Goodness gracious, was it delicious. I had a bourbon-based cocktail called a Peacock Plane to start, then switched to a Gruner Veltliner to bring some luscious acid and a touch of sweetness to some of the nice spice. But Michaelangelo’s two gastronomic anchors are only half the story as to why Shelburne Falls is western Mass’s wine hub.
PHOTO BY KALIIS SMITH
The Juice Box Wine Bar in Shelburne Falls has a really fun “Wine Snacks” menu that goes far beyond typical snack fair and includes things like cumin seared pork chops. We had the cheese plate and the chicken liver pate was out of this frickin’ world.
Right across the alleyway from Le Peacock is The Juicebox Wine Bar. They focus on natural, biodynamic and low intervention wines. When fellow wine snob, Ken Washburn from the Leverett Village Co-op tipped us off to this place, my radio co-host, Kaliis Smith, and I perused the on-line menu. When we saw that Alice Thompson, one of the owners of The Juicebox, had a wine on the list called Swick Bring It! that consists of five red grapes with a white Gewurztraminer thrown in there for good measure, we couldn’t wait to get up to Shelburne Falls and try it. While we sampled a few wines, including a fun Lambrusco, the Swick ruled the day. Also, they have a really fun “Wine Snacks” menu that goes far beyond typical “snack” fare and includes things like cumin seared pork chops. We had the cheese plate and the chicken liver pate was out of this frickin’ world. On my most recent visit to The Juicebox, I swung by after gorging myself at Le Peacock. And again, I was full. I did have a glass of their strikingly austere sparkling wine, the Filipa Pato 3B Blanc de Blanc, and followed it up with Alice Thompson’s pick for me: a Fattoria di Vara Vincenzo Bianco. My wife was driving. The super-cute thing about The Juicebox, especially now that the weather is getting nicer, is they have seating in the back overlooking the currently derelict Bridge of Flowers but with beautiful views of the river. A perfect setting for a romantic late-Spring occasion. And, because liquor laws in Massachusetts are silly, Alice (or one of her business partners) will hand you your glass of wine out of a window in the alleyway leading to the backyard seating. It’s illegal for you to carry your glass of wine 10 feet on the sidewalk in front of The Juicebox. The silliest of all is if The Juicebox was located on the other side of the Iron Bridge, the Buckland side of Shelburne Falls, you wouldn’t need to receive your wine through a window. It’s legal to have an open container on the Buckland side! Perhaps, then, you should buy a bottle of wine on the Shelburne side of the bridge and then open it on the Buckland side. Which brings us to our last reason Shelburne Falls is the premier 413 wine destination.
PHOTO BY KALIIS SMITH
Alice Thompson, one of the owners of The Juicebox Wine Bar in Shelburne Falls.
Shelburne Falls Cork. William Seibert opened this modestly sized, modestly priced, expertly curated wine shop, a hop skip and a jump from the Shelburne Falls potholes about five years ago. Bill has spent a lifetime in the food and beverage industry. First in California in the heyday of Alice Waters and her ilk. Then off to France to follow a jeune femme, where he sharpened his skills as a sommelier. Care for an elderly parent brought him to New England where he then worked as sommelier at the Blantrye in the Berkshires and at Manchester, Connecticut’s Cavey’s French Restaurant where cared for 11,000 bottles in their cellar. His shop has a great mix of quality, affordably priced bottles and some fancy delicious higher end stuff. The last bottle I bought from him was something delicious and Italian. I did not cork it and drink it on the sidewalk across the bridge in Buckland. I did have it with my Christmas Eve dinner, and it was spectacular. However, Shelburne Falls Cork is in walking distance of Gypsy Apple, Le Peacock and The Juice Box-just over the bridge on the Shelburne-side of Shelburne Falls.
PHOTO BY MONTE BELMONTE
The super-cute thing about The Juicebox in Shelburne Falls, especially now that the weather is getting nicer, is they have seating in the back overlooking the currently derelict Bridge of Flowers but with beautiful views of the river. A perfect setting for a romantic late-Spring occasion.
Bill Seibert’s buddy and fellow somm, Chef Wescott said to me “I think there are more sommelier’s per capita in Shelburne Falls than anywhere else in Massachusetts.” I don’t know how to prove whether or not this is a fact. But Shelburne Falls, in my humble opinion, is currently the hot spot for wine in the fabulous 413. Also, after the wine, go bowling! Shelburne Falls Bowling alley is an historic treasure!
