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One Venerable Wine Shop Closes, Two New Shops Open
New wine shops in Portland and Rangeley
A new wine shop has opened in Longfellow Square in Portland. Tropa, owned and managed by Anthony Mastropasqua, occupies a small space at 688 Congress Street, across from Local 188 and just around the corner from Evangeline. The shop emphasizes European wines, primarily from France, Spain, and Italy, with a heavy emphasis on Italian wines. Mastropasqua is a big fan of wines from Italy, with his family hailing from the Calabria region in southern Italy, and he has stocked a large number of wines from the Italian south. He is planning to have some additional work done on the store shortly, expanding the available space and making room for more wine, plus olive oils and other products from Italy. Also in his plans are in-store tastings once he gets approval from the state. With the recent closing of The Clown’s Portland shop, Tropa’s emphasis on Italian wines fills a niche in the local wine market.
The Tropa Wine Co. storefront at 688 Congress St., Portland Photo by Bob Rossi
Further afield, a new wine shop has opened in Rangeley. Wilderness Wines (864-2010), located at 2499 Main Street, is owned by the husband-wife team of Pete St. John and Margot Joly, who also own Wilton Wine Merchants in East Wilton. St. John is a former teacher and Joly is an attorney, and they opened the East Wilton shop in 2005, while St. John was still teaching. When Joly opened a branch of her law practice in Rangeley, the couple decided to open a wine shop in the town, and settled on an old building downtown which they are in the process of buying. They are also adding an array of exotic beers and ales, cheeses, coffees and teas, prepared entrees, and other food items to the approximately 350 wines they have on display in the Rangeley shop. The new shop will have tastings on the first Friday of the month, including this coming July 4 from 12-6 p.m. Wilton Wine Merchants also has monthly tastings, generally from 12-4 p.m. on the first Saturday of each month. For a list of wine tastings throughout the state, click on the tasting schedule link at the top of the page.