By Nancy Brumback, Contributing Writer
Photo/ Nancy Brumback
Southborough—Whether it’s a sandwich for lunch or a spread for a holiday party, The Vin Bin offers a thoughtful selection of wines, beers, spirits, cheeses and other gourmet goodies in its three stores.
The Vin Bin has locations in Marlborough, Hopkinton and Southborough, the newest store, celebrating its second anniversary. The Marlborough and Southborough stores include cafes with an assortment of sandwiches, soups, salads and desserts, all homemade. The Hopkinton store will add a café in the spring.
Rick Lombardi, who started the business in Marlborough in 2004, describes The Vin Bin as “a boutique featuring hand-selected, non-commodity beers, wines and spirits, an edited collection.
“We look for products that over-deliver, that offer great quality for the price.”
The Vin Bin is kicking off the holiday season Saturday, Nov. 12, with a grand wine tasting from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Marlborough Country Club, free and open to the public.
To celebrate its anniversary, Southborough plans an open house Saturday, Dec. 3, from 1 to 4 p.m., with food, beer and wine tastings. Southborough just received an all-alcohol beverage license effective Nov. 1, adding spirits as well as beer and wine.
All three stores have an ongoing schedule of tastings, listed on the website, www.thevinbin.com.
The Vin Bin is a family business. Rick’s wife, Julia, has an outside career, but comes up with the customized gift baskets. Their daughter, Christina, is the company’s sales and marketing manager.
Mike Lombardi, their son, is executive chef and convinced the family to add cafes to the stores in 2012. “He put that whole thing together,” Rick said, and the acquisition of the Southborough location with a larger kitchen enabled a menu expansion.
Mike has worked at Oleana Restaurant in Cambridge for chef/owner Ana Sortun, and Trade Restaurant in Boston for chef Jody Adams. At Oleana, he met his wife, Hanna, and she has just joined the family business as a chef, adding her influences to the recipes.
Rick also credits the non-family people who have helped make Vin Bin a success. Aaron Aykanian is the beverage director who samples every bottle. Chuck Edman, beer specialist and Southborough manager, is a certified cicerone, a beer sommelier. Amanda Bongiorno is cheese specialist and dry goods buyer.
For the holidays, Vin Bin can create customized gift baskets with beverages, cheeses and artisan foods, and will deliver or ship them. Rick suggests calling a central number, 508-480-9463, for gift basket information. Gift cards are also available.
The Vin Bin takes orders for fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving, and offers prepared sides. For parties, there are sandwich, cookies and cheese platters, all the fixings for a wine and cheese party, and the staff’s advice on pairings and quantity needed.
Asked to recommend a wine for the Thanksgiving dinner, Rick recommends “drink the best wine before dinner” to get the festivities started. “Open that special bottle and don’t worry whether it goes with turkey.”
For the actual dinner, he suggests lighter, slightly sweet whites, such as rieslings, chenin blanc, gewürztraminer, or Alsatian whites, sparkling wine, and pinot noir if you prefer a red.
When thinking about holiday gift-giving, he recommended artisan bourbons and whiskies, including some locally-made spirits, “unusual and delicious.”
Addresses, hours and events for the Marlborough, Hopkinton and Southborough Vin Bin stores are on the company’s website, www.thevinbin.com.
