Vinodivino looks to bring high-quality, affordable wine to Marion

May 28, 2024

MARION — Vinodivino, a wine shop with four existing locations in the Greater Boston area, has opened another. It occupies the former site of Spirits, a liquor store that closed earlier this year, on Front Street in Marion.

The business celebrated its new location with a four-day grand opening on Memorial Day weekend which featured wine tastings each day.

Manika Khanna, one of three partners running the company, said Vinodivino features “outstanding wines that are unique.”

“Every single bottle in the store has been taste-tested and approved,” said Khanna. “We are looking to bring forward unique, exclusive, high-caliber wine.”

Although the focus is wine, Vinodivino also sells various types of liquor and a selection of craft beer.

Vinodivino was started at its Newton location by Raphael Keller-Go in 2004. Khanna said that Keller-Go had the ambition of starting a wine shop that sold highly rated wine for under $20.

After Keller-Go passed away in 2023, Khanna and her Vinodivino co-workers Michael Mendes and David Ucci decided to take over the business and keep operations going.

“It was tough,” said Mendes. “It certainly had challenges beyond the loss of [Keller-Go], which was devastating. Learning the higher level stuff without the ability of having him around was a challenge. Now, I think we’ve kind of hit our stride.”

Khanna said that community has always been a part of Vinodivino’s philosophy.

“We love that Marion is a walking town and is very close knit,” said Khanna. “We want to be a place where people can come together.

Vinodivino will have wine available to taste every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

“We want the community to come in here and taste the wine,” said Mendes. “We can teach them about wine and we want to get involved with events that need beverage catering. We want to be a part of that fabric, not just a package store.”

Ucci said that the turnout on their opening weekend in business was “spectacular.”