BEHIND THE WINE
The Story of our Store
Melissa and David Stevens have been residents of Ware, MA since 2007. The couple observed the need for a friendly, knowledgeable wine and craft beverage shop in their town. It became their dream to open such a space for their passions to come to life.
With their combined experience in both wine and design it is their wish to bring their business, It’s Wine O’clock, to life in their community. The hope is to offer a warm inviting space to find your favorite beverage for both everyday and special occasions. Additionally, their goal is to provide wine and beverage training seminars and host tasting events.
Meet Melissa
Melissa is currently the co-owner and wine/beverage director at It’s Wine O’clock. She began her wine career in a unique wine bar located in Springfield, MA. L’Uva featured over 60 glasses on the wine list and hundreds of bottles in their wine cellar. It was an amazing opportunity to learn how to pair food with wine, make connections with wine makers and begin a life-long love of the vine.
Her career has awarded her with many opportunities to work both in wine education and sales. She has managed several wine sales territories in Berkshire, Franklin, Hampshire, and Worcester counties for both small and large Massachusetts based distributors. She has also worked for multiple educational wine tasting companies. The highlight of which was being able to manage the wine education program for Oyster Bay Wines based out of New Zealand. In addition to her role as beverage director of It’s Wine O’clock she holds the position of wine sales consultant at Monsieur Touton Selections. A boutique wine distributor based out of New York.
Throughout the course of her career Melissa advanced her knowledge of wines through various industry awarded training programs and several food and wine pairing seminars at Johnson and Wales University. In 2020, she received a Level 3 Advanced Certificate in Wine from the Wine Sprits and Education Trust- an award winning globally recognized authority in wine education.
Meet David
David, a veteran of the United States Navy, has been working in the retail industry for the last thirty years. Holding a position as a visual designer for the Yankee Candle Company at their flagship store located in South Deerfield, MA. He holds advanced degrees in graphic design, visual design, and environmental science.
David is a commensurate artist. His love of art and design has carried his career in many different and exciting outlets. David has recently joined the sales merchandising team for a local wine distributor. He works in creating gorgeous displays that focus on highlighting the trendiest wines on the market. In addition to working in the wine industry he enjoys a fine glass of wine or mead whenever the opportunity arises.