Barrel Shoppe

Matt Hagel

3450 Mt. Diablo Blvd ~ (925) 393-3458

A longtime resident of Lafayette, Matt Hagel has been in the wine and spirits business for over 30 years.  He raised his kids in Lafayette, is a big fan of the Dons Football team, and is married to Leslie, a 1st grade teacher at Burton Valley. 

Fascinated by the stories of master distillers he met along the way, Barrel Shoppe was born in 2023 and has fast become the place in the East Bay to find that perfect, curated bottle of whisky or tequila for collectors and gift givers alike. 

One aspect of Barrel Shoppe is that Matt picks and buys entire barrels of whisky and then has them bottled with the name of the distillery and his own stamp.  “When you know the emotion of a bottle, the story it tells, the history of its origins, then you can walk into a dinner party with something to share,” he mused as whisky tasting club coordinators, a bourbon aficionado and a steady stream of interested customers roamed his shelves. 

The back office was filled with special orders waiting for shipment or in-store pick-up.  If I had more time, Matt would have told me the story of each of bottle. Barrel Shoppe also has two Whiskey Clubs, Premier and Explorers, as well as a Tequila Club.   

You can see a giant golden pig adorning the entrance to his store, nestled between car repair shops and a few restaurants on Mt. Diablo Blvd.  It will be worth the trip, so park across the street and spend some time to shop their curated selection of spirits while supporting local.