Wine shop in Bloomington-Normal, Ill area?

WINE TALK
1

I’ve looked on wine-searcher and find nothing.

Is there anything good in that area?

Thanks.

2

Mark, in the mid-1980s I taught at Illinois State University. I’ve lived in both Normal and Bloomington. Although I was starting to get into wine at around that time, I can’t recall much in the way of liquor stores with a decent wine selection.

If you are driving, bring stuff from home, or stop at Steve’s Wines in Madison. If flying to Chicago, and renting a car, stop at Binny’s.

3

I can’t think of anything in that area. Do yourself a favor and drive the 1/2 hour to Champaign and go to Binny’s.

4

There’s a Binny’s in Bloomington, IL. It’s been there for a couple years now.

5

Wow, some Bloomington love. Who knew. My wife ( née Capodice) is from there and we make the trek every 6-9 months. She even went to ISU in the early 80s Brad.

There’s a big Binny’s on Veteran’s Parkway. Their aged stuff is lacking, but there is a lot of good current release stuff. Iirc you could even pre-order something special and they will bring it down from CHI with some lead time. The next best source is Famous liquor on Empire. There’s even an occasional find at Sam’s. When it first opened we saw a case of a Grange there for a deal. If you connect with any of the local wine circle they will know my brother-in-law, Jack Capodice.
Btw, we bring wine all the time to Station 220 in downtown which is an impressively good restaurant for the area.

6

John, I taught there in the speech department from 84-86. Also coached the speech team. Did she ever take speech courses in Stevenson Hall?

7

Don’t know about wine shops, but the liquor store near the McDonalds will sell kegs to anyone with a pulse. At least they did when I was at Wesleyan.

8

Another Titan on board???

What year did you graduate? (I’m class of '93, former Alumni Executive Board President, current Trustee)

9

Get out of here! I graduated in '02.

10

My son is at Wesleyan now. Just about to finish his first semester. He’s very happy so far.

11

Fantastic - hope his 1st semester turns out better than mine. That wouldn’t be much of a feat though [drinkers.gif]

12

Mostly a lurker on this board, but as another former Titan ('97), just felt the need to chime in.

Actually visited Bloomington two weeks ago for the first time in eight years. I picked up some bourbon to drink with old classmates at the Friar Tuck’s Beverages off Veteran’s Parkway, which had an above average wine selection for California stuff. Not as much stock as Binny’s, but comparable quality.

The new library is nice.

13

I feel a fundraising call coming on

14

I’ve donated to my alma mater since '95, so they know they can count on me, and I established an endowed scholarship about 7 years ago, when I had the money to do it - I encourage everybody to do it, if some of your giving typically goes to education

15

I’ve been supporting the University of Nebraska libraries with a monthly charge to one of my credit cards. They are now launching a new library drive for expansion with a digital center, large and small group study rooms, etc. Two of their major digital projects involve the Lewis and Clark journals and the papers of Walt Whitman. The latter is of interest to me as I did an honors paper on either “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” or “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”–I can’t remember which but I think the latter. (Oh, and the new library expansion will also have a snack bar.)

16

She would have been there a couple of years before you.

Not to thread drift, but they just opened a Steak’n’Shake in Santa Monica which reports unfortunately have been panning. We cancelled our Thanksgiving trip to B’ton this year. I won’t miss the cold, but will miss drinking some classic wines with the in-laws.