The Bottle Shop, Wilmette

Yesterday I packed the dog and went for a drive up to the North Shore. We drove through the village of Wilmette and stopped at the almost brand-spankin' new wine shop - appropriately named The Bottle Shop. It sits on a sunny corner of Central and Wilmette Aves. It is large (almost cavernous), with a neat, well-edit selection of wines. It is a really pleasant space, well-lit and woody. Most bottles are under $20, but there are a number of collectibles as well -- mostly French, on this visit. Wines are organized by varietal and, to a lesser extent (read: for major French regions like Bordeaux and Burgundy), by region.

When I was there they were conducting a tasting of wines from Burgundy, a Crianza, and a couple others that slip my mind. According to their wine director, with whom I chatted briefly (he comes from Wine Discount Center in Highland Park), they will do regular tastings on Saturdays. This was a good tasting -- and included a 'secret' bottle -- a Burgundy that they were selling for $108 and of which they had only a single case. It was very tasty.

They keep slim inventory and turn wine pretty regularly, at least that's the plan (they've been open a little over a month).

They just got a license to sell prepared foods, so they plan to offer a limited number of cheeses (hurrah) soon. And other dry goods.

The Bottle Shop
(847) 256-7777
1138 Central Ave
Wilmette, IL 60091

I just wonder what their sign was like.

There was a "The Bottle Shop" in DeKalb when I went to NIU in the mid-80's.

The sign was The (picture of a bottle) Shop.

Just wonder if it just happens to be the same name, or is a chain.

If the latter, hope I'm not disappointing you, but Sam's in Downer's Grove (2nd location) is working well.

Nancy

Not a chain. Nope. This is their one and only store. I think they have only two regular full-time employees! According to their press release (you can google it, that's what I did) their idea is to be as un-chainy as possible. And it definitely doesn't feel like one - a chain, that is.