Wine comes to downtown Elgin
March 28th, 2008Red Bar Winery may be coming to downtown Elgin. The city council approved it Wednesday night.
The applicant (Ellsworth James Canfield) is proposing to establish an eating and drinking place that will offer a unique dining and entertainment experience. A limited menu and wine tasting will be available. Wine making can be experienced first hand on site by customers who select to produce their own wine in 30 bottle batches. Classes on wine tasting, wine and food pairing and classic wines will also be offered.
This business will include an accessory winery that will produce wine for retail sales to customers and for wholesale. All wine will be produced by fermenting “must� which is the raw unfermented juice of the grape. Any of the wine produced at the winery can be purchased with customized labeling for gift baskets or to serve events that range from private weddings to corporate purchases. (Source: 3/5/08 zoning board agenda)
The property is located at 74 South Grove Avenue, which is next to the new Bandits store. I took a walk down Grove Avenue yesterday, and it looks improbable that Mad Maggies will actually open. The building still has a ‘For Lease’ sign on it, and there’s no indication that any work has been done on it. So I guess we won’t get our pizza YET. Instead we’ll have wine, which is also nice.
Has anybody heard of Federal Bakery? Well one of the awnings on that Grove Avenue block came down recently and you can see a vestige of the old signage. Speaking of awnings, Salon Couture and Ravenheart Coffee have their awnings up now. I sort of preferred the original 60s signage, but this is nice too.
On the subject of wine, once Red Bar Winery is established, wouldn’t it be great if we could get a vineyard in the downtown? How many downtowns can boast of an actual vineyard? The site I’m thinking of is the Low Line south of National Street. It’s a rocky, west-facing slope, which could work for something like Marechal Foch. I think a vineyard there would get rid of a blight, give Elgin yet another point of differentiation, and tie in nicely with the winery.
It’s close to Prairie Rock. So we have microbrewery, winery… It’s good. What would really be nice? A Brew & Grow!
Posted March 28th, 2008 at 12:30 pmSeriously, vineyards in Downtown Elgin!? You just dropped some cred with me brother. Soils bad, air conditions are poor. Awning on the Federal place has been down since last summer. Nice observation. Awnings on the SC/RH building look 1000% better than the old 60’s signs. Actually looks like Elgin is going somewhere now with nice places like that. Nice job guys! Both places look great. They need an image award.
Posted March 28th, 2008 at 4:25 pmSo the Fountain Square Sales Office is empty, and I just saw a zoning sign go up there. Any word on where that is headed? Maybe a restaurant in there. With the wedge-shaped, all windowed setting, could make for a great little cafe right there on the courtyard!
Posted March 30th, 2008 at 10:35 amJ,
If the Fountain Square sales office is 51 South Grove Avenue, which I think it is, that’s where Mad Maggies is going in. I just got a message from the owners, saying they changed the location to across the street, and construction is underway. We’re getting pizza, yay!
Anonymous,
Posted March 30th, 2008 at 10:52 amThanks for your comment. I’m not a wine expert, but my understanding is that grape vines actually prefer poor soils. They need to struggle a bit in order to produce berries that are suitable for wine. As for air quality, not sure it makes a difference, but according to Wikipedia, Elgin’s air quality is outstanding.
Sweetness… or should I say Pizzaness.
Posted April 1st, 2008 at 8:47 amJ,
Posted April 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 pmLike you said you are not a wine expert.
For goshsakes everybody, stop arguing about who knows what and look it up in Google. For the record, J is right:
“For the growth of wine grapes, poor soil is better than rich soil and Bordeaux’s limestone, gravel, sand, and clay soils are ideal. That’s because these poor soil types require the vine to struggle, forcing the plant to grow small grapes with highly concentrated juice, thus producing intensely flavored wines.”
Posted April 4th, 2008 at 2:10 amhttp://www.yachtchartersmagazine.com/read/44501.htm
Um… Wait I’m the Sweetness/Pizzaness guy, not the wine expert guy!
I think there’s been a mix up - the comments come AFTER the part that says “J Says:” not before!
Posted April 4th, 2008 at 7:42 amIs Prairie Rock closing? I heard that last night. Anyone got details? It took a lot of city money to prop them up in Elgin.
Posted April 6th, 2008 at 12:16 pmI hope they are not closing. I love sitting out back in the summer having dinner and watching a band. But the home page on their website doesn’t look right today. There are missing images, including the logo.
Posted April 7th, 2008 at 1:12 pmI work in the area and I’ve never actually seen a human being going in or out of Prarie Rock. their business has to be terrible.
Posted April 10th, 2008 at 6:29 pmThey actually do very well. I have been told there is no truth to the closing rumor at all, in fact, they are about to do some major(?) remodeling.
Posted April 10th, 2008 at 8:53 pmI was also told that either the winery or Mad Maggies has lost one of their backers and is on hold indefinitely.
From what I heard it sounds like the Rock is undergoing some remodeling and they may be bringing in other people to run the restaurant(s), which is a good thing.
That would be too bad about the winery or Mad Maggies…hope it’s not true!
Posted April 10th, 2008 at 9:48 pmI live in Fountain Square. For the last week Ive noticed as I pull out from the garage that there is a “Mad Maggies Comming Soon” sign in the window of the old Fountain Square sales office. Also, Prairie Rock seems to get pretty decent business. Everytime I drive by in the evening hours theres always people outside and going into the place. The downtown area would be nice with a Starbucks or something more Name Brand.
Posted April 25th, 2008 at 11:49 pmThanks for the update, Eddie. That’s good news.
The thing about Starbucks (and other chains) is that they tend to move in once all the work has been done for them and then they crowd out the independents that made it possible.
I love going to Caribou on Randall though!
Posted April 29th, 2008 at 12:05 pmIt is about time Elgin attracts potentials like the Red Bar Winery. I have to say that Elgin currently has very little attractive nightlife. I am a recent first time homebuyer to the area. I moved here not only because it is close to work and decently priced housing (except for downtown Elgin!) but also because I saw a huge potential for improvement especially downtown. Most young professionals such as myself are attracted to close nightlife entertainment. I currently have to drive to Schaumburg, St. Charles, or even Chicago for quality nightlife. Places such as the Bamboo Room, Alumni Club, Soundbar (Chicago’s 21+ version of Dave Medusa’s Mission Club in Elgin), House of Blues all have something in common… Unique urban-style nightlife. ALL are BIG moneymakers and are ALWAYS jampacked on the weekends. Just a suggestion… I would like to see downtown Elgin turn into a densified 24/7 hotspot. THAT is how those overpriced condos will eventually sell. The area will sell well if there is a better mix of demographics. We have empty nesters, families, large mix of races… However, where are all of those recent college graduates who now have jobs and are dying to buy a decently priced condo with restaurants, venues, clubs, clothing stores within walking distance? Not to mention jobs downtown… “Elgin: Second to none but Chicago proper”. Anyone agree?
Posted April 30th, 2008 at 9:32 pmHigh five, Jason!
The city master plan does call for downtown Elgin to be a 24-hour city, but some of the stuff the council has done in recent years has worked against that ideal.
Nevertheless downtown Elgin remains the most promising place for urban nightlife in the suburbs, by virtue of its density, diversity, and architectural inventory.
ArtSpace Elgin may lead to 70 artists living in the downtown, which is going to be another huge plus.
Posted May 1st, 2008 at 2:12 pmThere is now a sign in the window, so it look like the winery is going to be opening “soon”!
Posted September 24th, 2008 at 10:59 pmThanks for the heads up, Alan. I’m looking forward to seeing how this winery turns out.
Posted September 28th, 2008 at 6:33 pm