South Elgin eyes liquor code change

Soon you might be able to have more than a sip of wine in South Elgin if you're not at a restaurant.

Trustees Monday night did not voice any major objections to tweaking the village's liquor code to allow wine shops to allow customers to buy wine by the glass.

The earliest trustees could change the law is April 21.

The change was requested by the owner of Wine Styles, 463 Randall Road, who argued other businesses in other communities, such as Geneva, were allowed to serve wine by the glass and thus had an unfair advantage.

"This is one of our local merchants that's trying to be competitive," said Derke Price, village attorney. "The whole idea is to make it no more than a glorified tasting."

Village Administrator Larry Jones said the change was needed to bridge the gap between places that can sell packaged liquor and full blown taverns.

The proposed change limits the number of people who can be served to eight. Trustees might change that in coming weeks.

Trustee Michael Kolodziej said he didn't believe people would abuse the feature to get "loaded."

"I don't anticipate this being a bar," he said.

Aside from grocery stores, one of the largest wine selections in the village can be found at Top Shelf Wine and Spirits, 240 Randall Road.

Manager Dave Marck said the store usually has wine tastings on weekends, along with a small selection of breads or crackers to cleanse the palate.

"We use it more as a sales tool," he said. "People don't tend to abuse it in anyway."

During regular hours, customers can request a sample from one of 16 wines that are rotated monthly from a large tap.