New wine shops grace South Minneapolis

Joe Shlabotnik/Flickr

First up? The Cork Dork Wine Company (mad points for the name!) was opened by a local restaurant and wine buying veteran who emphasizes a "casual and unpretentious" approach to wine. Owner Russell Fay has bought wine for the Craftsman, Cave Vin and the former Pane Vino Dolce (and has also worked for Heartland and Mission American Kitchen), so the guy's in the know. The 400-square-foot shop features a little bit of everything Fay says, with bottles starting around $6 and 95 percent of them setting you back less than $20 he says. As the Strib points out, Fay personally tastes and selects everything in the shop.

And second? The new ownership of Ken & Norm's Liquor on 48th and Chicago has knocked down a few walls, added a walk-in beer cooler and added some up-top storage space to give the formerly very-cozy space a bit more breathing room. Like its former owners, Ken & Norm's has a wine selection featuring grapes from just about every wine region you've heard of (1,500 bottles all told) including some organic and local wines as well. And don't forget: The shop's got a decent liquor and beer selection too. NOTE: You can join the folks at the shop tonight for a French wine tasting. The drinking starts going down at 4 p.m.

Cork Dork
4726 Cedar Ave. S.
Minneapolis
612.721.9463

Ken & Norm's
4801 Chicago Ave. S.
Minneapolis
612.822.0030