Falanghina and eggs? Sure, why not.
Downtown Champaign · Champaign · Diner / Cafe · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 11, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Lazy Daisy Diner & Cafe’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
A four-wine list at a diner sounds like a disaster waiting to happen — until you actually read it. Campo Viejo Cava, a Campanian Falanghina, and a Lambrusco Amabile at a comfort food spot in downtown Champaign? Someone here has taste. It's tiny, but it's trying.
Four bottles doesn't give you much to work with, but the picks are genuinely interesting. The Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina del Sannio 2023 is a legit Southern Italian white from a producer that punches well above its price tier. The Settecani Lambrusco Amabile is sweet, fizzy, and exactly the kind of fun red that belongs next to a stack of pancakes or a grilled cheese. The J. Lohr 'Wildflower' Valdiguié is a quirky California red made from a nearly forgotten grape — it's light, low-tannin, and approachable. The BACA Double Dutch Zinfandel rounds things out on the fruit-forward end. The gaps are real — no serious whites, no dry reds with any weight — but for a diner, this is genuinely more considered than it has any right to be.
Everything on the list is available by the glass, running $6.95 to $11.95 a pour — which is reasonable pricing for this market. There's no rotation or reserve program, and the list appears to hold steady rather than evolve seasonally. What you see is what you get, but what you get isn't bad.
Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina del Sannio 2023 — $11.95/glass
Feudi di San Gregorio is a benchmark Campanian producer, and Falanghina is one of Southern Italy's most food-friendly whites. Getting it at a diner for under $12 a glass — with markups running fair across this list — makes this the clear standout pick.
J. Lohr 'Wildflower' Valdiguié 2022
Valdiguié is a nearly extinct French grape that J. Lohr has championed in California for decades. It drinks like a Gamay — light, juicy, low tannin — and most people will walk right past it. Don't.
BACA Double Dutch Zinfandel
Nothing wrong with it, but big fruit-forward Zinfandel is the most predictable move on this otherwise interesting list. With the Valdiguié and the Lambrusco right there, there's no reason to default to this one.
Settecani Lambrusco Amabile + Grilled cheese sandwich
Sweet, fizzy, lightly tannic Lambrusco cuts right through the fat and salt of a melted cheese sandwich. It's the kind of pairing that sounds like a joke until you try it — then it makes total sense.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Lazy Daisy has no business having a wine list this thoughtful, and that's exactly why it earns a Wild Card. Four bottles, zero pretension, and at least two genuinely interesting pours — we'd absolutely tell a friend.
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