Champaign's Bubbly Secret With Surprising Depth
· Champaign · Wine Bar / New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed September 8, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Sun Singer Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Sixty-four labels in Champaign, Illinois is not what you expect walking into a mid-sized college town. The list leads heavy on sparkling — seven glass pours of bubbles before you even get to the whites — which tells you exactly what this place thinks a night out should feel like. It's ambitious in the right direction.
The sparkling program is the obvious centerpiece: Laurent-Perrier Brut anchors the top end at $19.75 a glass, while Segura Viudas and Freixenet give budget-conscious drinkers real options without punishing them. The still wine list is leaner — the bottle section surfaces gems like the Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina and Jim Barry Waterville Riesling, which are genuinely interesting picks for a list this size. The house wine lineup (Chardonnay, Merlot, Shiraz, Zinfandel, Cab, Blush — all $8) is the predictable padding you'd expect, but it doesn't drag down the rest. Where the list shows its age is in the reds: bottle coverage seems thin based on what's visible, and there's no obvious deep-cellar play for anyone looking to push past the fizz.
Thirty-five glass pours on a 64-label list is a genuinely generous ratio — you can spend a whole evening here without committing to a bottle. The sparkling-by-the-glass selection alone spans Champagne, Crémant, Cava, and Prosecco, which is more than most dedicated wine bars manage. The $7.75 Lunetta Prosecco entry point keeps things accessible without feeling cheap.
Feudi di San Gregorio Falanghina 2023 — $31
Feudi di San Gregorio is one of the most reliable names in Campania, and Falanghina at $31 a bottle is a genuine deal — this wine routinely retails for $18-22, so the markup is restrained and the quality-to-price ratio is real.
Cascina Pain d'Or 'Serena' Sweet Red Wine 2021
Most people walk right past sweet reds, and that's their loss. This Piedmontese offering at $27 a bottle is the kind of low-alcohol, lightly fizzy, food-friendly red that's become a cult favorite in Italy but still flies completely under the radar in the States — it's the sleeper pick on this list.
House Chardonnay
Eight bucks a glass sounds reasonable until you realize you're one step above a box wine situation with zero producer transparency. With a Falanghina or a Riesling this close in price, there's no reason to default to the nameless house pour.
Jim Barry Waterville Riesling 2023 + Charcuterie Board
Clare Valley Riesling has the acidity to cut through cured meats and aged cheeses, and Jim Barry's Waterville bottling brings enough lime and slate character to hold its own against strong flavors without overwhelming anything on the board.
The Bottom Line
Sun Singer is punching well above its weight for central Illinois — the sparkling program alone makes it worth a detour, and the bottle list has enough personality to reward anyone willing to look past the house pours. Send your wine-curious friends here without hesitation.
South Champaign · Champaign · Farm-to-Table / American
Harvest Market Farmhouse is a perfectly fine neighborhood wine program that punches above its weight exactly once a week — on Mondays, when half-price bottles turn a predictable list into a genuinely good deal. The rest of the week, it's a reliable pour with fair markups, just don't come here looking for discovery.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
South Champaign · Champaign · Italian
Napoli's isn't a wine destination, but it's not trying to be — the list is honest, the prices are fair, and the Italian bottles genuinely complement the food. Send a friend here for dinner without hesitation; just don't send them expecting to discover anything new.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Champaign · Champaign · Diner / Cafe
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.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Champaign · Champaign · Mexican
Fiesta Café is a genuinely fun spot for margaritas and big burritos, but the wine list is purely ceremonial — it exists so they can say they have one. Come for the drinks menu, not the wine list.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Champaign · Champaign · Steakhouse
LongHorn Champaign has a wine list that exists so you can say you had wine with dinner — not much more than that. If you're here for the steak, grab the J. Lohr and move on; if you came for the wine list, recalibrate your evening immediately.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Champaign · Steakhouse
Texas Roadhouse is a perfectly good place to eat a steak and destroy a basket of rolls — just do yourself a favor and drink a beer or a bourbon instead. The wine list is grocery-store inventory at chain-restaurant markups, and no amount of country music can dress that up.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Avalon · Johns Creek · Wine Bar / New American
CRÚ is doing something right in the sparkling department — a Champagne and bubbly selection this broad is rare in Johns Creek, and it earns the place real credit. The markups run steep across the board and the still wine list plays it very safe, but if you're meeting friends for a bottle of bubbles before dinner, this is a legitimate destination. Go in with the sparkling list in mind and you'll leave happy.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Bridgeport · Wine Bar / New American
Scena has the bones of a genuinely good wine bar — a focused regional philosophy, a room that respects wine as a centerpiece, and a kitchen sending out dishes that should pair well with what's in those displays. The catch is the pricing sits at the high end for Fairfield County, and without a transparent, accessible wine list, you're leaning on the staff to guide you. Go with curiosity, ask a lot of questions, and don't be afraid to push back if a recommendation feels like an upsell.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
· Sedona · Wine Bar / New American
Vino Di Sedona earns the Wild Card badge by doing what few tourist-destination wine bars bother to do: stocking skin-contact pours, Arizona locals, and genuinely interesting worldly whites at prices that don't punish you for being in a scenery hotspot. If you're in Sedona and want a real glass of wine — not just something red in a big glass — this is the move.
Surprising Depth
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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