Wine Knows

Best boutique Wine Shop I know! Awesome wines from small Distribution Companies you won’t find the common wines here! Awesome beers, awesome tastings, Amazing tunes while you browse or sample with Phil. The one thing I’m missing in my new new neighborhood, I’ll be making a trip for sure monthly haul! Cheers to Phil at Wine Knows keep up the good work!

Great wine shop and excellent selection of craft beer. Nothing from the big distributors. This is all craft, from the craft speciality distributors and small self distributing brewers. Knowledgeable staff. Friendly and helpful. They do wine tastings at time, I think they might do some beer tastings but I haven’t seen any. Great little bottle shop.

Exceptionally helpful staff and an insane selection! Never had anything but a great experience here and always manage to find two armfuls of beer I haven’t tried yet.

Was introduced to this store through some friends. Some of the best selections of wines around and craft beers. This place is simply my go to place for wine.

Phil seems to know every wine and beer in the place. A great selection, and if you go in and tell him the target audience, their taste, and your price range, he will give you a great wine. Don’t go here if you want Gallo or box wine or Yellow Tail. Go to Jewel. Go here if you want something different.

Phil is about as knowledgeable as you will find when it comes to helping select the perfect wine. Wine Knows has a great selection of budget friendly as well as «splurge» or special occasion bottles of great wines. They have many wonderful events open to the public for tastings and samplings with local and regional wine reps. By far the best wine shop around.
Craft beer selection is outstanding as well. Always something new and interesting to take home and try.

When I go visit my mom and we feel like drowning our sorrows in beer and/​or wine, I ALWAYS go here for the product.
It has a GIANT, JUPITERIAN, BIG, HUGE, LARGE selection of wine and beers, no other store within 20 miles has such a great selection of wine, spirits and beers. Prices are market standard with some of the individual bottles on the expensive side.
Everyone who frequents the place knows the owner can be a little sharp tongued, but so what, I’m not there to buy smiles and rainbows, I’m there to buy booze. Despite his occasional lack of social graces, he has deep knowledge of booze and can recommend deftly and will allow you taste many different wines.
Absolute best selection of wine and beer in central Lake County.

They have quite the selection here, but it is a lot of basic wines. I prefer more abstract and difficult to find wines. They have a few rarities, but not the best in my opinion. Tons of stuff here, friendly service, but need more different kinds of wine. Add plum wines, ice wines, wines that are popular in other countries like Japan. Prices seem fair, and pretty good amount of craft beers as well. Wish they carried more mead and cider variety. Overall a great place.

This should be your go to spot for an awesome array of micro-​brews.
Oh and, yes, they also have a huge offering of delicious wine.
This isn’t where you stop to find Miller Lite or Budweiser.
There is a vast selection of Illinois breweries (Solemn Oath, Pipeworks, Only Child, Zumbier, etc) and a lot of great out-​of-​state options too. I’ve been most impressed that pricing is comparable to what you’d find at Binny’s or other big-​box liquor stores.
Phil (the guy you want to ask for if you have questions) has a great knowledge and passion for wine. Frequently you can find a good beer/​wine tasting as well.
Long and short — go here for your beer/​wine/​spirits.
The service is great, the prices aren’t too bad and the experience is delightful.

friendly crowd, great selection, and great service

«We stopped at this wine shop on Washington called Wine Knows… oh, I just got that!!» Yes, I uttered these words to my sister and totally laughed my ass off! What a moron I am!
We were killing some time before my nephew’s birthday party and I wanted to check this place out after reading their excellent Unilocal reviews.
They are tucked away in a secret strip mall and you wouldn’t even notice them there because all the signage on the building is identical and it’s set back from the main road a bit.
The place is well organized by type of wine and the racks allow for nice storage of their stock. We walked in while the owners or staff were having their lunch and we didn’t want to interrupt with a lot of questions so we probably didn’t have the full experience we could have had should they have not been busy.
We both explored the store… me, the wine and the hubby found their beer selection. I chose a very nice German bottle of pinot grigio for my girlfriend whom always allows me to drink her wine when I’m visiting and a bottle of wine to take home and add to my collection which by the way, I need to start drinking before my husband kills me by drowning me with cabernet!
This is not to say they are overpriced, but we spent a little more than we probably should have on a few bottles of wine. Its a good thing they are located so far from home, otherwise, I might be a regular!

They might have a nice store and great selection, but one of the most rude and apathetic business owners I’ve ever encountered. His wife was even more unfriendly. Completely horrible

Beer, check. Red wine, check, white wine, check. Bubbly, check. Port, check. Spirits, check. Did I mention beer?
Wine Knows is nestled back in an unassuming strip mall across from the College of Lake County. At first, you might think Wine Knows is a typical package store but as you wander up and down the isle, you realize that Phil has carefully chosen the very hard to get beers, wines and spirits. This isn’t a big box store — if you are looking for MGD and Miller Lite, do not go. If you want a special IPA or Zin, this is your place.
Phil has a library in his head and knows about each and every wine — just ask him. Really. For the people in the know (aka frequent customers), there is a special beer geek room where he keeps very quiet some hard to get brews. No, you can’t browse, you need to ask for a specific beer. Sometimes you are rewarded.
Samples? Sure! belly up to the bar. There are always things to taste. Personally, this is an outstanding opportunity to try a few wines before you buy a bottle. The periodic wine tastings are also an outstanding opportunity to try before you buy. Every once in a while, phil holds a WDNNSWR tastings (We don’t need no stinkin wine rep). Do join his mailing list — it is filled with tidbits and dates.
Straight forward, honest, fun, unpretentious and welcoming. Seek out Wine Knows. In my humble opinion, it has one of the best selections around.

I visited this store for the first time over the weekend, based on a friend’s recommendation (and the need for unique alcohol selections for a party).
Where at first it might seem intimidating based on the rows of wines, stay for a few minutes and this little store will open its arms and welcome you. Head to the back of the store, and the proprietors will have you tasting their «daily samplings» of wine. The tasting station was FULL when we came in, and yet they still made room for us.
Unlike other wine stores, this shop seemed to breathe personality, with laughter and fun radiating from the sampling section of the store. Where one might blame the flowing alcohol, I think it’s more… the owners are fun people, looking to share good wine and conversation with the locals.
These aside, they have some very solid wine selections, both red and white, several VERY cool beer offerings that you won’t find at the local supermarkets, and even some unique hard liquors (they had, for example, some vodka flavors I’ve never heard of but want to go back to to experience!)
If you’re looking for something different, head here — the prices are fair, and the spirits are really worth it!

Great place to select wines or beers. Nice selection of both, and helpful staff for pretty much anything you’re looking for

I loved this place when I lived in Grayslake.
Great selection of gluten-​free beers!!!
Always had positive experiences, and the wine tasting is fun! Highly recommended!

If you’re a beer geek or even if you’re just getting into craft beers, this is the place to go! The wine is an amazing selection too, but I’m not much of a wine guy. I’m talking about BEER BEER BEER, not MGD, not Budweiser, I’m talkin real beer that’s not mass produced for quantity over quality… I’m talking about the stuff you don’t find at Jewel or your typical liquor store. They have an amazing selection of craft brews from around the country as well as high end import brews from around the world. They get in new stuff all the time, I’m amazed by the selection every time I visit, which is normally every week or so. TIP: Don’t just look in the fridge, they have a large assortment on the floor as well. Seriously, if you like good beer, go in and see for yourself!
Why I love this place: Incredible selection, very fair pricing, very friendly and knowlegable people, free beer and wine tastings regularly… yep… free!
I’ve been coming here for the last 3 years that I’ve lived in the area and I’ve been watching them grow, especially on the beer side of the business in the last year now. They also have some great sake’s and liquor.

Phil at Wine Knows really understands wine, and has built a strong following. He carries good wines, knows most of them personally, and is always ready to make a recommendation (without being pushy or pretentious). Also has a great specialty beer selection.
Carries Gluten Free beer (which is really appreciated by my wife).
While not the cheapest source, the service makes it worth not driving to Binny’s or DiCarlos. It’s nice having this high quality wine shop in town.

This place is awesome! Friendly owners with excellent knowledge of wines. Phil speaks candidly about wines and wine ratings, and is confident enough in his opinions that he has no need to project any pretentiousness. The wine (and beer) tastings (both the small and large) are wonderful. I have learned about many different grape varietals through the tastings.
Besides the tastings, the beer selection keeps me coming back. Given the area they have allotted to beers, the selection is relatively extensive, and there always seems to be something new that I want to try.

Small liquor store that that focuses on wine. They have a small but quality filled aisle for craft beer and some spirits. I can only comment about the beer since that is all I bought but the prices were standard.
Not as good of a selection as DiCarlo’s in Mundelein or as cheap as Woodman’s in Kenosha but the best in between those 2 stores. A good local place that also has tastings.