Tandem

I feel the best way to post any review is to simply provide pros and cons and let you decide —
Please note My family and I used to shop here when John was the owner and when it was Carlson /​McKnight. At that time they offered reasonably priced wine. All of our friends and family have traveled throughout the world and are wine enthusiast but we are not wine experts. John made us feel comfortable asking questions and gave us great advice on wines to suit everyone’s taste. 50% of what John carried was about $ 10 or less per bottle. 30% was around $ 15 per bottle and 20% was around $ 20 + bottle. He also had a separate section with higher end wines around $ 50 or more for special occasions and wine experts. With that being said, my husband and I stopped over to tandem and decided to check out the new store.
Pros: since the new owners have taken over they have definitely made improvements to the interior of the store including a beautiful bar in the back and a comfortable sofa. It’s wonderful to stop in and have a casual glass of wine instead of going to a bar on the Avenue. The crowd seems to be upscale and everyone is very nice. Both owners are also very nice and well versed in wines and spirits. They do offer a fantastic selection. The parking lot is huge and has direct access to the building. The location is fantastic directly off College Avenue between the downtown and the mall — about three minutes from Highway 41. They also offer several other goodies such as beer, chocolate, cheese, wine glasses and other great gift ideas! We do enjoy going there and will definitely go back!
Cons: we noticed that the prices have changed since it was Carlson/​McKnight. Perhaps tandem has a different distributor. We noticed that about 10% of the wines are around $ 10
To $ 15 dollars, about 10% of the wines are about $ 15 to 22 dollars, and majority of the wines that they carry are 25 to 35+ dollars. I’m sorry but we are not wine experts and cannot see spending $ 25-​$ 35 for a single bottle of wine that We may not like and end up pouring down the sink.
A note from a wine expert — When John owned the wine bar he told us just because a bottle of wine is more expensive does not necessarily make it better. He pointed out the facts in distribution. He mentioned some are mass produced bringing the per bottle and case price down, other wines are not mass-​produced and that cranks the price up. We tasted many wines when John was the owner and most of them were anywhere from eight to $ 12 per bottle. After all these years we were very accustomed to spending that on a quality bottle of wine. No we are not looking to spend more. Even though we will return to the new tandem because it’s a fun upscale place we will also be shopping at other places in town that fit our needs and budget. Like I said all of our friends and family are wine enthusiast but none of our friends and family are wine experts! Best wishes to the new owners to a wonderful and successful business. We have always promoted and prefer to support local businesses!

We arrived at Tandem for a couple of bottles of wine upon our arrival from Northern California to the Fox Valley. We were immediately stunned and felt like we had walked into a high end wine and beer tasting room in Napa or Sonoma. The selections here were amazing and the tasting area made us want to ditch our family plans and nestle into a full night of tastings (that would’ve been too impolite of us, so we didn’t). The service was excellent and the staff was more than willing to help us find the right beers and wines for our Christmas plans. Tandem is a spectacular gem if you are a beer or wine connoisseur!

If you’re in the general Fox Cities, McKnight and Carlson is gonna be your BEST bet for a good bottle of wine… trust me.
First off, the staff is well-​seasoned, unpretentious and knowledgeable. On the few occasions i’ve been there, they’ve had a killer selection of bottles in every single price range imaginable. Even better, they’re selection spanned the globe and included off-​beat varietals that only a connoisseur could have procured. All in all, I wouldn’t bother going anywhere else in A-​town. As well, many moons ago, I know they were developing a really solid craft beer selection. I trust it’s only gotten better.