Sun Singer Wine and Spirits Ltd

Specialties

Combining the concepts of Retail, Wine Bar Café & Gourmet Deli, Sun Singer offers over 30 wines by the glass from around the world along with a full service bar with an extensive array of fine liquors, import and craft beers.

History

Established in 2003.

Sun Singer started as a wine store and gourmet shop in Monticello, IL and operated in that location for five years. The store takes its name from the statute of the Sun Singer that is located in Allerton Park in Monticello, IL. That store was closed when the current location opened in November 2003. A majority of customers were from the Champaign area and the move allowed Mark to bring this store closer to the people it served while also allowing him to expand the concept to include a Wine Bar Café and Gourmet Deli.

Meet the Business Owner

Mark Y.

Business Owner

Buying the shop offered them both a second career and a chance to work together, they said. Jackie Yarbrough, 49, formerly worked as a veterinary technician at the University of Illinois, and Mark Yarbrough, 50, worked in his family’s former construction business, University Asphalt, which later became University Construction.

Mark Yarbrough says he has been a wine drinker since college, and he and his wife have enjoyed wrapping up a busy work week on Friday evening by cooking a gourmet meal and trying a new wine.

Their interest in wines grew over the years to include an interest in production and history, and they began taking classes and touring wineries in the United States and some areas of Europe, the couple said.

«The whole industry is so vast and so spread through the world,» Mark Yarbrough said. «And what I find fascinating is it changes constantly.»