Our History

The Question that everyone always asks us is, "Why are you in the wine business?".  The answer to that question is complicated but in retrospect we thought that it would be fun and romantic to have a little wine shop nestled in downtown Wheaton, Illinois.  I still remember walking around downtown with my sister and brother-in-law and pointing to the small corner store where our first wine shop would be located.  I kept telling him  that this is a great spot for a wine shop and I think we're going to put ours here. Well we did and gosh have we learned a lot over the last three years.  While we still pause and think about this since what started out as a romantic dream that was fostered from several trips to Napa and living for 14 years on the edge of Washington State's wine country has now become a passion for Victoria who now is on her third store - just three years later and actively pursuing her next location.

As many of you know, we established Peterson Wine Cellars in the summer of 2002 and according to Victoria, “Our goal was to create a wine shop that provided a respectable selection of fine wines from throughout the world where people could come and taste a variety of different wines each week in a quaint tasting room that would remind them of their last trip to California.”  In October of 2002, that goal was achieved with the opening of the first  Peterson Wine Cellars in historic downtown Wheaton, Illinois. 

On July 28, 2003, we opened  second store in downtown Naperville. The store is located at 35 West Jefferson Avenue in a100 plus year old building complete with tin ceilings and old fashioned heating.  It has so much personality that you'll fall in love every time you come to the store. 

As life goes, you have to be prepared for reality and in April of 2005 we declined to renew our lease for the Wheaton store since the retail environment had been on a steady decline for the three years we were located there.  As most retail experts will tell you, location, location, location. 

On the bright side, our newest store is located in South Naperville at the corner of 87th Street and Route 59. We purchased this store as Waterford Spirits and Fine Wines but it now carries the distinctive Peterson crest and the Peterson name as Peterson Spirits and Fine Wines.  The store was acquired on August 1, 2005 and carries a complete line of Wine, Champagne, Beer, and Spirits.   The store is about 3,500 square feet with a walk-in beer cooler and great storage capacity for warehousing the special deals that we pass on to our customers. 

Wine is our passion and is the area of our greatest expertise. As a matter of fact, Victoria has really become quite the wine expert and her knowledge of wine and her palate literally amazes even the veterans in this business. Any way, it is important to know that all of our wine is hand selected by Victoria who also personally tastes each wine that is on our shelves.  This method and approach assures you of a good wine with every purchase.  In any given month, Victoria tastes over 100 wines, if not more.  As you can see, the selection process for our wine is extremely demanding but we are sure you'll be pleased with our selections.

Now that you thought you knew everything about Peterson Wine Cellars, hold on - we just moved our downtown store to 119 S. Main Street, next to Giordano's Restaurant at NaperPlace.  This is a great location and we have put in all the charm of our existing store.  It is convenient to both the VanBuren parking lot and the parking garage and is barely 50 yards from our current location on Jefferson Avenue.

Our new store will feature all our wines with better lighting and better storage for overflow.  It also will allow us to display our wines in a more attractive format.  We believe that we'll catch the foot traffic from the Main Street Promenade as well.

Wow!, hard to believe how much has happened. However, this is our short but busy history.  We are always looking for opportunities for expansion and so the story is just beginning. Stay tuned for the next store opening in your neighborhood.

Our Time Line

August 2002
Peterson Wine Cellars was born and the company was registered with the State of Illinois.

October 22, 2002
Peterson Wine Cellars opened for business in Downtown Wheaton on 210 West Wesley Street.

First Day Nightmares
Cash register wouldn't clear credit cards properly due to the wrong model of modem. Wine racks installed upside down.

December 15, 2002
Peterson Wine Cellars makes the front page of the Sunday edition of the Daily Herald. Article titled Toast of town. Dry for years, now Wheaton raises a glass to wine shops.

December 28, 2002
Our first winemaker arrives from California.  Mick Unti from Unti Vineyards offered his wines to a sellout crowd. 

March 21, 2003
Wheaton Chamber of Commerce Ribbon Cutting Ceremony at our Wheaton Store. 

July 28, 2003
Opened for business in our new Downtown Naperville location at 35 West Jefferson Avenue.

August 14, 2003
Michael Havens hosts a wine dinner at Praga Restaurant in Downtown Lombard for 35 guest of Peterson Wine Cellars.

August 16, 2003
We celebrate the Grand Opening of our downtown Naperville Store with Michael Havens, Winemaker and Owner of Havens Wine Cellars in Napa, California. 

July 5, 2004
We implement our new deep discount wine pricing policy for our semi-annual sale through fall 2004. 10% off on 6-11 bottles, 15% off 12 or more bottles, and 20% off straight cases. 

November 1, 2004
We extend the fall deep discount policy through December 31, 2004.

January 1, 2005
We make the deep discount policy permanent.

July 31, 2005
Come to terms on the purchase of Waterford Spirits & Fine Wines, LTD.

August 1, 2005
Officially take over the operations of Waterford Spirits & Fine Wines.

August 18, 2005
City of Naperville and the State of Illinois recognized Waterford Spirits & Fine Wines, LTD as Peterson Spirits & Fine Wines.

May 21, 2005
We began moving our store to our new Main Street location

May 24, 2006
We opened up in our new spacious location to the rave reviews of our customers. We now call 119 S. Main Street our new home.