Fort Mill now has an urban winery. See what’s happening, and coming soon to downtown
Illumination Wines has been open only a week in Fort Mill, but already the new spot feels like home. Which is the point of the place.
The building at 201 Springs St., just a short walk across the Tom Hall Street intersection from Main Street, has a long history of residential and commercial uses. Most recently it was filled with offices. Linda Shadday and her daughter, Amanda Tellier, transformed the roughly 2,000-square-foot space into a wine tasting gathering spot.
Hardwood floors were kept. A new bar area welcomes guests near the entrance. Various seating rooms for book club, birthday party or other social gatherings of up to about 20 people fill the downstairs area.
Shadday and Tellier team to own and run Illumination Wines. In a back kitchen, Breanna Tuggle runs the separate but partner business Brie’s Boards, which serves cheeses and meats.
“We do grazing tables at events,” Tuggle said. “We do charcuterie boards, delivery, pickup as well, here. And then we’re also the in-house charcuterie kitchen.”
Both businesses aim to create a comfortable feel for guests who want to walk in and try something different in the downtown area.
“You’re walking to your neighbor’s house,” Tuggle said. “You’re home. You feel relaxed. That’s one of the biggest selling points we’ve heard.”
After a couple of soft opening events, Illumination held its grand opening over Memorial Day weekend.
“The whole front yard was filled with people,” Shadday said. “It was great.”
Shadday lives in Chester, Tellier in Tega Cay. Their family came from North Carolina prior. The new wine spot is several years in the making.
“It’s kind of been one of our favorite pastimes as a mother and daughter bonding thing,” Tellier said. “We would go to wineries together and do wine tastings. One day we were just drinking some wine at a winery not too far from here and we were like, we could do something like this.”
The pair originally envisioned a destination winery in Chester County. Then they heard about an urban winery concept in Davidson, N.C., that they thought they could replicate.
“We said, you know, that’s what we need to do,” Shadday said.
The pair searched for a site for more than a year. Shadday was turning around in Fort Mill one day when she saw a for lease sign at the Springs Street location.
“We are super excited to have it in this house because it just has such character and flair and uniqueness,” Shadday said. “It’s eclectic.”
Illumination offers domestic and international wines, many of the labels unavailable in retail stores. There are wine elixers, or wine-based cocktails. There are unique drinks like a pineapple upside down moscato. There are wine flights in test tube form.
“Wine is both science and art,” Tellier said, “so we’re trying to combine the two into a tasting experience.”
The site has a fermentation room, and eventually will make its own small batch craft wines.
“That’s going to be phase two,” Tellier said. “It’s going to be a couple of months.”
Because few grape varieties grow in South Carolina, Shadday said, most in-state wineries have to bring in grapes from elsewhere. Illumination already has partnerships to get its grapes. Wine will be made in a back room away from the parlors and meeting spaces for guests.
“We’ll be bottling back there, labeling and fermenting,” Shadday said.
Sunday brunch boards, baked brie and other food will be available through Tuggle’s business, which started as a home-based online company more than a year ago. Tuggle grew the business and needed a commercial kitchen, which fit perfectly with what Illumination had with its new site.
“Who doesn’t love wine and cheese, right?” Tuggle said. “Outside that, Linda and Amanda have been fantastic business partners over the last year, year-and-a-half almost that we’ve known each other.”
Illumination also stands to gain from the growing pedestrian traffic downtown, where a slew of new restaurant openings in recent years make for a busy Main Street most evenings. Already Illumination has had calls from groups walking up from other businesses on Main.
“We just want more businesses to bring lots of people to the area, to the park, to shop, eat and drink,” Shadday said. “It’s good for everybody.”
Illumination is open noon to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
This story was originally published June 1, 2022 at 11:54 AM with the headline "Fort Mill now has an urban winery. See what’s happening, and coming soon to downtown."
