Total Wine reps aren't yet pouring the bubbly to toast the long-delayed liquor license approval for the chain's Bloomington location, but they're closing in.

On Monday, Administrative Law Judge Perry Wilson recommended approval of the license to the Bloomington City Council, which is expected to vote on the license on Nov. 3. The wine superstore has been in limbo for almost a year after the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association raised issues.

Wilson wrote that the decision "was not an easy one. There are a number of facts and a pattern of accusations about the applicant's business practices in other states that give pause and call for careful review."

Bloomington City Attorney Sandra Johnson described the ruling as a significant hurdle, but not the final one. "The final hurdle will be Nov. 3, but the safest thing for the council to do is to concur with the administrative law judge."

Johnson said the council could deviate and reach a different conclusion "but I would think that unusual," she said.

Over $1M in fines cited

Total Wine has opened stores in Roseville and Burnsville, and will open in Woodbury in time for the holidays. It opened its first store in 1991 and has 109 stores in 16 states.

The company, in a statement released Tuesday, wrote that the Minnesota Licensed Beverage Association has waged an aggressive, lobbying campaign to try and block the licensing of its stores. "The cities of Roseville, Burnsville and Woodbury have all reviewed the same opposition arguments, but rejected them and granted licenses to Total Wine in order to provide more competition, lower prices and greater selection for consumers in their respective communities," said the statement.

In Wilson's decision, he cited examples of liquor-law violations brought to his attention in states such as Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Texas, Florida, Connecticut and Delaware. Most were dismissed, but at a public hearing earlier in the summer, an attorney for the MLBA said Total Wine has accumulated more than $1 million in fines in its history.

Ted Farrell, president of Haskell's, who also attended the hearing, said paying $1 million in fines is an indication that "something bad happened." In more than 80 years of business, Haskell's hasn't paid more than $2,000 in fines, he said.

John Ewoldt • 612-673-7633