In the Who-knew? Award of the Week sweepstakes, the winner for me is Woodbury’s wine scene. A visit there Friday unearthed three wonderful, distinctive stores and a swell wine bar.

First off, Bill Abrahamson has already made his mark, big-time, at Top Ten Liquors (9887 Norma Lane). Brought in to ratchet up the Top Ten/Northgate chain’s run-of-the-mill wine inventory, he has greatly broadened the selection and put a buttload of interesting wines on sale at any given time, many of them touted on his Friday-morning Cities 97 segment.

From last week’s show, for example, little-known varietals  — French colombard (which used to be the grape that went into Cognac), bonarda, zweigelt and lemberger (a k a blaufrankisch or kekfrankos in central Europe) — are showcased. But overall there’s a broad spectrum of interesting wines and lots opf markdowns on the ever-expanding shelves, aptly reflecting Bill’s encyclopedic expertise and eclectic tastes.

Bill and I had lunch at the new wine bar Cravings (755 Bielenberg Dr., Suite 108), and enjoyed both the food and the wine. It’s in the same strip mall — is every retail outlet in Woodbury part of a strip mall? — as the second iteration of the Wine Market by Kowalski’s. (755 Bielenberg Dr., Suite 104).

Slightly smaller than the Mendota Heights flagship, it has the same soothing, sophisticated ambiance and splendid, West Coast-centric selection. Blessedly, it likewise has an E’s Cheese Shop next door, and the smallish but magnificently chosen array at this store is hard to beat. And of course some great accompaniment for vino.

Last but far from least, I finally got to the Cellars in Woodbury and met the delightful Ray Zemke, wine buyer and marketing director for that chain. Talk about your wine — and bargain — enthusiast: Ray positively gushes when pointing out some of the amazing “bin” bottles available at his store for well under retail price.

But the entire inventory at this store is seriously worth checking out, filled with great finds and a few exclusive allocations from Italy, the Pacific Northwest and, well, pretty much everywhere.

For those seeking values and “discovery,” the Woodbury Cellars and Top Ten are must-visits. And with these three stores, plus Winestreet Spirits in North Oaks and Sutler’s in Stillwater, the Eastern suburbs are now serious playas on the local wine scene.

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