BILL WARD, Star Tribune

Scott Swanson is justifiably proud of Apple Valley's new, environmentally focused liquor store. With 70 wells beneath the parking lot and three ponds collecting rainwater for re-use, lights that adjust when sunlight beams in and a geothermal heating and cooling system, the building earned Minnesota's first "Green Globes" rating from the Green Building Institute.

Even the tasting bar is made from recycled glass.

But the red, white and pink liquids in the wine bottles, rather than any "green" features, are what make Apple Valley #3 very much not your Uncle Pete's municipal liquor store.

A slew of brews, including a raft of craft beer, and a vast array of spirits take up much of the 15,900 square feet at 5470 W. 157th St. But the wide-aisled wine section -- carpeted, soothingly lit and beautifully stocked by savvy store manager Rick Heyne -- is a difference-maker.

"We're getting people who travel further than the standard two or three miles into this store," said Swanson, director for all three Apple Valley munis.

Other communities have moved in a similar, if less green, direction. Eden Prairie recently remodeled two of its three "munis," and Wayzata is building a long-overdue new one.

And from Apple Valley to Buffalo, from Mound to Columbia Heights, wine inventories have improved. The reason is older than wine itself.

"Supply and demand," said Randall Johnsen, liquor manager for the city of Monticello. "The demand comes from Americans, who are drinking more and more wine. Also, the amount, and quality, of wines available have gone through the roof the past decade. And the public is more educated about them, more willing to try the 'next thing.'

The faltering economy actually helped, he added. "Restaurants are one of the first to suffer in a tough economy, forcing distributors to find new outlets for their wines. [That has] allowed a savvy municipal manager to provide customers with the Silver Oaks, Cakebreads and Turleys that they used to have to shop for at Haskell's and Surdyk's."

Whether buying Silver Oak or Yellow Tail, muni customers know that some of their expenditures might come back to them.

Apple Valley's profits all go to the city's Parks and Recreation Department, Swanson said. And while not all of Minnesota's 244 munis are profitable every year, they did provide $18 million for their respective city funds in 2008.

And that's no small amount of green.