Wednesday Saves You, The List Won't Surprise You
Northgate · Chattanooga · Southern Coastal · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 2, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at 1885 Grill reads like a greatest hits album from your local grocery store — Caymus, Kendall Jackson, Meiomi, Cakebread. It's comfortable and familiar, which is either reassuring or a little deflating depending on what you came here for. The good news: this is a Southern coastal spot in St. Elmo, not a Michelin contender, and the list knows its lane.
Forty to sixty bottles covering California, Italy, Argentina, Germany, and a few other stops, but the depth is surface-level at best. California dominates, with the predictable Napa trophy piece — a $120 Caymus Cab — anchoring the top end, while the mid-tier leans hard on approachable crowd-pleasers like Cooper and Thief and Meiomi. There's a nod to international variety with the Dr. L Riesling from Germany and Trapiche Broquel Malbec from Argentina, which are legitimately decent bottles, but don't come hunting for anything that'll make your heart race. Gaps are obvious: no Burgundy, no Spanish wines, nothing remotely adventurous for the natural wine crowd.
Eighteen-plus by-the-glass options is a genuinely strong number for a casual neighborhood grill, and the $6–$20 range means you can drink well without committing to a bottle. The program leans predictable — house Cab and Chardonnay, the Coppola Prosecco for bubbles — but the sheer volume of pours gives you room to explore within the list's limits. On Wednesday, those $3 house pours for Sips & Dips turn this into a legitimately fun happy hour stop.
Trapiche Broquel Malbec Argentina — $40
A 100% markup is the most restrained pricing on the entire list, and the Broquel is a genuinely good Malbec — dark fruit, firm structure, plays well with the grill-focused menu. Relative to everything else here, this is the bottle to order.
Dr. L Riesling Germany
Yes, it's marked up to $38 from a $12 retail bottle, which stings. But at a Southern coastal spot where most people are ordering Cabs and Chards, a crisp, off-dry German Riesling is genuinely the most interesting thing on the list — and it cuts right through anything fried or spiced on the menu.
Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon 2020 Napa
At $120, you're paying full trophy-wine markup for a bottle that retails around $85–$90. Caymus is fine wine, but it's also become the Applebee's of Napa Cab — ubiquitous, safe, and wildly overrepresented on lists like this one. Save the splurge for somewhere that earns it.
Dr. L Riesling Germany + Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
The off-dry character and bright acidity in the Dr. L cut through the richness of a sausage-heavy gumbo and handle the heat without flinching. It's the kind of pairing that makes people ask 'wait, why did I ever order Chardonnay with this?'
Wednesday — Half price select bottles of wine at the St. Elmo location from 4pm to close; also $3 house Cabernet and Chardonnay during Sips & Dips Wednesday.
✔️ The Bottom Line
1885 Grill is a great neighborhood spot for food, live music, and a cold glass of something familiar — and if you show up on a Wednesday, the half-price bottle deal makes this genuinely worth a visit. Just don't come expecting the wine list to challenge you.
Northshore · Chattanooga · American / Southern
The Rosecomb isn't a wine destination, but it's a genuinely good wine surprise — especially on a Tuesday when the whole bottle list goes half-price. Come for the burger, stay for the País.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Ringgold (Greater Chattanooga Area) · Chattanooga · Southern Coastal (Seafood, Steaks, Southern Sides)
1885 Grill Ringgold won't change how you think about wine, but it won't embarrass you in front of your dinner date either. It's the reliable neighborhood option in a part of Greater Chattanooga where that actually counts for something.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Ooltewah · Chattanooga · Southern Coastal (Seafood, Steaks, Southern Sides)
1885 Grill is a solid neighborhood spot where the wine list does its job without doing much more. The selection is approachable, the BTG count is surprisingly high, but watch the markups on the low end — some of those glass pours are doing a lot of work for the house.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
St. Elmo · Chattanooga · Southern and Coastal
1885 Grill St. Elmo isn't a wine destination, but it doesn't need to be — it's a reliable neighborhood spot with fair prices, a comfortable patio, and a list that won't embarrass anyone. Send a friend here for dinner and tell them to order the Trapiche; don't send them here to geek out on wine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Northshore · Chattanooga · Portuguese and Mediterranean
Bela Lisboa is the most interesting wine list you'll find attached to a cozy neighborhood bistro in Chattanooga — the Portuguese focus is real and it works with the food. The markups are too aggressive on several bottles, but the soul of the program is there, and that's not nothing.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Lookout Valley · Chattanooga · Winery
DeBarge is the Wild Card Chattanooga deserves — a real working winery in the city's backyard, making honest wine at honest prices, staffed by people who actually care what's in the glass. If you want a Napa blockbuster, go somewhere else; if you want to drink something made twenty minutes from where you're sitting, this is your stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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