Missouri's Best Wine Secret Lives Downtown
Cape Girardeau · American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 8, 2026
RagingWine reviewed 36 Restaurant and Bar’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into 36 Restaurant and Bar in downtown Cape Girardeau and finding a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence list is genuinely surprising — in the best way. This isn't a wine town you'd normally put on your radar, which makes the 150-plus bottle list feel like a discovery. The room is polished and serious, and the wine program matches.
The list leans confidently into California, France, and Oregon — the three pillars the Wine Spectator recognized — and doesn't try to do everything. You've got Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet alongside Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir and Louis Jadot anchoring the Burgundy side, which tells you someone put real thought into this. Duckhorn Merlot showing up is a smart call; it's a crowd pleaser that actually deserves to be. The ceiling reaches Opus One territory, so there's room for a proper splurge, and the floor stays accessible enough that you're not forced into a corner.
Twelve to twenty by-the-glass options is a solid spread for a restaurant of this size and market. At $10–$18 a pour, the pricing is reasonable and doesn't feel punitive. We'd love to see more rotation here — the program reads more static than dynamic — but the quality anchors are strong enough that you won't be stuck settling.
Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir — $35–$60 est.
Drouhin's Oregon operation punches well above its price point, and finding it on a Missouri wine list at a fair markup makes it the obvious move. Elegant, earthy, and worth every penny.
Louis Jadot Burgundy
Most tables here will reach for the California cabs, so the Jadot gets overlooked — which is a mistake. Jadot's reliability and the sheer food-friendliness of a proper Burgundy make this the smarter order at a table with varied dishes.
Opus One
Opus One is an impressive bottle, but at restaurant markup it becomes a very expensive way to impress someone. The prestige premium is steep, and there are better value plays on this very list.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon + Filet Mignon
Jordan cab is built for exactly this moment — structured but not aggressive, with enough fruit to complement the richness of a properly cooked filet without muscling it off the plate.
The Bottom Line
36 Restaurant and Bar is the kind of find that makes regional dining worth the detour — a Wine Spectator-caliber list in a city that most wine travelers wouldn't think to visit. Send your friends here; they'll be pleasantly caught off guard.
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Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Bakersfield · American
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Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Yountville · American
The Kitchen at Priest Ranch is a one-winery show, and that's exactly the point. If you want to spend an evening exploring what a single Napa estate produces across whites, rosé, Zinfandel, Merlot, and multiple Cabernet expressions — including older large-format bottles — this is a genuinely interesting way to do it. Just don't come expecting breadth or outside discovery. Send a friend here if they love Priest Ranch or want to.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
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