Clarksville's Sexiest Wine List Just Got Serious
Clarksville · Austin · Mediterranean, Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 9, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The list lands with the same confidence as the room — terracotta walls, candlelight, and a wine program that clearly has a point of view. Three hundred to five hundred bottles deep, anchored in California, France, and Italy, this is not a list someone assembled by calling the first distributor who picked up the phone. Wine Spectator handed them a Best of Award of Excellence in 2025, and honestly, the list earns it.
California gets the headline treatment — Caymus, Opus One, Silver Oak Alexander Valley, Dominus, and Kistler all show up, which tells you the kitchen and the cellar are both thinking about big, food-forward reds and whites. France holds its own with Chateau Lynch-Bages and Chateau Margaux on the Bordeaux side and Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet representing Burgundy's white game. Italy is the quiet overachiever here: Gaja Barbaresco, Sassicaia, and Antinori Tignanello together in one list is a minor flex. The gap is anything outside these three regions — if you're hunting for Rhône, Iberian, or Southern Hemisphere bottles, you may be on your own.
Twenty to thirty-five by-the-glass options is an ambitious pour program, and with Derek Mizell on staff as sommelier, there's at least one person in the building who should be curating it with intention rather than just defaulting to what moves. We'd want to see more rotation and some adventurous pours mixed into what is likely a crowd-pleasing glass lineup, but the sheer volume of options means you're not stuck choosing between two sad Chardonnays.
Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet Sauvignon — $120–$150 (estimated bottle range)
In a list that goes deep into Napa and beyond, Silver Oak Alexander Valley is the Goldilocks pick — recognizable enough that you feel good ordering it, serious enough that it holds up against dry-aged beef, and priced below the full Napa tier. It's the bottle that works hardest for the money in this room.
Louis Jadot Puligny-Montrachet
Everyone at Aris is eyeing the steaks and reaching for Cabernet. Meanwhile, Puligny-Montrachet is sitting there ready to do something spectacular with the fresh fish and vegetable-forward dishes on the menu. Jadot's version is a reliable, elegant expression of white Burgundy — and in a steakhouse context, it's practically invisible on the order sheet, which means your table gets to feel smart.
Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Look, Caymus is fine. But it's also on every steakhouse list in America, marked up to the moon, and you can find it at a wine shop for a fraction of what you'll pay here. With Dominus and Chateau Lynch-Bages on the same list, spending your money on Caymus is like going to a great record store and buying a greatest hits compilation.
Antinori Tignanello + Prime Dry-Aged Steak (tableside sliced)
Tignanello is a Super Tuscan built on Sangiovese with Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc in the blend — structured, dark-fruited, with enough acid to cut through fat and enough muscle to match the intensity of dry-aged beef. The tableside presentation of the steak deserves a wine with some theater to it, and Tignanello delivers.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Aris is the rare Austin steakhouse where the wine list is as considered as the beef program — an anchored, deep cellar with real Italian and French range, a sommelier who can guide you through it, and a room that makes drinking well feel like the whole point. The markups aren't shy, but if you pick smart, you'll leave impressed.
· Austin · Steakhouse
ALC Steaks plays it safe and plays it competently — this is a wine list that serves the room without challenging it. If you know what you're looking for, there are smart picks buried in here; if you don't, you'll still drink fine.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Austin · Austin · American, Italian
Sammie's is a genuinely fun room with a wine list that's earned its Wine Spectator hardware — the Italian depth is real, the sommelier knows her stuff, and Monday half-price bottles might be the best deal in Austin. Just go in knowing the markups lean steep, and let Jenny point you toward the plays that aren't on the tourist track.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Active Program
Proper
Downtown Austin · Austin · Latin Steakhouse
Ciclo is a reliable, well-run California-centric wine program that does exactly what it says on the menu — it just charges you for the privilege. If you're here for the steakhouse experience and want a Cab that won't embarrass you, Joe Pena's list delivers. Just don't expect to be surprised.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Lake Austin · Austin · Italian
68 Degrees is doing something genuinely rare in Austin: an Italian wine list with real depth, honest pricing, and a Wednesday deal that should be on your calendar. We'd send anyone here who wants to drink well without a fight.
Solid Range
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Proper
East Austin · Austin · American, Italian
Birdie's has no business being this good at wine for a neighborhood spot on East 12th — and that's the highest compliment we can give it. Send your friends here, tell them to order Burgundy, and let them figure out on their own that this place is a wild card worth knowing.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Austin · Austin · Italian
Siena's wine list is a genuine Italian-focused program with some serious names and a half-price Monday that should be on every Austin wine drinker's calendar. Markups run steep at the high end, but the bones are good enough that we'd send a friend — especially on a Monday.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Proper
Ringwood · Ringwood · Mediterranean, Steakhouse
Artemio's is the kind of wine program that makes you reconsider your assumptions about Northern Jersey — serious depth, a credentialed list, and enough ambition to justify the drive. The markups lean steep and the staff leans knowledgeable-adjacent rather than expert, but a Best of Award of Excellence doesn't lie: this place cares about what's in your glass.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Summerlin · Las Vegas · Mediterranean, Steakhouse
Vintner Grill is the best wine list in a neighborhood restaurant that Las Vegas mostly ignores in favor of the Strip — it's earned over a decade of Wine Spectator recognition and that's not an accident. If you live in Summerlin and you're not eating here regularly, you're leaving good wine on the table.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
French Quarter · New Orleans · Mediterranean, Steakhouse
Doris Metropolitan is playing at a high level — a 400-plus bottle list with genuine depth in Burgundy, Rhône, and Piedmont is rare in New Orleans, and rarer still in a Mediterranean steakhouse. Markups will test your patience in spots, but the ceiling here is high enough that if you know what to order, you'll drink very well.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
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