French soul, Colorado zip code, Tuesday is everything
Boulder · Boulder · French · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 11, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Brasserie Ten Ten lands exactly where you want it to for a French brasserie on Walnut Street — warm, confident, and just French enough without becoming a homework assignment. It's a 150-plus bottle list that doesn't try to be everything, but covers the ground that matters. California and France anchor it, which tracks for the cuisine and the crowd.
The French side earns its keep: Louis Jadot Burgundy, Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec, Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône, Domaine Tempier Bandol Rosé, and Château de Beaucastel Châteauneuf-du-Pape are all names worth seeing on any list. The California bench is reliable rather than adventurous — Caymus, Jordan, Sonoma-Cutrer, Joseph Phelps Insignia — solid crowd-pleasing picks that won't surprise you but won't disappoint either. What elevates this list beyond the expected is the presence of the Scholium Project The Prince in His Caves, a genuinely odd and wonderful Napa white that has no business sitting next to Caymus and yet here we are. Ridge Monte Bello showing up at $285 gives the list some serious credibility at the top end. Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence since 2023 is well-earned.
Twelve to twenty pours by the glass is a generous range for a neighborhood brasserie, and the Tuesday half-price wine night makes this one of the better mid-week wine destinations in Boulder. We'd love to see more rotation and a few more left-field picks in the glass program, but what's there is approachable and fairly priced for the market.
Kermit Lynch Côtes du Rhône 2021 — $52
Kermit Lynch doesn't put his name on anything that isn't worth drinking, and at $52 a bottle this is the smart order for a table that wants something food-friendly and genuinely French without overthinking it. Honest Rhône fruit, honest price.
Scholium Project The Prince in His Caves 2020
Most people at this restaurant are ordering the Caymus. A few brave souls will find this one at $112 — a deeply weird, oxidative, amber-leaning white from Napa that reads more like something from a tiny Jura cellar than California. It's a conversation starter and a reminder that whoever built this list has a sense of humor.
Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon
Caymus is everywhere, marked up everywhere, and ordered by people who haven't looked past the first page. You're at a French brasserie with Beaucastel and Ridge Monte Bello on the list. Don't default to the Napa fruit bomb you could find at any steakhouse in America.
Domaine Huet Vouvray Sec 2021 + Mussels marinières
Chenin Blanc and mussels is one of the most reliable combinations in French cooking — the wine's bright acidity and subtle honeyed minerality cut right through the briny broth and cream. Huet is one of the best Vouvray producers alive, and at $64 this bottle over a bowl of mussels is a genuinely great Tuesday night.
Tuesday — Half-price wine night every Tuesday — applies to bottles, making it one of the better mid-week wine deals in Boulder.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Brasserie Ten Ten is doing more with its wine list than its Boulder brasserie status would suggest — smart French picks, a few genuine surprises, and a Tuesday half-price night that should be on your calendar. Send your friends here, and tell them to skip the Caymus.
University Hill · Boulder · Spanish- and Moroccan-inspired tapas and small plates
Cafe Aion's wine list is solidly built around its concept, and the daily 50% off bottles deal from 3pm to close is one of the most generous standing wine programs in Boulder — full stop. The markups at full price are steep enough to give you pause, so do yourself a favor and show up before dinner.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Baseline / CU South · Boulder · Brewpub / American
Boulder Social is a solid neighborhood hangout where beer is the move and wine is an afterthought priced accordingly. If it's Tuesday, half-price bottles change the math — otherwise, stick to the taps.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
West Pearl Street · Boulder · Italian
Via Perla isn't trying to be a wine destination — it's trying to be a great Italian osteria, and the wine list serves that goal honestly. Come for the pasta and the Barolo, don't overthink it.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Williams Village / Baseline · Boulder · Italian
Carelli's is a dependable neighborhood Italian with a wine list that matches its ambition — comfortable and crowd-pleasing, not adventurous. Send your friend here if they want a nice Italian night and a bottle of Antinori; steer them elsewhere if they're hoping to find something they've never tried before.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Pearl Street · Boulder · Spanish-inspired, wood-fired cuisine and tapas with Mediterranean influences
Gemini is the kind of place Boulder doesn't have enough of — a restaurant where the wine list actually reflects the food and the region it's inspired by. If you eat Spanish, you should be drinking Iberian, and Gemini makes that case effortlessly.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Goss-Grove · Boulder · Argentinian / Latin American
Rincon Argentino is a genuinely good casual spot for Argentine food, but the wine list is a missed opportunity — overpriced supermarket bottles with no rotation, no discovery, and no apparent effort. Grab a glass with your empanadas, but don't build a night around the wine.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
College Hill · Wichita · French
Georges is doing something genuinely impressive for its market — a focused, honest French wine list in a city where that's not a given. It's not a deep cellar and the BTG program could use more energy, but as a neighborhood bistro wine experience, it punches well above its zip code.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Skaneateles / Greater Syracuse · Syracuse · French
Joelle's isn't trying to be a wine destination — it's a French bistro that takes its wine list seriously enough to match the food, and that's exactly what it delivers. If you're eating here and drinking French, you'll leave satisfied.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Montrose · Houston · French
The Marigold Club is Houston's most interesting new wine room for anyone who thinks Champagne is a food group and France is the only country that matters — in the best possible way. Go on a Sunday, order the Delamotte, eat the Duck Wellington, and tip generously.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Proper
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