Atlantic City's Champagne Dreams on an Italian Canvas
· Atlantic City · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed September 16, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Café 2825’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Café 2825 arrives with clear ambitions — 78 labels, a Champagne section that opens with Cristal and Dom Pérignon, and a California whites column that reads like a greatest-hits of Napa valley floor darlings. It's a list that wants to impress, and to its credit, it mostly does. The question is whether you're paying for the wine or the occasion.
The Italian whites show genuine character — La Scolca's Gavi di Gavi Black Label is a serious pour, Feudi di San Gregorio's Greco del Tufo brings some Southern Italian soul, and the Cesari Albana di Romagna Secco is a left-field pick that not many AC restaurants would bother with. California Chardonnay gets heavy rotation: Kistler Les Noisetiers, Martinelli Three Sisters, Flowers, Jayson by Pahlmeyer — it's a murderers' row of West Coast whites that leans into the restaurant's big-night-out energy. The Champagne section is trophy-forward (Cristal, DP, Veuve, Moët Imperial) and built for celebration rather than discovery. We'd love to see more Italian reds with this kind of depth, and the red wine side of the list likely leans on recognizable names rather than anything that would make a Burgundy hunter sit up straight.
By-the-glass options aren't published separately on the site, and that's a minor frustration — in a 78-label list, knowing what's available by the pour matters. If you're flying blind at the table, push your server on this before defaulting to whatever house wine ends up in front of you. A restaurant with this bottle range should be doing more with its glass program.
The Bottom Line
Café 2825 is a celebration restaurant with a wine list to match — trophy Champagnes, premium California whites, and a few smart Italian picks that reward anyone who looks past the obvious. Prices likely reflect the occasion more than the liquid, but if you're in Atlantic City for a big night, there are worse places to pop a bottle.
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
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Crowd Pleasers
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
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Crowd Pleasers
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Solid Range
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Solid Range
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Rotating Cast
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Acceptable
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Plays It Safe
Fair
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Crowd Pleasers
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
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Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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