Baltimore's Best-Kept Wine Secret
Baltimore · Contemporary Bistro · Visit Website ↗
Updated April 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · March 26, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Citron’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Citron reads like someone actually cares — grower Champagne, Sicilian volcanic reds, and Italian dessert wines don't usually share a menu in Baltimore. It's a four-page bottle list that punches well above the restaurant's apparent weight class. We didn't expect this much range, and that surprise is half the fun.
Citron works an interesting geographic triangle: France anchors the list with selections from Champagne, Bordeaux, and the Loire; Italy fills in with Veneto, Sicily, and Tuscany; California chips in with Sonoma and Paso Robles. The Etna Rosso Monteleone Sicily 2021 signals that whoever built this list isn't just running down a grocery distributor checklist. There are real gaps — no serious Burgundy, thin on German bottles — but the dessert wine section alone (Donnafugata Ben Ryé, Felsina Vin Santo del Chianti Classico, Churchill's Port in two expressions) is more thoughtful than most restaurants twice this size.
Eight-plus pours by the glass with a spread from $8 at happy hour up to $22 on the bar menu — that's a workable range if you're eating your way through the menu. Tuesday's half-price cellar program effectively cuts already fair prices in half, making it one of the better mid-week incentives in the city. We'd love to see more rotation and a written tasting note or two, but the selection itself holds up.
Churchill's 20 Year Tawny Port — $30
This retails around $50 and Citron is selling it at $30 — a legitimately inverted markup that almost never happens. A rich, nutty Tawny at below-retail pricing is the kind of thing you tell your friends about.
Etna Rosso Monteleone Sicily IT 2021
Volcanic Sicilian reds from Etna are having a moment among serious wine drinkers for good reason — they're structured, mineral, and unlike anything else on the table. Most people at a Baltimore bistro are going to reach for the California Pinot. Don't be most people.
Fattoria Conca d'Oro Prosecco Veneto IT
At $56 on a bottle that retails for $20, this is a 180% markup on a wine that was never trying to be impressive. Order the Gonet-Medeville Brut instead and actually get something worth talking about.
Donnafugata Ben Ryé + Dessert Course
Ben Ryé is one of Sicily's great Passito wines — honeyed, apricot-laced, and complex enough to stand alone as a course. It's the rare dessert wine that makes a whole table stop talking for a minute. Worth ordering even if you skip the food.
Tuesday — Tuesday Cellar Wine night — select bottles available at half price. One of the better mid-week wine deals in Baltimore.
The Bottom Line
Citron is a quiet overachiever on the Baltimore wine scene — fair pricing, a genuinely curious list, and a Tuesday half-price program that should have more people through the door. If you're within driving distance on a Tuesday night, there's almost no reason not to go.
Sparks · Baltimore · French-inspired with Mid-Atlantic seasonal ingredients
Explore the glass list before committing to a bottle: $12 Crémant and $17 Chinon give you two clear starting points. Prices and six-ounce servings come from the posted list checked in September 2026. Confirm availability; this menu guide doesn't rate service or cellar conditions.
· Baltimore · American
Give the international and local sections a look before defaulting to Burgundy. Sula at $70 and Old Westminster at $90 offer different budget options. These are posted bottle prices, not guaranteed stock; confirm availability. This menu guide doesn't rate service or cellar conditions.
Mount Vernon · Baltimore · Northern Italian
Try Lavignone at $14 a glass or compare a $52 bottle if everyone wants the same red. Sotto Sopra makes that budget decision straightforward. Prices come from the posted menu checked in September 2026; availability can change, and this guide doesn't rate service or cellar conditions.
· Baltimore · Italian
Facci's wine list is a quiet overachiever: all-Italian, regionally adventurous, and priced without greed. If you want to drink something you've never heard of and pay a fair price for it, this is your spot.
Surprising Depth
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Clipper Mill · Baltimore · American, Farm to Table
True Chesapeake is a Wild Card in the best possible sense — a working waterfront oyster spot with a Wine Spectator-recognized list helmed by a sommelier who clearly cares. Go for the oysters, stay for the Weinbach, and don't skip the Muscadet.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Horseshoe Casino · Baltimore · Steak house, European
Gordon Ramsay Steak isn't going to surprise you, but it delivers a solid, award-backed California-and-France wine list in a setting where you'd half-expect to be handed a laminated card with three options. For a casino steakhouse in Baltimore, that's genuinely worth something.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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