10,000 Bottles Above the Last Frontier
Downtown · Anchorage · Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 11, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Crow's Nest’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You're 20 floors above Anchorage, staring at the Chugach Mountains, and the wine list lands on your table like a small encyclopedia. This is not what you expect from Alaska. The sheer weight of the thing — 10,000 bottles deep — signals immediately that someone here takes this seriously.
The cellar reads like a passion project that got wonderfully out of hand. Vintage Champagne from Salon, aged Togni Cab from Napa, Vietti Barolos with some years on them, Au Bon Climat from Santa Barbara, and Italian treasures that would make most big-city wine directors jealous — all of it sitting inside a hotel restaurant in Anchorage. The global range is real, not a token gesture: old world and new world both get genuine representation. If there's a gap, it's that the list skews toward collector-bait bottles, which is exciting if you're splurging and frustrating if you're just trying to find something approachable at $60.
Fifteen options by the glass plus at least two sparkling pours is a strong by-the-glass program for a restaurant of this style. We don't have confirmed rotation data, but a cellar this size suggests the glass list is curated rather than random. At minimum, the sparkling presence — including access to Champagne — means you can open with something worth raising.
Au Bon Climat Pinot Noir — null
In a list heavy with trophy bottles, Au Bon Climat is the sleeper that overdelivers. Jim Clendenen's Santa Barbara Pinots punch well above their price point and hold their own against the big-ticket names surrounding them on this list.
Cameron's Clos Electrique
Most people at this restaurant are eyeing the Burgundies and Barolos. Clos Electrique from Oregon's Cameron Winery is quieter on the page but delivers serious, earthy Pinot Noir energy that belongs in this conversation — and likely costs less than its neighbors.
1996 Salon Champagne
Listen, it's a legendary bottle and if money is no object, go for it. But at a restaurant with a steep markup structure, a near-30-year-old prestige Champagne is priced for the story, not the sip. Unless you're celebrating something enormous, that money works harder elsewhere on this list.
1998 Togni Cabernet Sauvignon + Certified Angus Beef Ribeye
A well-aged Napa Cab from a serious producer like Philip Togni has the structure and dark fruit to stand up to a properly seared ribeye without overwhelming it. The bottle's had 25-plus years to settle into something elegant — this is the kind of pairing a list this deep was built for.
The Bottom Line
The Crow's Nest is the most surprising wine destination in Alaska and one of the more impressive cellars you'll find at any hotel restaurant in the country. Markups keep it from a Rager badge, but if you're in Anchorage and serious about wine, there is nowhere else to go.
Downtown · Anchorage · New American
The Marx Brothers Café is the kind of place that makes you reconsider your assumptions about where serious wine lives. In a historic Anchorage bungalow, they've built a list that would hold its own in San Francisco — and that earns every bit of the Wild Card badge.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown / G Street corridor · Anchorage · Wine Bar / Bistro
Crush earns its Wild Card badge not by being perfect, but by being genuinely surprising — a 600-bottle cellar and 40+ glass pours in Anchorage is an achievement worth acknowledging out loud. If you're passing through or living here, this is where you go when you actually care what's in your glass.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Girdwood · Anchorage · Winery Restaurant / Taproom
Bear Creek Winery Loft earns its Wild Card badge honestly — it's not trying to be a serious wine destination and doesn't need to be. If you're in Girdwood and you skip this in favor of a hotel bar pour, you've made a mistake you'll regret when you're back home explaining why you didn't try the rhubarb wine made in Alaska.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Anchorage · Modern Mexican / Latin Fusion
Tequila 61° is a genuinely fun downtown Anchorage spot — but the wine list is not the reason to come. Order the tequila, drink the margaritas, and if someone at the table insists on wine, steer them toward the Pinot Grigio and move on.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown · Anchorage · Brazilian Steakhouse (Churrascaria)
Texas de Brazil Anchorage is a reliable enough wine stop if you calibrate expectations to match the format — this is a chain steakhouse, not a wine destination, and the list behaves accordingly. Grab the Catena, eat a lot of picanha, and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown / Spenard · Anchorage · Mexican / Pub / Pizza
Bear Tooth Grill is a legitimately great spot for beer, margaritas, pizza, and a movie — the wine list is just a formality. Order a craft beer, skip the wine entirely, and you'll have a fantastic time.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Steakhouse
Hal's delivers a competent, Napa-forward bottle list that does exactly what a steakhouse wine program is supposed to do — just without much surprise or value mercy. Send a friend here if they want a reliable big-red experience; warn them to leave the credit card breathing room.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Houston · Steakhouse
Perry's is a reliable steakhouse wine list — nothing that'll make you rethink your palate, but enough to drink well with red meat if you know where to look. The fortified and dessert wine section is genuinely worth your attention; the rest is competent but forgettable.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Steakhouse
New York Prime's wine list is exactly what it needs to be for its audience — safe, recognizable, and priced for expense accounts. If you know what you want and don't mind paying for it, you'll be fine; just don't come looking for discovery.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
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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