French cellar hiding inside a Med feast
Upper West Side · New York · Mediterranean · Visit Website ↗
Updated November 2026
Reviewed April 19, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Dagon’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You walk into Dagon expecting shakshuka and lamb cigars, and then the wine list lands on the table — and it's quietly, confidently French in a way that catches you off guard. This is not a Mediterranean restaurant that phoned in a wine list; someone actually thought about this. Sommelier Alon Moskovitch's fingerprints are all over it.
The list runs 150 to 250 bottles and reads like a love letter to southern France and the Rhône, with Domaine Tempier Bandol and Château Simone Palette anchoring a Provence section that most Manhattan restaurants wouldn't even attempt. Mas de Daumas Gassac brings Languedoc credibility, while Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage and Château Rayas Châteauneuf-du-Pape represent the Rhône at its most serious. There's even a nod to Alsace via Domaine Weinbach, and for anyone who drifts to the prestige shelf, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti makes an appearance — more as a statement than a practical order. The gaps are real: outside France, the list thins out quickly, and if you're hunting Italian or Iberian bottles to match the kitchen's broader Mediterranean spirit, you'll come up short.
Twelve to twenty options by the glass is a healthy pour program for this neighborhood, with prices landing between $14 and $22 — reasonable for what's on offer. The glass list skews toward France, which is consistent with the bottle program and honestly the right call given the kitchen's direction. Rotation details aren't well-documented, but with Moskovitch running the floor, we'd expect the pours to track with the bottle list rather than sitting stale.
Domaine Tempier Bandol — $12–$180 range
Tempier Bandol rosé is one of Provence's benchmarks and consistently shows up at restaurants at painful markups — here it's offered within a list that values France fairly, making it one of the smartest bottles you can open at the table alongside the lamb dishes.
Château Simone Palette
Most diners skip right past it because Palette is one of France's smallest and least-known appellations, but Château Simone is the appellation — it basically is Palette. It's structured, unusual, and completely unlike anything else on the list. Order it and you'll be explaining it to your table the whole night, which is half the fun.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Look, it's DRC, and yes it belongs on a serious list. But at a Mediterranean restaurant on the Upper West Side, you're paying trophy-wine prices for a bottle that has no real home alongside chicken liver mousse and lamb cigars. Save it for somewhere it has room to breathe.
Mas de Daumas Gassac + Agu's cigar with ground lamb, potatoes, and spices
Mas de Daumas Gassac red — often called the 'Grand Cru of Languedoc' — brings dark fruit and a wild herbal edge that holds its own against the spiced lamb filling without steamrolling the delicate pastry. It's a southern French bottle meeting southern Mediterranean food, and the logic is airtight.
The Bottom Line
Dagon earns its Wine Spectator credentials with a focused, France-first list that punches well above what the UWS restaurant scene typically delivers. Send a friend here if they want serious wine with serious food — just tell them to stay in the Rhône and Provence and they won't go wrong.
Midtown · New York · French Brasserie
La Grande Boucherie earns its place as a reliable stop for wine in Midtown, especially if you're leaning French. The glass list is genuinely wide and has some smart picks buried in it — the Fleurie and the Wiemer Riesling both punch above their price points. Markups trend steep as you climb the bottle list, so your money works hardest in the by-the-glass section. If you're here for the brasserie experience, the wine program holds up its end of the deal.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Steakhouse
BLT Prime's wine program is glass-only, which limits your options if you came for a big bottle moment, but the pricing is honest and the selection is more thoughtful than most steakhouses bother with. If you're keeping it casual and ordering by the glass, you can drink well here without feeling taken advantage of — and that's not nothing in this city.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
The Palm Midtown is not where you'd expect to find Puzelat and Ruth Lewandowski sitting next to each other on a wine list — which is exactly what makes it worth a second look. Six bottles is a short menu, but all six are defensible picks at prices that don't insult you. If you're in the mood to trust the list and not overthink it, this works.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Murray Hill · New York · Classic American Steakhouse
Wolfgang's is a reliable steakhouse wine experience in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting: a list built around the bottle you already know, priced for the room you're sitting in. If you're here to close a deal over a Porterhouse for Two, the wine list will do its job without embarrassing anyone — but it's not going to surprise you, and it's almost certainly going to cost more than it should. Go in with eyes open and a strong second-choice red in mind.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Mediterranean
Zaytinya's wine list is a rare thing in New York: a focused, regionally coherent program that commits hard to Greek and Eastern Mediterranean varieties without making you feel like you need a flashcard to order. The by-the-glass selection alone — 18 options, all under $18, featuring producers most wine lists wouldn't touch — makes this worth visiting even before the food arrives. If you eat here and order a Cabernet, that's on you.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
· West Palm Beach · Mediterranean
Florie's is a hotel wine program that tries harder than it has to, and that counts for something. The all-by-the-glass format is genuinely practical, the French selections show real taste, and a few pours — the Schloss Lieser, the Armand Heitz — would be highlights at any standalone wine bar. The markups are what they are: you're inside a Four Seasons. Go in with eyes open, order the Riesling, and let someone else order the Opus One.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· West Palm Beach · Mediterranean
Del Mar is a Reliable pour in a city that doesn't always try that hard at wine — the Coravin program and the 34-glass lineup show real effort, and the Assyrtiko alone is worth the visit if you're ordering seafood. Markups on the California icons are steep, so steer toward the European picks and you'll drink well without feeling taken.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Washington · Mediterranean
Zaytinya's wine list is one of the more focused and honest Greek programs you'll find at a mid-to-high scale restaurant in D.C. The by-the-glass selection is wide, the pricing doesn't insult you, and the Greek variety depth is genuinely impressive. If you've been waiting for a reason to finally figure out what Xinomavro tastes like, this is your spot.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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