Burgundy and Champagne, deep in the Catskills
Tannersville · American · Visit Website ↗
Updated August 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 9, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Deer Mountain Inn’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You're an hour and a half from Manhattan, surrounded by pine trees and mountain air, and somehow the wine list has Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Krug on it. That alone makes you do a double-take. This is not the kind of list you expect to find at a cozy Catskills inn, and that's exactly the point.
The list runs 200 to 400 bottles and leans hard into Burgundy, Champagne, and Italian heavyweights — think Louis Jadot, Joseph Drouhin, Domaine Leflaive, Bollinger, Antinori, Gaja, and Sassicaia. It's a classically minded, Franco-Italian program with no real attempt to cover the New World, but that focus is a feature, not a bug. The depth in Burgundy especially earns the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence they've held since 2023. Gaps exist — don't come here looking for anything outside the French-Italian axis — but what's here is carefully chosen.
Twelve to twenty options by the glass, priced between $12 and $20, which is genuinely reasonable for this caliber of program. The glass list tracks the bottle list's sensibility — expect French and Italian representation rather than anything adventurous. Rotation details aren't well-documented, but the pricing floor suggests they're not just pouring the cheapest stuff in a new outfit.
Louis Jadot (Burgundy) — $40–$60
Louis Jadot is a reliable Burgundy house and represents the entry point into a list that could easily drain your wallet. At the lower end of the bottle range, it drinks well above its price in this context and gives you genuine Côte d'Or character without the DRC mortgage.
Bollinger Champagne
Most people ordering Champagne at a mountain inn default to whatever's cheapest or most recognizable. Bollinger is neither — it's a grower-style house Champagne with more structure and depth than most people expect, and it tends to fly under the radar next to the Krug on the same list.
Domaine de la Romanée-Conti
Unless you're celebrating something extraordinary, DRC at a restaurant is almost always a losing proposition on markup alone. The bottle cost here will be eye-watering, and the mountain setting — charming as it is — isn't the context to drop that kind of money. There are far better ways to spend in this list.
Joseph Drouhin (Burgundy, Pinot Noir) + Pan-seared duck breast
Drouhin's Pinot Noir brings enough red fruit and earthy backbone to complement duck without overwhelming it. The acidity cuts through the richness of the sear, and the whole thing feels exactly right for a mountain inn dinner where you're not in a rush.
The Bottom Line
Deer Mountain Inn is a genuine surprise — a focused, serious wine program tucked into the Catskills where you'd never expect to find one. If you're heading upstate and care about what's in your glass, this is worth the detour.
· Yountville · American
RH Yountville is a genuinely beautiful place to drink wine — the room earns that much on atmosphere alone, and the California-forward list will keep most guests happy without any friction. But in Yountville, where the competition includes some of the most serious wine programs in the country, 'happy without friction' isn't the same as memorable. Go for the experience, order confidently by region, and don't expect the list to surprise you.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Bakersfield · American
Yard House Bakersfield is a beer hall that happens to sell wine, and the list makes no effort to hide that. Markups are aggressive, selections are safe to the point of being anonymous, and the only reason to open a bottle here is if your table voted against another round of IPAs. If you're wine-focused, redirect your budget to the Jean-Luc Colombo Rosé by the glass and call it a night.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Yountville · American
The Kitchen at Priest Ranch is a one-winery show, and that's exactly the point. If you want to spend an evening exploring what a single Napa estate produces across whites, rosé, Zinfandel, Merlot, and multiple Cabernet expressions — including older large-format bottles — this is a genuinely interesting way to do it. Just don't come expecting breadth or outside discovery. Send a friend here if they love Priest Ranch or want to.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
List Variety
Markup
Glassware
Staff
Specials & Deals
Storage & Temp
