Sonoma Playing It Smart, Glass by Glass
· Sonoma · New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 24, 2026
RagingWine reviewed El Dorado Kitchen’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Eighteen bottles, eighteen glasses — El Dorado Kitchen keeps things tight, and that restraint is actually a choice we respect. You're in Sonoma wine country, and the list knows it: local producers sit comfortably alongside a few well-chosen French ringers. Nothing here screams 'we're trying too hard,' which in this town is a compliment.
The list leans heavily on California, as it should given the zip code, with Napa and Sonoma names like Frog's Leap, Bucklin, Bruliam, Walt, and Lasseter anchoring the reds and whites. France gets a smart cameo via Château Lalande's St-Julien, Domaine de la Janasse's Côtes du Rhône, and a Domaine de Triennes Provençal rosé that punches above its price. There's a nod to Italy with the Scarpetta Pinot Grigio and a welcome wildcard in the Kysela Père & Fils Picpoul de Pinet — a southern French coastal white you almost never see on a list like this. The sparkling selection — Louis Pommery, Roederer Estate Brut Rosé, and Schramsberg — covers the bubbly bases without being excessive.
The entire list is available by the glass, which is genuinely rare and genuinely useful — you're not locked into a bottle when you just want to explore. Prices by the glass run $13 to $26, tracking the bottle-to-glass conversion at roughly a quarter of the bottle price, which is honest math for a restaurant in this market. Rotation doesn't appear to be a feature here — this reads as a set list — but with 18 options across all categories, there's enough to keep things interesting across a long meal.
The Bottom Line
El Dorado Kitchen isn't trying to be a wine destination, but it's set up squarely in one, and the list reflects that self-awareness. Fair pricing, smart local representation, a few genuinely interesting outliers, and the full list available by the glass make this a reliable stop for a well-poured evening in Sonoma. If you're after a deep cellar or something truly adventurous, look elsewhere — but if you want to drink well without stress, this delivers.
· Sonoma · Japanese-inspired tasting menu
SingleThread is operating one of the most ambitious by-the-glass programs in California wine country — 36 options that span grower Champagne, first-cru Burgundy, South African Chenin, and their own estate Grenache is not something you stumble into accidentally. The pricing is unambiguously steep across the board, and you should go in knowing that, but the quality and intentionality of the selection justifies the badge. If you're going for the tasting menu, budget to drink through the glass list rather than anchoring to a single bottle — that's what this program is built for.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Sonoma · Portuguese
LaSalette earns its Wild Card badge by doing something genuinely unusual: building a wine list that mirrors the restaurant's identity rather than defaulting to whatever sells. The Portuguese selection alone — Redoma Reserva, Quinta do Crasto, Soalheiro Rosé — gives this list a personality most Sonoma restaurants can't match. If you're eating Portuguese food in wine country and want a bottle that actually makes sense with your plate, this is the right room to be in.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sonoma · French country
The Girl & the Fig has built something genuinely unusual for Sonoma: a tightly curated, Rhône-obsessed wine list that actually makes sense with the food and doesn't gouge you for the experience. It's not a deep cellar and it's not trying to be — but if you want to drink Cinsault, Mourvèdre, and Roussanne by the glass at fair prices in wine country, this is your spot. Send your friends here and tell them to skip the Pride Mountain.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sonoma · Wine-country tasting menu
Bricoleur is a legit estate wine destination disguised as a restaurant wine list — fair prices, genuine single-vineyard ambition, and magnums going back to 2019. If you're eating here, you're buying into the Bricoleur universe wholesale, and the list is deep enough to make that a good deal rather than a trap. Just don't show up hoping to order off the beaten path.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Proper
· Sonoma · Pizza and Italian
The Red Grape is a neighborhood-friendly pizza spot in one of the best wine regions on earth, and the list at least points in the right direction — local Sonoma producers, Italian varietals, casual pricing. We'd love to report more specifics, but the program wasn't documented enough for us to go deeper. Worth a visit for the food and the patio; treat any wine discovery here as a bonus.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sonoma · Seafood
Willi's is a wild card in the best sense — a casual Sonoma seafood bar running a wine list that belongs in a much more serious room. The by-the-glass depth alone is worth showing up for, and the pricing is honest by the region's standards. If you're anywhere near Healdsburg, order the Assyrtiko and thank us later.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lake Geneva · New American
Turf. Kitchen + Tap looks like a solid resort wine program — broad enough geographically to suggest some genuine effort, casual enough in setting that nobody's going to quiz you on your order. We'd feel comfortable sending a friend here for a relaxed dinner with a decent glass of wine, but we'd stop short of calling it a destination for the list itself. Come for the views and the Choriqueso; the wine will take care of itself.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · New American
Siren has a wine list that punches above its weight in a few key areas — particularly the by-the-glass whites and the Champagne bottle program — but the markup structure means you're spending real money to access it. If you're the kind of diner who wants to order Furmint on a Tuesday night in Atlanta, this is one of the few places that makes that possible, and that alone earns it a spot on the shortlist.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sonoma · New American
The Valley's wine program punches well above its apparent weight class — 26 by-the-glass options with genuine range across Europe and California, at prices that don't insult the intelligence, is rare anywhere and remarkable in a tourist-heavy wine region where restaurants often coast on location. We don't have enough visibility into staff knowledge or food menu specifics to call this a Rager, but the list itself earns the Wild Card badge handily. If you're in Sonoma and you want to drink well without a reservation at a tasting room, this is where we'd point you.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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