Sacramento's tiny French list punching above its weight
· Sacramento · French cafe / wine bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 15, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Franquette’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Ten bottles. That's the whole list. Before you close the menu in disappointment, take a closer look — because Franquette has clearly spent real time on those ten picks rather than padding it out with Kendall-Jackson and a random Malbec. This is a list with a point of view.
The focus is unambiguously French and unapologetically so: two Crémants, a proper Champagne, Loire whites, a Burgundy, and a handful of reds anchored by old-world sensibility. Haarmeyer St. Rey 2024 is the lone California entry, a nod to Sacramento's own wine country that earns its spot. The 2016 Terre Des Dames La Diva is the outlier with real age on it — rare to see a wine with that kind of vintage depth on a list this small. Gaps are obvious: no rosé to speak of, no natural wine flag flown openly, and zero New World breadth for guests who want something more casual.
Nine of the ten bottles are available by the glass, which is essentially the whole list — a generous approach that lets you explore without committing to a bottle. Pours run $12–$18, which is reasonable given the quality of producers on the slate. The Crémant options by the glass are a particular gift for anyone who wants bubbles without dropping $70 on Champagne.
M. Bonnamy Crémant de Loire — $50
The entry point on the list and a genuine bargain. Crémant de Loire from a quality producer delivers real bubble satisfaction at a fraction of the Champagne premium — this is the move for a celebratory pour without the markup guilt.
Terre Des Dames La Diva 2016
A 2016 on a ten-bottle list at a French café is not something you see every day. Most guests will gravitate toward the fresher whites or the Champagne, but this has eight years of development on it and tells a very different story. Worth the $72 for anyone who wants to drink something with actual history.
Gaston Chiquet Premier Cru Champagne 2024
Gaston Chiquet is a solid grower Champagne house, no argument there — but at $70 a bottle you're not getting a screaming deal, and the Crémants on this same list deliver comparable pleasure for $20–$30 less. Unless Champagne is specifically what the moment calls for, the math doesn't favor it here.
Dom. Macon-Villages Henri Perrusset 2024 + French café cheese selection
Mâcon-Villages at this level is clean, mineral, and just ripe enough to stand up to a firm cheese without competing with it. It's the classic Burgundy white move in a casual café setting — unfussy, honest, and exactly right.
The Bottom Line
Franquette is what happens when someone who actually cares about wine opens a small café and refuses to phone in the list. Ten bottles, nine by the glass, all French (almost), fairly priced — send your friends here and tell them to order the Crémant first.
· Sacramento · Natural Wine Bar
Ro Sham Beaux is punching well above its weight class for a 13-bottle list — the selection is genuinely surprising, the prices are fair, and it fills a real gap in the Sacramento natural wine scene. Send your adventurous friends; warn the Chardonnay-only crowd.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sacramento · Tapas / Wine Bar
At $9 a glass across the board, the pricing is about the only thing we can confidently praise here. Until Karma Brew tells us what's actually in the bottle, this is a coin flip dressed up as a wine program.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sacramento · Wine bar
Nine Spanish wines, fair prices, and zero apologies — The Nook is a wild card worth taking. If you want a broad international list, look elsewhere; if you want a focused, confident program that actually knows what it's doing, pull up a stool.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sacramento · Italian
Aiona's wine list is doing more than most Italian restaurants would dare — global picks, fair glass prices, and a genuine point of view that rewards curious drinkers. Send a friend here and tell them to ignore the obvious choices.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown · Sacramento · Cocktail Bar / Irish-Influenced Bar with Snacks
The Snug is a cocktail bar first and a wine destination never — but for what it is, the wine list is shockingly well-curated and worth exploring if you're the one at the table who doesn't want a Negroni. Don't come here for a deep wine night; do come here knowing the glass of Gamay you order between cocktails will be better than it has any right to be.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Midtown · Sacramento · New American, seasonal farm-to-table
Mulvaney's is doing something genuinely unusual for Sacramento: serious grower Champagne and left-field regional picks in a converted firehouse that doesn't take itself too seriously. If you eat here and order the house red without looking at this list, that's on you.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
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