Napa's Best Cellar Hiding in Plain Sight
Downtown St. Helena · St. Helena · American gastropub with craft cocktails · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 28, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Goose & Gander – Cellar Bar’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 walk down into a speakeasy basement in the middle of wine country and get handed a list with Salon, Harlan, and Dom Pérignon sitting next to Crocus Malbec de Cahors and Trefethen Riesling — it's a lot to process. This isn't the wine list you'd expect from a gastropub, and that's exactly the point. The range is genuinely surprising for a place best known for its cocktails and duck fat fries.
131 labels is serious for a bar program, and the Goose & Gander list swings hard across price points and styles. The Napa Cab section reads like a greatest-hits compilation — Opus One, Scarecrow, Promontory, Harlan, Shafer Hillside Select — but there's also a thoughtful international lane with Argiano Brunello, Renato Ratti Barolo, Antinori Tignanello, and even a 1995 Maison Roche de Bellene Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru that has no business being on a bar menu. The Champagne section is borderline absurd in the best way: Krug, Billecart-Salmon Elisabeth Salmon, Cristal, Dom Pérignon Luminous Rosé, and that Salon all on the same list. The gap is value-tier everyday drinking — if you're not ready to spend $185+, the middle of the list gets thin fast.
Thirteen pours by the glass spanning $12–$25 gives you enough to work with, and options like the Spottswoode Sauvignon Blanc and Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs show real intent. The glass program leans California-forward, which makes sense given the room, but don't expect anything internationally adventurous in the pours — that's a bottle-list game here.
Renato Ratti Marcenasco Barolo 2020 — $125
Marcenasco is a serious Barolo from one of the Langhe's most reliable producers, and $125 in a Napa restaurant is genuinely fair for this pedigree. On a list where everything else at this tier is Napa Cab with 3-4x markup, this stands out as a wines-of-the-world steal.
Maison Roche de Bellene Latricières-Chambertin Grand Cru Côtes de Nuits 1995
A 30-year-old Burgundy Grand Cru on a gastropub wine list is a unicorn. Nicolas Potel's Roche de Bellene is critically respected and the '95 vintage for Chambertin is genuinely compelling. Most people at this bar will order a cocktail and miss it entirely — don't be that person.
Kongsgaard 'The Judge' Napa Valley Chardonnay 2018
At $750 a bottle, The Judge is priced at or above what you'd pay at most wine shops for this already-expensive cult Chardonnay. There's no deal here, and ordering a $750 white in a dimly-lit basement bar with standard stemware isn't doing the wine any favors.
Turley Rattlesnake Ridge Zinfandel Howell Mountain 2022 + Goose & Gander burger
Turley's Howell Mountain Zin is big, tannic, and peppery enough to stand up to a serious burger without the Napa Cab price tag. The fat from the beef softens the wine's edges and the fruit comes alive — it's the kind of pairing that makes you wonder why you ever ordered a Cab with a burger.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Goose & Gander is a cocktail bar that somehow accumulated a wine list serious enough to embarrass some dedicated wine restaurants — but you'll pay Napa prices at every tier. Come for the atmosphere, drink selectively, and let the bottle list surprise you.
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