Cristal and duck confit, Manhattan does not disappoint
Midtown · New York · American, French
Updated October 2026
Reviewed April 8, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Grand Salon and The Bar’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Grand Salon lands like a confident handshake — thick, organized, and clearly put together by someone who spent real time in the cellars of Burgundy and Bordeaux. Set inside the Baccarat Hotel on 53rd, this is not a list that apologizes for itself. You open it expecting luxury and it delivers, which in Midtown Manhattan is less common than you'd think.
The 400-600 bottle list is anchored hard in classic French territory — Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux carry the most weight and deserve the attention. You'll find Krug, Louis Roederer Cristal, Rousseau and Ponsot representing Gevrey-Chambertin, Domaine Leflaive's Puligny-Montrachet, and proper Bordeaux names like Château Margaux and Château Pichon Baron. California gets a serious nod too — Ridge Monte Bello and Opus One show up for the crowd that wants New World gravitas alongside the French classics. There are gaps if you're hunting natty wines or anything from the Southern Hemisphere, but within its lanes this list is genuinely impressive.
Sixteen to twenty-four by-the-glass options at $15–$30 is a solid spread for the room and price point. The glass program reflects the bottle list's French-California lean, which means you're not hunting for obscure pours but you're also not bored. Rotate through whatever they're opening by the glass — in a cellar this good, the pours benefit from the inventory.
Ridge Vineyards Monte Bello — $60+
At the lower end of the bottle range, Monte Bello gives you one of California's benchmark Cabernet-led blends in a room built for it — before prices climb into the stratosphere with the Burgundy and Bordeaux heavyweights.
Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet
Most tables in a room like this are ordering red. The Leflaive Puligny is the quiet move — one of the great white Burgundy producers, and it makes butter-poached seafood feel like a different meal entirely.
Louis Roederer Cristal
Cristal is an exceptional Champagne — but in a hotel dining room on 53rd Street, you're paying a significant venue premium on top of an already high retail price. Save the Cristal flex for somewhere the markup isn't working overtime.
Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet + Butter-poached seafood
Leflaive's Puligny brings enough tension and minerality to cut through rich butter sauce while mirroring its texture — it's the kind of pairing that makes you stop talking and just eat.
The Bottom Line
Grand Salon earns its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence — a deep, France-first cellar with enough California muscle to keep the table happy, inside one of Midtown's most polished dining rooms. The markup is real, but so is the list, and that's worth something on 53rd Street.
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.
Midtown East · New York · American, French
A Park Avenue restaurant whose posted wine list is a 21-wine glass list. Start with the $18 Leitz Riesling or the $19 Ogier Saint-Joseph. No bottle list is posted online, so ask the restaurant what is available by the bottle. This unrated guide covers the posted glass list, not service, storage or markups.
College Hill · Providence · American, French
A Cabernet-heavy list from autumn 2025, with glass pours from 10 and bottles up to a 450 Opus One. Start with the 10 Château du Petit Thouars Cabernet Franc, or the 16 Fontanafredda Nebbiolo if you want something from Piedmont, and check that the list is still current since it is marked September 2025. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Dupont Circle · Washington · American, French
Start with the Minuty Prestige rosé at 20 or the Château de Saint-Cosme Syrah at 22 by the glass, and save the Dagueneau for the table that wants a bottle. The glass page is the cheaper way in, with thirteen wines between 20 and 34. The file is linked as 9-26, so confirm today's pours and prices. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or retail markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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