Kevin Rathbun's fingerprints, a sommelier-curated cellar, and Atlanta Top 50 swagger on Roswell Road
Sandy Springs · Atlanta · Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Updated September 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · February 22, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Kaiser's Chophouse’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Peter Kaiser teamed up with Kevin Rathbun — one of Atlanta's most decorated chefs and a fixture of the city's fine dining scene — to build a steakhouse on Roswell Road that takes its wine program as seriously as its dry-aging. The temperature-controlled cellar was not an afterthought. Neither was hiring a sommelier to curate the list. The AJC awarded four stars, Atlanta magazine dropped it into the city's 50 Best, and the wine list is a big reason why. Sandy Springs finally has a chophouse where the cellar matches the kitchen's ambition.
The sommelier-curated list is built to serve a steakhouse audience that ranges from the Caymus crowd to the guest who wants a by-the-glass education. Big California reds anchor the program — this is a chophouse, after all — but the list shows genuine range with Old World selections and enough whites to handle the raw bar and Dover sole. The temperature-controlled storage signals that bottles arriving at your table have been handled properly from the moment they entered the building. That operational detail separates Kaiser's from steakhouses that treat wine as margin padding rather than a pillar of the experience.
The by-the-glass program serves the core steakhouse occasion — the pre-dinner pour, the glass-of-Cab-with-my-ribeye order, and a handful of selections that reward curiosity. The sommelier rotates picks to keep the program fresh and the staff can talk through the list without reaching for a cheat sheet. When your server understands the difference between the Napa options and can explain why you might want the Malbec instead, the training is real.
Ask your server for the current value red — Mid-range BTG pricing
The sommelier rotates the list and always keeps a smart value pour in the lineup. Tell them your budget and your protein and let the curated program do its job. That is what a sommelier-staffed steakhouse is for.
The Old World selections tucked behind the California wall
Most chophouse guests reach straight for Napa. Kaiser's quietly stocks European picks that pair beautifully with the richer preparations. Ask the sommelier what is open from across the Atlantic — the answer will be more interesting than the safe play.
The default label you already know
You came to a Kevin Rathbun-affiliated steakhouse with a temperature-controlled cellar and a sommelier on staff. Do not order the same bottle you grab at the grocery store. The whole point of this program is that someone smarter than you about wine already picked the good stuff.
Sommelier's current Cabernet recommendation + Dry-Aged Bone-In Ribeye
This is the pairing the restaurant was built around. The dry-aged beef demands a red with structure and depth, and the sommelier curates the list with exactly this moment in mind. Trust the process.
The Bottom Line
Kaiser's Chophouse brings legitimate fine-dining wine ambition to Sandy Springs. The Kevin Rathbun pedigree sets the floor, but the temperature-controlled cellar, sommelier curation, and AJC four-star recognition tell you the wine program is not riding on reputation alone. If you want to drink serious wine with serious steak on this side of the Chattahoochee, Kaiser's is the new standard.
· Atlanta · New American / Tasting Menu
Choose your courses, then choose your glasses. Bacchanalia's posted pairings give you concrete options: Carl Loewen Riesling at $24 with crab, or Ca' La Bionda Ripasso at $27 with duck. Ask which suggestions match tonight's menu before committing to the wine bill.
Midtown · Atlanta · Southern European
Start with the $14 Vostinic-Klasnic Ikons if you want to explore beyond familiar grapes, or the $16 chilled La Galoche Gamay if that's your lane. Lyla Lila's posted glass list makes trying something different a one-glass decision, not a whole-bottle commitment.
· 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
· Atlanta · Regional Italian
Make Monday your bottle night at Indaco: half off bottles priced up to $100, then $50 off above that. Ask for the current bottle list before choosing; the discount has a ceiling, even if your wine budget doesn't.
Atlanta · Atlanta · Vietnamese
NAM Kitchen is doing something genuinely unexpected: running a thoughtful, fairly priced 68-label wine list inside a Vietnamese restaurant, anchored by a strong sparkling section and some legitimately food-smart white wine choices. If you're the kind of person who wants a real glass of wine with your bún bò Huế, this is worth knowing about.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Steakhouse
Il Premio is a steakhouse that took its wine list seriously enough to skip the obvious plays, and the result is one of the more interesting Italian-focused lists in Atlanta right now. It's compact, priced fairly across the board, and built for exploration — whether you're going glass by glass through the Italian regions or just need a solid bottle of Chianti Classico at $72 to make a steak dinner feel right. We'd send a friend here specifically for the wine.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Steakhouse
Stark's is the rare steakhouse that treats wine as something other than an afterthought or a cash grab. The list is compact but genuinely considered, markups are fair across the board, and the full bottle-to-glass availability is a policy every restaurant should copy. If you're eating in Healdsburg and want to drink well without overpaying, this is a legitimate stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Albany · Albany · Steakhouse
Order by the glass and explore: the posted menu gives you Riesling, Chablis, Cahors and Rioja without a bottle commitment. Pentimento at $16 is our price-conscious red starting point. Check the current list before ordering; the complete cellar, service and storage haven't been independently verified.
· Geneva · Steakhouse
The Hunt Club is an intriguing case — a special-occasion steakhouse in the Wisconsin lake country with a members-only wine program that hints at more depth than the public-facing list reveals. If you're a Geneva National member, the 50% off bottles and boutique wine access make this a genuine wine destination; if you're not, it's a solid steakhouse wine list with a scenic backdrop and fair pricing that won't embarrass anyone. Go for the ribeye and Parker rolls either way — and ask your server what's behind the member curtain before you order.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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