Alaska's Most Civilized Place to Drink Wine
Hillside · Anchorage · Alaskan Regional/Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 15, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Kincaid Grill feels like finding a white-tablecloth oasis in a city not exactly known for its wine culture. The list runs 100-150 bottles deep — serious for Anchorage — and the California and Pacific Northwest focus makes sense given the regional proximity and the kitchen's seafood-heavy menu. It's a grown-up room with a grown-up list to match.
The list leans hard on California and the Pacific Northwest, with France and Italy rounding things out — a sensible lineup that plays to the restaurant's strengths rather than trying to be everything to everyone. Producers like L'Ecole N° 41 and Cristom signal that someone with taste made real buying decisions here, not just a distributor rep with a fax machine. There are gaps — we'd love to see more depth in the Burgundy and Rhône sections — but for a seafood-forward spot in Anchorage, the foundation is genuinely solid. This isn't a list that challenges you; it's a list that doesn't embarrass you.
Fifteen to twenty-five by-the-glass options is a generous pour program for this market, and the Tuesday/Thursday Prime Time feature shows the kitchen and bar are at least occasionally coordinating. We don't have a full BTG menu to dig into, but the presence of both Cristom Pinot Noir and L'Ecole Cab as featured pours suggests the glass program isn't an afterthought. Rotation isn't documented, so don't count on that one pour being there next visit.
L'Ecole N° 41 Cabernet Sauvignon — $29.50
At roughly 18% over retail, this is about as honest as restaurant markup gets. L'Ecole is a reliable Walla Walla producer — this is real wine at a fair price, not a grocery-store Cab dressed up in a nice room.
Cristom Pinot Noir
This one is actually priced below retail at $29.50, which almost never happens in a restaurant setting. Cristom makes serious Willamette Valley Pinot — earthy, elegant, built for salmon and shellfish — and most tables will walk right past it for something they recognize. Their loss.
L'Ecole N° 41 Cabernet Sauvignon (Prime Time Pairing)
The $59 Tuesday/Thursday Prime Time pairing bundles the L'Ecole Cab with prime rib — fine on paper, but Cab with prime rib is the most predictable move in the playbook. At a seafood-focused restaurant with Cristom Pinot on the list at a steal, there's a more interesting meal to be had.
Cristom Pinot Noir + Cioppino
The Cristom's bright acidity and red fruit cut through the tomato-based broth without muscling out the crab and clams the way a bigger red would. Oregon Pinot and Pacific seafood stew is a no-brainer that most tables at this restaurant will somehow still miss.
Tuesday & Thursday — Prime Time feature: L'Ecole N° 41 Cabernet Sauvignon + Cristom Pinot Noir paired with Prime Rib for $59 (wine) + $39 (Prime Rib). Not half-price, but the Cristom at $29.50 is already below retail.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Kincaid Grill is doing something genuinely commendable in a market where wine could easily be an afterthought — a fair, focused list with real producers and pricing that doesn't make you wince. Send your friends here, tell them to order the Cristom, and let them figure out the rest.
Downtown · Anchorage · New American
The Marx Brothers Café is the kind of place that makes you reconsider your assumptions about where serious wine lives. In a historic Anchorage bungalow, they've built a list that would hold its own in San Francisco — and that earns every bit of the Wild Card badge.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown / G Street corridor · Anchorage · Wine Bar / Bistro
Crush earns its Wild Card badge not by being perfect, but by being genuinely surprising — a 600-bottle cellar and 40+ glass pours in Anchorage is an achievement worth acknowledging out loud. If you're passing through or living here, this is where you go when you actually care what's in your glass.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Girdwood · Anchorage · Winery Restaurant / Taproom
Bear Creek Winery Loft earns its Wild Card badge honestly — it's not trying to be a serious wine destination and doesn't need to be. If you're in Girdwood and you skip this in favor of a hotel bar pour, you've made a mistake you'll regret when you're back home explaining why you didn't try the rhubarb wine made in Alaska.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Anchorage · Modern Mexican / Latin Fusion
Tequila 61° is a genuinely fun downtown Anchorage spot — but the wine list is not the reason to come. Order the tequila, drink the margaritas, and if someone at the table insists on wine, steer them toward the Pinot Grigio and move on.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown · Anchorage · Brazilian Steakhouse (Churrascaria)
Texas de Brazil Anchorage is a reliable enough wine stop if you calibrate expectations to match the format — this is a chain steakhouse, not a wine destination, and the list behaves accordingly. Grab the Catena, eat a lot of picanha, and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown / Spenard · Anchorage · Mexican / Pub / Pizza
Bear Tooth Grill is a legitimately great spot for beer, margaritas, pizza, and a movie — the wine list is just a formality. Order a craft beer, skip the wine entirely, and you'll have a fantastic time.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.