Bourbon Country's Wine List: Competent, Not Memorable
East Bardstown / Parkway Drive · Bardstown · New American / Distillery Restaurant
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 26, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Kitchen & Bar at Bardstown Bourbon Company’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You're at one of Kentucky's most celebrated distilleries, so let's be honest — the wine list is not why you're here. It reads exactly like you'd expect: familiar names, safe bets, nothing that's going to distract you from the bourbon program two feet away. That's not necessarily a knock, but it does set expectations.
The list runs 20 to 40 bottles and sticks firmly to American crowd-pleasers — think grocery store shelf-talkers done slightly better. Meiomi, Kim Crawford, Decoy: these are the faces you recognize from every casual restaurant list from Louisville to Los Angeles. There's no meaningful regional diversity, no Old World depth, and no producer story worth telling. The Kentucky identity of the place doesn't bleed into the wine program at all, which is a missed opportunity given how food-and-drink-forward the BBC brand presents itself.
Eight to fourteen pours by the glass is a respectable count for a distillery restaurant, and the list does give you options across reds and whites. But when your anchors are Meiomi and Kim Crawford, you're working with a glass program built for brand recognition, not discovery. Don't expect any rotation or seasonal surprises — what's on the list is what's on the list.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc — $12
It's a known quantity for a reason — crisp, clean, crowd-friendly — and if priced in the $10–$13 range by the glass, it's the least painful way to spend money on wine here while the table debates which bourbon flight to order.
Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon
Decoy gets eye-rolls from the wine crowd, but it's a legitimately well-made wine from the Duckhorn portfolio — soft tannins, ripe fruit, easy to drink. Order it next to a burger and stop overthinking it.
Meiomi Pinot Noir
Meiomi is built on residual sweetness and mass appeal. At distillery restaurant markup prices, you're overpaying for a wine that retails for $12–$15 a bottle. The bourbon is better. Order the bourbon.
Decoy Cabernet Sauvignon + Burger
Decoy's soft, fruit-forward cab handles a well-built burger without fighting it — the richness of the beef anchors the wine's sweetness and the whole thing just works. It's not a sophisticated pairing, but it's an honest one.
✔️ The Bottom Line
The wine list at BBC Kitchen & Bar does exactly enough to keep non-bourbon drinkers comfortable, and not much else. Send your wine-curious friends here for the experience, but tell them to start with the bourbon.
Heaven Hill · Bardstown · Lounge
If you're at Bardstown Bourbon Company, drink bourbon — the wine list here is not the reason you came and it won't give you a reason to revisit. The pricing is fair and the pours are inoffensive, but this is a lounge that's made its priorities abundantly clear.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Beam Distillery Area · Bardstown · Contemporary Southern / Bourbon-Inspired American
The Kitchen Table is first and foremost a bourbon experience, and the wine list knows its place in that pecking order. If you're on the Bourbon Trail with a wine lover in tow, this is a perfectly acceptable landing spot — just temper expectations, lean toward the Pinot, and let them order the whiskey flights.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown / Spalding Hall · Bardstown · Steakhouse / American
The Rickhouse is a perfectly competent steakhouse wine list doing exactly what a steakhouse wine list in bourbon country is supposed to do — familiar names, heavy pours, and enough bottles to keep the table happy. Just go in knowing you're paying for the atmosphere and the ambiance of that historic cellar as much as what's in the glass.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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