Tacos, Margaritas, and a Serious Wine List
Downtown · Aspen · Bar / Mexican
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 27, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Las Montañas Bar Area’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 into what looks like a lively taco-and-margarita spot in downtown Aspen and then the wine list lands on the table. Ninety-plus labels, a sommelier on staff, and a 2017 Harlan Estate sitting at the top of the page — this is not what you ordered. The cognitive dissonance is part of the charm.
The list leans hard into California, which is the right call: Heitz Cellar and Matthiasson cover the Napa Cabernet bases at very different price points, while Santa Barbara Pinot gets two strong representatives in Hitching Post and Tyler. What elevates this beyond a standard steakhouse wine play is the Pacific Northwest presence — Martin Woods is doing something genuinely interesting with Grüner Veltliner in Oregon, and Analemma's Godello from the Columbia River Gorge is the kind of wine that makes you stop mid-taco and ask questions. The list is compact, but it has range and a clear point of view. Gaps exist — don't come looking for deep European coverage — but what's here feels intentional.
Nineteen by-the-glass options pulling from six different countries is a legitimately impressive spread for a bar program, let alone one attached to a Mexican-leaning kitchen. We don't have confirmed pour prices, but in Aspen's midrange restaurant tier you're looking at $14–$32 a glass, which tracks with the bottle range. The international breadth of the BTG list suggests the sommelier is using it as a discovery tool, not just a clearinghouse for house pours.
Tyler Pinot Noir, Santa Barbara County — Bottle pricing not confirmed
Tyler consistently punches above its price bracket in Santa Barbara Pinot — bright, precise, and food-friendly enough to handle a full taco spread without overpowering it. It's the move here if you're splitting a bottle with the table.
Analemma Godello, Columbia River Gorge
Godello from the Columbia River Gorge is a sentence that shouldn't exist and yet here we are. Analemma is one of the more compelling small producers in the Pacific Northwest and this wine — lean, mineral, with real aromatic complexity — is the kind of thing you'd never expect to find next to a queso dip. Order it before someone else does.
2017 Harlan Estate Red Blend, Napa Valley
At $3,400 a bottle, Harlan Estate is a flex play in a casual bar environment where the surrounding atmosphere, glassware, and table energy don't match what the wine deserves. Save this for a setting that can do it justice — or at minimum, a night when you're not sharing a table next to the margarita station.
Martin Woods Grüner Veltliner, Oregon + Guacamole
Grüner's signature white pepper snap and citrus-driven acidity cut right through the richness of guacamole while picking up on the lime and herb notes in the bowl. It's a pairing that sounds odd on paper and tastes completely obvious once you try it.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Las Montañas is the rare bar where the wine list deserves more attention than the cocktail menu — a sommelier-curated, California-forward selection with enough Pacific Northwest surprises to keep things interesting. Aspen markups are what they are, but the quality and intentionality here are real.
Downtown · Aspen · Cafe / Wine-Friendly
This is a Wild Card in the truest sense — a museum rooftop café with no sommelier and steep markups that still manages to stock Lapierre, William Fevre Grand Cru, and Pierre Peters. The prices will get you, but the list itself deserves credit. Come for the view, stay for the Gruner.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown / The Little Nell · Aspen · Wine Bar / Lounge
Element 47 is the rare mountain resort wine program that could hold its own in any major city — 3,300 labels, proper storage, knowledgeable staff, and glassware that actually fits the wine. Prices are high because Aspen is high, but if you're going to spend serious money on a bottle somewhere, this is a place that respects the investment.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown · Aspen · Upscale Italian (Milanese café and restaurant)
Sant Ambroeus Aspen is a genuinely good Italian wine program wearing a resort-town price tag — the producers are real, the Franciacorta selection alone is worth your attention, and the staff actually knows what's on the list. Just go in knowing you're paying Aspen rates for everything, and let that Bellavista do its thing.
Solid Range
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown / St. Regis · Aspen · Lounge / Mediterranean
Snow Lodge delivers exactly what a St. Regis resort lounge should: proper glassware, knowledgeable staff, and a list that won't embarrass anyone. Just don't come looking for discovery — this list is built for comfort, and the markups reflect the altitude in more ways than one.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown / St. Regis · Aspen · Mountain American / Hotel Restaurant
Velvet Buck is a reliable, well-run hotel wine program doing exactly what a St. Regis in Aspen is supposed to do — impress people without surprising them. If you're after adventure, look elsewhere; if you're after a great glass of Far Niente after a day on the mountain, you're in the right place.
Solid Range
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown · Aspen · Italian Trattoria & Pizzeria
Acquolina is genuinely strange and genuinely good — a casual trattoria with a cellar that could embarrass most fine dining rooms in Colorado. The markups are real and the glass program is unremarkable, but if you came to drink serious Italian wine with a wood-fired pizza, there are very few places in the state doing it better.
Surprising Depth
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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