Mary Kate's Wine Bar

You don't expect to find Opus One and Ridge Monte Bello on a wine list in a small Wisconsin lake town, and yet here we are. Mary Kate's lands a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in its first year of eligibility, which tells you everything about how seriously this place takes its program. The room delivers on atmosphere too — great decor, the kind of place that earns a second visit.

The list runs 150-250 bottles with a clear California identity and no apologies about it. Caymus, Silver Oak Alexander Valley, Jordan, Stag's Leap, Far Niente, Duckhorn, Cakebread, Flowers — this is a California greatest-hits list executed with real conviction, not just a lazy drop of recognizable labels. Ridge Monte Bello is the standout intellectual pick, sitting alongside the crowd-pleasers without feeling out of place. The gap is obvious: if you want Burgundy, Barolo, or anything from the Southern Hemisphere, you're mostly on your own.

With 20-35 pours available, the by-the-glass program punches well above what you'd expect from a town this size. Eric Radi and John Hayes are running the floor, which means there's actual guidance behind those pours rather than a laminated card left to fend for itself. Rotation details weren't fully available, but with a list this deep, we'd expect glass options to reflect the California focus with solid representation across reds and whites.