Flight School for People Who Actually Want to Learn
Mill District · St. Paul · Wine Bar / Bistro · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 16, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Milly's Wine Bar & Bistro’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Milly's isn't a list — it's a curriculum. Almost everything is structured as a flight or a comparative pairing, and the names alone (Slap the Bag!, Find Ron Burgundy, Running of the Bulls) tell you this place has a personality. It's wine education without the condescension, which is a genuinely hard thing to pull off.
With 45 labels built almost entirely around head-to-head comparisons, Milly's is doing something few wine bars attempt: teaching through context. You're not just drinking a Sancerre, you're drinking it next to a Loire Sauvignon Blanc and asking yourself what the fuss is about. The geographic sweep is real — Greece (Kir-Yianni Akakies), France (Domaine Rondeau Bugey Cerdon, Marqués de Riscal Rioja), New Zealand, California, Burgundy — and the rotating slots keep things fresh enough that repeat visitors aren't bored. The 45-label ceiling means this isn't a deep-cellar situation, but that's clearly not the point; depth of concept replaces depth of inventory.
Every single wine on the list is available by the glass, which is either a dream or a headache depending on how decisive you are. Prices run $11 to $24, with the flights and comparative pours sitting comfortably in the $15–$22 range — reasonable for what you're getting. The rotating slots (orange wine, pét-nat, earthy reds, dry whites) mean the BTG program is genuinely alive and not just a laminated afterthought.
Domaine Rondeau Bugey Cerdon — $15
Bugey Cerdon is one of the most underrated sparkling wines in France — think lightly sweet, low-alcohol, pink, and fizzy in the best way. At $15 a glass, this is a steal compared to what you'd pay for lesser Champagne elsewhere in the Twin Cities.
Kir-Yianni Akakies Greek Rosé 2023
Most people at a wine bar in St. Paul aren't ordering Greek rosé, and that's a mistake. Kir-Yianni is a legitimate producer in Northern Greece, and Akakies from Xinomavro is dry, structured, and interesting — nothing like the Provence-lite stuff that fills most rosé lists.
Judgement of Paris (French vs California Chardonnay flight)
At $24, this is the priciest pour on the menu, and the concept — a nod to the 1976 Paris tasting — is fun in theory. But without knowing what's actually in the rotating French and California bottles, you're paying a premium for a gimmick. Save the $24 for a bottle.
Ovum Big Salt + Cheese board
Ovum's Big Salt is an Oregon skin-contact white with texture and a savory, almost briny quality. It's built for a cheese board — the salt and funk in the wine mirrors aged cheeses, and the orange wine format handles both creamy and firm styles without flinching.
The Bottom Line
Milly's is for the curious drinker who wants to understand wine, not just drink it, and the comparative flight format makes that happen without any lecturing. If you're in St. Paul and want to actually learn something about what's in your glass, this is the move.
· St. Paul · American / Sports-Adjacent Brasserie
Herbie's wine program is on autopilot — it gets the job done for guests who just want something familiar with their meal, but anyone who actually cares about what's in the glass should order a cocktail and move on. Send your wine-curious friends somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· St. Paul · Cafe / Pizza / Bakery
Cafe Latte is the Wild Card because nobody expects a café in St. Paul to stock Ridge and Scribe alongside a Sancerre and a Quinta de Noval Port at these prices. Go for the pizza, stay because the wine list is quietly doing something right.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· St. Paul · Wine Bar
Small Hours is the rare Minneapolis wine bar that feels like it was built for people who actually love wine, not just the idea of it. If you're showing up for a bottle and some duck leg confit with a record on in the background, you're going to have a very good night.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
St. Paul · St. Paul · Wine Bar / Music Venue
Troubadour is a legit Wild Card — a music venue with enough wine ambition to surprise you, held back by steep markups and a list that plays it safe on the red side. Come for the Dolcetto and the Rimage, skip the Oaky California bottles, and enjoy the show.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
St. Paul · St. Paul · Mediterranean / New American
Domacin is doing something genuinely unusual — a full by-the-glass list with real depth and fair prices — and it mostly lands. If you're in St. Paul and want to actually explore wine with dinner, this is the room to be in.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Cathedral Hill / Summit Avenue · St. Paul · Wine Bar / Retail with Food Pop-Ups
Solo Vino is the kind of wine shop that moonlights as a destination, and the tasting bar makes it worth the trip even if you don't buy a bottle — though you will. Send your wine-curious friends here before they spend the same money on something forgettable at a restaurant down the street.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
Upper Main Street · Annapolis · Wine Bar / Bistro
Red Red Wine Bar is a genuinely fun, accessible spot if you go in knowing what it is: a bubbly-forward wine bar built for socializing and sharing flights, not deep-dive cellar exploration. Send your friend here for a casual night out — just don't send them expecting a sprawling wine list.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Missoula · Wine Bar / Bistro
The Stables is doing something genuinely ambitious for Missoula — a deep, serious list with a real sommelier and the cellar to back it up. Markups run steep across the board, so come with a clear budget, but the range and quality of what's here make it the most interesting wine stop in a 200-mile radius.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown Georgetown · Georgetown · Wine Bar / Bistro
Sovian is doing something genuinely unusual for Georgetown — a deep, globe-spanning cellar in a town that mostly asks for whatever's on draft. If you live out here and care about wine, this is your spot; if you're driving in from Austin, the list is worth the trip.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
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