A steakhouse that skipped the Cab Sauv memo
Downtown · Aspen · Classic Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 27, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Monarch Steakhouse’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You walk into Monarch expecting a towering red wine list — Napa Cabs, aged Bordeaux, maybe a dusty Barolo — and instead you get five dessert wines and Ports. It's a genuinely strange move for a steakhouse in Aspen, where people routinely drop $100 on a ribeye without blinking. We respect the audacity, even if it catches you completely off guard.
The entire wine program here is built around the sweet and fortified end of the spectrum: a Vietti Moscato d'Asti from Italy, Kracher's Beerenauslese from Austria, a Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes from Bordeaux, and two Tawnies from Portugal — Churchill's 10-Year and Barros 20-Year. There is no by-the-bottle red, no white Burgundy, nothing to get you through the actual steak course. That's not a gap, that's a philosophy — and either Monarch is leaning hard into an after-dinner wine-bar identity or someone made a very unconventional call. Either way, if you're coming for a proper dinner wine, this list will not carry you.
All five wines are poured by the glass, ranging from $14 to $30, which is genuinely reasonable pricing for Aspen where cocktails alone can hit $22. The Carmes de Rieussec at $30 is the anchor pour — a serious Sauternes from a Rothschild-adjacent estate that you'd typically see on fine dining lists at multiples of this. Rotation appears nonexistent; this looks like a curated standing list rather than anything seasonal.
Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2020 — $30
Carmes de Rieussec is the second wine of Château Rieussec, a First Growth Sauternes. Getting this in a glass at $30 in Aspen — where a cocktail at the bar next door costs nearly as much — is a quiet steal. If you're going to lean into the dessert wine situation, lean into this one.
Kracher Beerenauslese Cuveé 2018
Alois Kracher is one of the most respected sweet wine producers on the planet, and Beerenauslese is a rare classification that requires individually harvested, botrytized grapes. Most people walk past it because they don't recognize the name — that's exactly why you order it.
Vietti Moscato d'Asti 2021
Vietti makes excellent wines across the board, but Moscato d'Asti at $14 a glass is a tough sell at a steakhouse. It's light, low-alcohol, and fizzy — fine on a summer afternoon, but an odd choice here. Save room in your budget for the Sauternes.
Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes 2020 + Tableside Caesar Salad
Hear us out: the salt from anchovy-laced Caesar dressing and the unctuous sweetness of a good Sauternes is a classic high-low tension that actually works. If you're already treating the wine list as a curiosity, lean into it and make it a moment.
The Bottom Line
Monarch is a bonkers wine program for a steakhouse — five dessert wines only, zero bottles, no red to speak of — but the pricing is fair, the selections are legitimately good, and it earns a Wild Card just for having the nerve. Come for the steak, consider a glass of Sauternes to finish, and bring your own bottle if you want wine with dinner.
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