Finger Lakes Heart in a Hotel Shell
Downtown / The Commons · Ithaca · American / Hotel Bistro · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 22, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Monks on the Commons’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Monks feels exactly like the room it lives in — comfortable, predictable, and not trying to surprise you. It's a hotel bistro menu that checked the wine boxes: bubbles, whites, rosés, reds, done. What saves it from full mediocrity is a genuine nod to the Finger Lakes, which sits right in its backyard.
Eighteen labels, all available by the glass — which is either a sign of a thoughtful pour-first philosophy or a very short list, and here it's firmly the latter. California heavyweights like Meiomi, Sonoma Cutrer, and J. Lohr anchor the reds and whites, playing it safe for the hotel-guest crowd who wants something familiar. The Finger Lakes representation — Thirsty Owl Riesling, Dr. Konstantin Frank Gewurztraminer, Sheldrake Rosé, and Glenora Brut — is genuinely the bright spot, and it's more local love than most hotel bars bother with. Don't come looking for Burgundy, Barolo, or anything remotely obscure; this list is built for the path of least resistance.
All 18 bottles pour by the glass, which means zero friction if you want to mix and match across a meal — and that's actually a real win in a casual, all-day spot like this. The glass price range runs $11 to $19, which feels a touch high for what's on offer, but the Finger Lakes pours are the ones worth reaching for. No rotating BTG program that we can find — what you see is what you get, indefinitely.
Thirsty Owl Dry Riesling FLX NY — $11/glass
The cheapest glass on the list is also the most interesting wine on it. Thirsty Owl makes solid, food-friendly Riesling from the Finger Lakes — and at $11, it's the one pour that actually earns its keep.
Dr. Konstantin Frank Gewurztraminer FLX NY
Most people at a hotel bar gloss past Gewurztraminer without a second look, but Dr. Frank is one of the Finger Lakes' founding estates and they do this grape seriously. It's aromatic, slightly off-dry, and nothing else on this list comes close to its character.
Meiomi Pinot Noir CA
At $19 a glass or $73 a bottle, you're paying a steep premium for a mass-produced, heavily sweetened California Pinot that retails for around $15-18. The markup here is hard to justify when the wine itself is built for grocery store shelves, not a dinner table.
Sheldrake Rose FLX NY + Burger
Monks is known for its burgers, and a dry Finger Lakes rosé from Sheldrake — bright, slightly tart, local — cuts through the fat and richness in a way that a glass of Malbec never quite manages at lunch.
The Bottom Line
Monks won't wow wine-curious diners, but it does right by the Finger Lakes in a way hotel bars rarely bother to. Stick to the local pours, avoid the marked-up California staples, and you'll have a perfectly fine glass with your burger on the Commons.
· Ithaca · Southwestern / New American
Agava's wine program is essentially a placeholder — no producers named, no prices published, no apparent effort to connect the Southwestern-leaning menu to anything interesting in the glass. Ithaca sits in the heart of Finger Lakes wine country, making this omission especially puzzling. Order a cocktail, or bring your own bottle if corkage is an option.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Ithaca · Hotel bar / seasonal restaurant
For a hotel bar in wine country, this list punches above its category — the Finger Lakes producers are legitimate, the Saperavi alone is worth a detour, and the overall curation signals actual effort. Pricing at a lakeside inn will likely sting, and without confirmed by-the-glass options or staff expertise, you may need to advocate for yourself. Come ready to order by the bottle, pick something local, and enjoy the view.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Ithaca · New American
The Rook is swinging for something more interesting than its size suggests, and the range of regions and styles — Txakoline, Verdicchio, Barolo rosé, orange Garnacha — earns genuine respect for a 12-bottle list. Pricing skews steep at the top end, and the lack of any documented reds from classic regions is a real hole. If you're an adventurous drinker who's tired of the same wine list at every New American spot, this is worth exploring — just go in knowing you'll probably land in the $45–$56 range to find the value.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Ithaca · Brasserie / New American
Simeon's wine list does its job without breaking a sweat — it's approachable, reasonably priced, and quietly proud of the Finger Lakes producers it stocks. The by-the-glass selection is the real strength here; if you're in Ithaca and want to explore local wine without committing to a bottle, this is a perfectly decent place to do it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Ithaca · Northern Italian
Mercato is a well-regarded local staple with the right regional instincts — Italian roots, Finger Lakes ambition, and a warm room that earns its reservations. We'd feel comfortable sending a friend here for a solid bottle of wine with dinner, but we'd tell them to ask questions at the table, because we can't yet confirm the specifics behind the list. Worth a visit; worth a deeper look once a full wine list is in hand.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
South Hill / Elmira Road corridor · Ithaca · Steakhouse
Texas Roadhouse Ithaca is not a wine destination, and it's not trying to be — the list is short, the producers are supermarket-tier, and the markups on house pours are quietly aggressive. Come for the bread and the steak; if you need wine, order one glass and make peace with it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
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