Great beer town, wrong stop for wine
Downtown / East Main · Bozeman · American gastropub with craft beer · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 18, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Montana Ale Works’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Montana Ale Works, you get the picture fast: this is a beer hall that happens to pour wine, not a wine destination that also pours beer. The converted warehouse energy is genuinely fun, the tap list is long and thoughtful, and the wine list is... an afterthought roughly the size of a sticky note.
We counted somewhere between 10 and 20 wines on the list, which is already a red flag in a restaurant doing this kind of volume and charging these prices. The regional story is essentially nonexistent — there's no clear focus, no narrative, no sense that anyone curated this with intention. The one wine we can confirm by name, a Charles & Blossom Fury Riesling from Columbia Valley, is fine wine from a respectable Washington State producer, but it's essentially doing all the heavy lifting for the entire list. This is a list that exists because restaurants are expected to have a wine list, not because anyone here particularly cares.
One option by the glass. One. In a busy downtown gastropub with a full dinner menu and entrees running up to $30, there is a single wine available by the glass. Happy hour shaves a dollar off that, which is a gesture so small it barely registers. If you want wine here, you're committing to a bottle or going home disappointed.
Charles & Blossom Fury Riesling Columbia Valley — $48/bottle
It's the only wine we can actually confirm on this list, so by default it wins. Washington Riesling at this price point is at least a drinkable choice — just know you're paying a premium for the privilege of having options in a place that doesn't really want to be a wine destination.
Trash-Wine Split
At $36 for a split, this is a quirky find that at least shows someone has a sense of humor about the wine program. A single-serve format in a beer bar is unexpected — and if the quality holds up, it's a fun low-commitment option when you want wine but your table is splitting a pitcher of something local.
Charles & Blossom Fury Riesling Columbia Valley
At $12 a glass and $48 a bottle with no retail price data available to benchmark the markup, we're flying blind on value — and a one-wine-by-the-glass program at a bustling gastropub suggests the bottle hasn't been sitting in ideal conditions. Order a craft beer. It's what they're actually good at.
Charles & Blossom Fury Riesling Columbia Valley + Fish and chips
Washington Riesling has the acidity and slight residual sweetness to cut through fried batter and complement flaky white fish. It's the one pairing on this menu where the wine actually earns its place on the table.
The Bottom Line
Montana Ale Works is a genuinely great place to eat and drink beer — the wine list is a liability, not an asset. If wine matters to you tonight, eat here and drink craft beer, or find a different spot for the bottle.
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Deep & Eclectic
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Basic Stemmed
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Crowd Pleasers
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Ted's Montana Grill is a reliable place to eat well and drink adequately — the wine list won't inspire you, but it won't embarrass you either. If you're here for the bison and want a bottle of Jordan to go with it, you're in good hands; if you're here for the wine program, you're in the wrong building.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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