Breadsticks Win, Wine List Does Not
Golden Mile · Frederick · Italian-American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 13, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Olive Garden Italian Restaurant - Frederick’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Olive Garden Frederick is exactly what you'd expect from a chain that treats wine as an afterthought — a laminated insert tucked behind the pasta specials. It's short, safe, and built entirely around names your aunt already knows. There's nothing here that will surprise you, and that's precisely the problem.
Twenty-five wines sounds reasonable until you realize nearly all of them are supermarket staples in restaurant clothing. The Italian representation leans hard on Ruffino Chianti and a couple of Pinot Grigios, while California fills the rest of the card with crowd-pleasing brands like Meiomi and Kendall-Jackson. There's no real regional depth, no small producers, nothing from southern Italy, nothing from Piedmont or the Veneto beyond the obvious. The list hasn't been curated so much as assembled from a corporate approved-vendor sheet.
Ten pours by the glass at $7–$12 is the core of what's on offer, and the range is essentially a greatest hits of grocery store wine. The pricing is where things get uncomfortable — Ecco Domani and Meiomi retail for under $15 a bottle, so even the lower end of the glass pricing starts to feel like a squeeze. Rotation appears nonexistent; this is a static list with no seasonal movement.
Ruffino Chianti — $8
It's not exciting, but Ruffino Chianti is a legitimate Sangiovese with enough acidity to cut through a cream sauce. At the lower end of the glass price range, it's the most honest wine on the menu — at least it tastes like the country it claims to represent.
Roscato Rosso Dolce
Most people ordering this probably don't realize it's a semi-sweet red, but if you're sharing a table with someone who finds dry wine 'too bitter,' this is your peace treaty. It's not serious wine, but it's a better fit for the sweet-leaning dishes on this menu than a lot of the drier options here.
Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio
Santa Margherita retails around $20–$22 a bottle and has coasted on its reputation for decades. At chain restaurant markup, you're paying a significant premium for a wine that stopped being interesting sometime around 2005. Grab the Ecco Domani if you need a Pinot Grigio fix and spend the difference on dessert.
Ruffino Chianti + Five Cheese Ziti al Forno
Sangiovese's natural acidity and moderate tannin do actual work against the fat and richness of a baked five-cheese pasta. It's not a revelatory pairing, but it's the most functionally sound combination on the menu — the wine cuts through where most others on this list would just disappear.
❌ The Bottom Line
If you're here for the Chicken Alfredo and unlimited breadsticks, that's a completely defensible life choice — but the wine list is not a reason to come. Order the Chianti, keep it to one glass, and let the food carry the evening.
Downtown Frederick · Frederick · Wine Bar
If you've never had Black Ankle and you're anywhere near Frederick, this is the easiest yes we can give you — a rare chance to taste one of Maryland's genuinely great producers in a focused, unpretentious setting. The single-producer format is a limitation, but when the producer is this good, it barely matters.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Westview / Buckeystown Pike · Frederick · Peruvian
Mayta's isn't a wine destination, but Wine Down Wednesday makes it a genuinely fun, affordable place to eat and drink well enough. Come for the Lomo Saltado, grab the Malbec at half price, and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Route 85 corridor · Frederick · Japanese
Miyako's wine list exists to check a box, and it does that — nothing more. Order the sake, order a cocktail, or make peace with a Canyon Road pour and focus on the hibachi show.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Frederick · Frederick · Mediterranean / Meze
Ayse is the kind of place that surprises you — a Frederick meze lounge with a genuinely considered Italian-leaning wine list that punches above its weight class, even if markups and a static program hold it back from true greatness. Send a friend here, but tell them to skip the Amarone and ask for the Moschofilero.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Route 85 retail corridor · Frederick · Seafood / Grill
Bonefish Grill Frederick is a fine place to eat seafood, but the wine list is pure chain-restaurant autopilot — low risk, low reward, and no one in the kitchen or behind the bar is losing sleep over it. Order the Riesling at Social Hour, enjoy your salmon, and save the wine exploration for somewhere that's actually trying.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
Westview · Frederick · Italian
Carrabba's Frederick isn't a wine destination, but it's a chain that actually tried — Italian-leaning list, credible producers, food-friendly pours. Send your friend here if they want a decent Chianti with their pasta and don't want to think too hard about it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Melbourne · Melbourne · Italian-American
Olive Garden Melbourne's wine list exists to move volume, not to make you drink better — and it succeeds at exactly that goal. Order the Chianti if you must order wine, but honestly, this is a cocktail situation.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Town Center · Boca Raton · Italian-American
Maggiano's isn't where you go to discover wine — it's where you go to eat a mountain of pasta and not overthink the bottle. Come on a Tuesday, when half-price wine turns a steep list into a genuinely solid deal, and you'll leave happy.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Central Medford · Medford · Italian-American
The Olive Garden wine list exists to move bottles, not to make you drink better — and it succeeds at exactly that modest goal. Order the Chianti, enjoy the breadsticks, and save the wine enthusiasm for dinner somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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