Breadsticks Great, Wine List Forgot to Try
East Boulevard / Dalraida · Montgomery · Italian
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 29, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Olive Garden Italian Restaurant – Montgomery’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — 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 here isn't really a wine list — it's a corporate beverage menu that arrived in Montgomery via a fax from Darden HQ. You're not choosing from a curated selection; you're choosing from a laminated insert that looks identical in every Olive Garden from here to Anchorage. The ambition stops at 'inoffensive.'
California and Italy carry the flag here, which sounds promising until you realize the depth goes about two inches. Meiomi Pinot Noir is the top-shelf move, which tells you everything you need to know about the ceiling. There's Prosecco for the table that wants to feel festive, and a Moscato-forward flight option for guests who prefer their wine to taste like dessert. No independent producers, no regional Italian surprises, no reason to linger on the list.
Glass pours exist, and that's about the nicest thing we can say. The program leans on the same mainstream labels you'd find at a grocery store endcap, and rotation appears to be a foreign concept. One potential upside: Olive Garden's chain-wide policy offers half-price glasses for guests waiting to be seated — catch that window and the mediocrity gets a little more bearable.
Prosecco — Unknown
Without confirmed pricing for Montgomery, we can't call this a steal — but Prosecco is the safest play on a list this flat. It's crowd-friendly, hard to over-markup into embarrassment, and works with almost everything on the table.
Moscato (wine flight)
Nobody comes to Olive Garden for serious wine, so leaning into the Moscato-based flight as a dessert-in-a-glass moment is at least honest. Order it for what it is — sweet, low-stakes, and better than pretending the reds here are worth a second glass.
Meiomi Pinot Noir
At roughly $34 a bottle when retail sits around $18, you're paying a near-90% markup for a wine that's perfectly fine at home and perfectly unremarkable here. This is the priciest bottle on the list and it's Meiomi. Hard pass.
Prosecco + Tour of Italy
The Tour of Italy hits you with lasagna, chicken parmigiana, and fettuccine Alfredo all at once — it's a rich, heavy plate. Prosecco's bubbles and bright acidity cut through the cream and cheese without competing with anything, and it keeps the meal from feeling like a nap is mandatory.
Walk-in wait only — Olive Garden chain policy offers half-price glasses of wine to guests waiting to be seated — not a specific recurring night, and not confirmed as a standing program at the Montgomery location specifically. Ask your host when you arrive.
The Bottom Line
This is a wine program by committee, for volume, not for pleasure. If someone at your table insists on wine, grab a glass while you're waiting to be seated and enjoy the half-price benefit — but don't plan your evening around what's in the glass.
Downtown / Alley Entertainment District · Montgomery · Upscale American, Contemporary Southern
Central is the kind of place where the wine list supports the meal without stealing the spotlight — which is exactly what a restaurant like this needs. Send your friends here for dinner; just steer them toward the Rhône white or the Pinot Gris and away from the Rombauer markup.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Hampstead · Montgomery · Casual American bar food and café fare
The Tipping Point is a solid neighborhood spot that happens to have wine, not a wine destination that also serves food — and that's okay. If you're here for the patio, the burgers, or a casual weeknight out, grab the rosé or the Malbec and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Montgomery · Montgomery · Steakhouse / Wine-Focused American
Cork & Cleaver is quietly one of the better wine lists in Montgomery — international range, fair pricing, and actual producer curation hiding behind a Southern gastropub front door. Send your wine-curious friends here and tell them to skip the Prisoner.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Boulevard · Montgomery · Steakhouse
Outback Montgomery's wine program is a formality, not a feature — it checks the box without breaking a sweat or a single new grape variety. If wine matters to you tonight, order the Riesling, keep expectations grounded, and save the serious bottle for a restaurant that actually cares.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Montgomery · Montgomery · Seafood / Grill
Bonefish Grill Montgomery won't blow your mind, but it won't ruin your dinner either — the glass pour selection is broad enough to find something decent, and Chateau Ste. Michelle Riesling with wood-grilled fish is a legitimate move. Just don't expect the wine to be the reason you came.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Montgomery · Southern-influenced global brasserie / fusion
Kinsmith is a beautiful room serving interesting food, and the wine list is the least interesting thing about it. Go for the Gulf seafood, order the Calera or the Pinotage, and keep your expectations calibrated to a solid hotel restaurant rather than a destination wine program.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Italian
Bici's wine list won't knock you sideways, but it's honest, Italian-focused, and fairly priced — a reliable partner to the food. We'd send a friend here and tell them to skip the Sauvignon Blanc and go straight for the Greco.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Parkway / Elks Plaza · Gatlinburg · Italian
The Best Italian's wine list does exactly what it needs to do: keep casual diners happy, not drain wallets, and get out of the way of the garlic knots. We wouldn't drive to Gatlinburg for the wine, but if you're already there and want something decent with dinner, you'll be fine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Vail Village · Vail · Italian
La Nonna brings a legitimately serious Italian cellar to a town where most restaurants are content to coast on their ski-town captive audience — and that deserves real credit. The markups are steep across the board, but the bones of the list are strong enough that the right bottle makes the whole evening.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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