Wisconsin's Most Serious Wine Room, Full Stop
Williams Bay / Highway 67 corridor · Lake Geneva · Fine Dining French · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 24, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Opus at The Belfry House’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
Three hundred and forty-six selections in a boutique inn on a Wisconsin highway — that's not an accident, that's a mission statement. The list lands with the kind of quiet confidence that tells you someone here actually cares, and a Wine Spectator award on the wall backs it up. This is not the wine program you expected to find between Lake Geneva and Delavan.
France anchors the list hard — Burgundy, Rhône, Bordeaux, and Loire all get real attention, not token bottles. The 2023 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Blanc is the kind of pick that signals a buyer with a point of view, not just a distributor relationship. California shows up with enough range to keep New World drinkers happy, from Paso Robles Cab to Pahlmeyer-adjacent Napa fruit. The dessert and fortified section — Kopke Port in multiple bottlings, Carmes de Rieussec Sauternes, Domaine Huet Moelleux from Loire — is genuinely impressive and clearly built to support the multi-course tasting format.
Estimates put the by-the-glass program at 10–16 options, which is respectable for a fine dining room this size. With a sommelier on staff, you'd expect those pours to be thoughtfully curated and rotated with the seasonal menu — we just wish we had the full current glass list to confirm that. Ask your server what's open; places like this usually have something interesting breathing behind the bar.
2023 Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage Blanc — null
Graillot is one of the Rhône's most respected names and Crozes-Hermitage Blanc almost always punches above its price in restaurant settings. It's the smart order for anyone who wants serious French white without paying Burgundy prices, and it'll hold its own against the seafood courses in the tasting menu.
Domaine Huet Le Mont Trie Moelleux
Most people skip past Loire dessert wines without a second look, which is their loss. Huet is a Vouvray legend — organically farmed, age-worthy Chenin Blanc that can go toe-to-toe with anything in France's sweet wine canon. At a tasting menu dinner, ordering a half-glass of this alongside a cheese or dessert course is the move.
JCB 'Caviar Cuvee' Brut NV
Jean-Charles Boisset makes very good wine, but the Caviar Cuvee is as much a marketing exercise as a Champagne — the packaging costs more than the juice warrants. At fine dining markups, you're paying a premium for a bottle that performs more like a statement piece than a serious sparkler. Spend those dollars elsewhere on this list.
2022 Carmes de Rieussec, Sauternes + Chef's tasting menu cheese or dessert course
Carmes de Rieussec is the second label of Château Rieussec, one of Sauternes' top classified estates — all the honeyed stone fruit and acidity of the appellation at a more accessible price. Against a rich cheese course or a pastry-forward dessert from the tasting menu, it's a genuinely classic combination that the kitchen and wine list were both built to deliver.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Opus is the rare fine dining wine program in the Midwest that earns the label without hedging — 346 bottles deep, French-focused, and staffed by someone who clearly knows what they're doing. The markups will sting, but for a special occasion in lake country, this is exactly where you want to be drinking.
Lake Como / The Ridge Hotel · Lake Geneva · American
Crafted Americana's wine program is resort-standard in the fullest sense: recognizable, priced for convenience, and unlikely to generate any complaints or any real excitement. If you're at The Ridge for the weekend and want a solid glass of Cab with your prime rib, you'll be fine — just don't come expecting a discovery.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Highway 50 corridor (east of downtown Lake Geneva) · Lake Geneva · Steakhouse / Seafood / Supper Club
Anthony's isn't a wine destination, and it doesn't pretend to be — but for a Wisconsin supper club on a Friday night, the list is honest, the prices are fair, and the Washington State focus gives it just enough personality to keep things interesting. Send your parents here and order the Syrah.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Delavan (Greater Geneva Area) · Lake Geneva · Fine Dining / New American
1878 on the Lake is a solid resort restaurant doing exactly what resort restaurants do — safe selections, reliable producers, and a markup that subsidizes those lakefront views. We'd send a friend here for a nice night out on the water, but we'd tell them to skip the Reserve and order the Rosé.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Delavan (Greater Geneva Area) · Lake Geneva · American / Resort
If you're here for the lake views and a burger, order a cocktail and don't stress the wine list — it's not why you came. But if wine actually matters to you, the Lookout's list is the kind of set-it-and-forget-it program that makes you wish you'd packed a bottle to leave at the front desk.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Lake Como · Lake Geneva · American / Supper Club
Mars Resort is a great place to drink a cold glass of something while live music plays and the lake does all the heavy lifting — but don't come here expecting a wine program that cares as much as you do. Order the Bisol, enjoy the view, and save the serious bottle for somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
South Lake Shore Drive · Lake Geneva · Lounge
The Geneva Inn Lounge isn't a wine destination, and it doesn't need to be — it's a waterfront spot with honest pours, fair prices, and a list that gets the job done without embarrassing anyone. Send your friends here for sunset drinks, not for a deep-dive tasting.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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