Old World Soul at a New Jersey Price Tag
· Princeton · Wine Shop with Tastings · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 20, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Princeton Corkscrew Wine Shop’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Twenty bottles, zero filler. Princeton Corkscrew is a wine shop that runs curated tasting events, and the list reads like someone actually thought about it — Loire, Rhône, Burgundy, a Greek Assyrtiko, and a Vacqueyras all sharing space under $40. This is not a restaurant wine list; it's a shop floor doing double duty, and the pricing reflects that.
The range leans unmistakably Old World, with France doing the heavy lifting: two Sancerres, a Chiroubles, a Vacqueyras, a Coteaux du Giennois, a Beaune Premier Cru, and a pair of Côtes du Rhône options. Italy shows up with a solid Chianti from Corzano e Paterno and a no-name-no-frills Luigi Giordano Vino Rosso at $22.50. The New World gets a narrow lane — Clos Julien Napa Cab, a Schroeder Patagonian Pinot, an Argentine Malbec, and a Ron Rubin Russian River Pinot — but these feel like thoughtful additions rather than crowd-pleasing padding. The ceiling is $67.50 for the Dubreuil-Fontaine Beaune Premier Cru, which at shop pricing is a genuine deal.
No by-the-glass program is documented here — this is a wine shop hosting tastings, not a full-service bar. Whether pours are offered at events isn't confirmed by available data, so we won't guess. If you're looking for a glass-pour-heavy experience, this probably isn't it; if you're looking to buy a bottle (or several) at fair prices, you're in the right place.
The Bottom Line
Princeton Corkscrew is doing something genuinely useful: shop-floor pricing on a focused, mostly Old World list that punishes nobody for wanting to drink well without a restaurant markup. The Dubreuil-Fontaine Beaune Premier Cru at $67.50 and the Tardieu-Laurent Rhône Blanc at $19 both represent the kind of value that makes a wine list worth paying attention to. If you're in Princeton and care about what's in your glass, this deserves a stop.
Palmer Square · Princeton · Italian / Pizza & Wine Bar
Teresa's has the bones of something genuinely good — a wine-bar concept in a charming Princeton setting, with an Italian-leaning list and the kind of casual-but-intentional vibe that makes you want to linger over a second glass. We'd call it a Wild Card because the setup is promising and the concept is right, but without a fully sourced list in hand, we're betting on potential as much as proof. Worth a walk-in to find out.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Italian / American
Metro North's wine program is honest, approachable, and priced fairly for what it is — a crowd-pleasing list that gets out of the way and lets you eat dinner. If you're looking for discovery or depth, you won't find it here, but if you want a glass of something reliable at a fair price, the Nebbiolo and the Rosso di Montalcino are quietly doing the real work on this list.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Farm-to-Table / New American
Brick Farm Tavern has no business having a wine list this interesting, and that's exactly the point. The markups are real — this isn't a value destination — but the curation earns genuine respect, especially with the local Unionville pours and the Slovenian Rebula Brut as curveballs. If you're driving out to Princeton for the farm-to-table experience anyway, the wine list is a legitimate reason not to skip it.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Italian / Pizza
LaScala's Fire Princeton offers a functional, crowd-friendly wine list that does the job without making any bold moves. The by-the-glass selection is genuinely broad and pricing stays reasonable at the lower end, but markups on recognizable names like Kim Crawford and Veuve Clicquot are steep enough to notice. Send a friend here for a casual pizza night — just point them toward the Vermentino or the Prosecco and away from the big-name bottles.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Italian / Pizza
Nino's is almost certainly a solid neighborhood pizza spot, but the 'Wine Bar' tag is doing a lot of heavy lifting on a list this thin and this anonymous. If you're here for a slice and something to wash it down, you'll survive — but don't come expecting anything beyond the basics. Order the Lambrusco if you're feeling Italian, or just get a beer.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Route 1 / MarketFair area · Princeton · Seafood / Steakhouse
Eddie V's Princeton is a reliable, well-run wine program that excels on its own terms — California-focused, sommelier-staffed, and properly stored — but it won't challenge your palate or your loyalty to the coasts. Send your California Cab-loving friends here without hesitation; send the natural wine crowd somewhere else.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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