Montana's Most Thoughtful Wine List, Mostly
Downtown · Missoula · New American / Global · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 13, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Red Bird Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The list at Red Bird is short enough to read in under five minutes, but it doesn't feel lazy — it feels edited. Pacific Northwest, California, and a few French picks share space in a way that suggests someone actually thought about this. For Missoula, this is as serious as wine gets.
The bones are solid: Cristom Pinot from Willamette, Frog's Leap Zinfandel from Napa, a Schlumberger Alsatian Riesling, and the Benanti Etna Rosso are all genuinely interesting choices that skew toward food-friendly over crowd-pleasing. The Stolpman 'Love You Bunches' Sangiovese from Santa Barbara is a fun left-field pick that fits the bistro energy perfectly. The French presence is thin — mostly Alsace — and there's no real Burgundy or Rhône depth to speak of, which is a gap. Still, for a 30–60 bottle list in a mountain town, the curation punches well above its weight class.
Eight to twelve pours by the glass is a healthy count for a list this size, and if the bottle selection is any indication, the glass program is pulling from the same thoughtful range. We'd expect the Cristom Pinot and the Stolpman to rotate through. No aggressive BTG program or weekly rotation that we can identify, which is a missed opportunity.
Cristom Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Pinot Noir Willamette Valley 2021 — $48
At 26% over retail, this is the most fairly priced bottle on the list — and it's actually a great wine. Cristom's Mt. Jefferson Cuvée is a proper Willamette Pinot with real structure and restraint. In a lineup where most bottles land 57–100% above retail, grabbing this one feels like finding a $20 bill in an old jacket.
Benanti Etna Rosso 2020
Most tables in Missoula are not ordering a Sicilian Nerello Mascalese grown on volcanic slopes. That's a shame. The Benanti Etna Rosso is one of Italy's most distinctive expressions — earthy, perfumed, lighter-bodied than it looks on paper — and it's quietly sitting here at $52 waiting for someone to take a chance on it.
Gruet Blanc de Noirs NV
Gruet is a perfectly decent New Mexico sparkling wine, but at $36 for a bottle that retails for $18, you're paying a full 100% markup to pop a cork that costs less than a six-pack back home. It's not a bad wine — it's a bad deal. If you want bubbles, push the staff for something better.
Domaines Schlumberger Riesling Les Princes Abbés Alsace 2019 + Pan-seared fish
Alsatian Riesling has enough body to stand up to a properly seared fillet and enough acidity to cut through any richness in the preparation. The Schlumberger brings a dry, slightly stony character that keeps the fish tasting like fish rather than getting buried under the wine. It's a textbook match — not a flashy one, just a correct one.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Red Bird is the best wine option in Missoula by a comfortable margin, and the curation is genuinely impressive for its size and location. The markups are uneven enough to require some navigation, but if you stick to the Cristom and the Italian picks, you'll drink well without feeling robbed.
South Missoula · Missoula · American / Chain
Applebee's Missoula isn't a destination for wine — it's a destination for Boneless Wings and a cold domestic beer, and there's zero shame in that. If wine is a priority, order a cocktail and save the bottle for somewhere that cares.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Missoula · Breakfast and Diner-Style American
The Shack is worth visiting for the food and the Missoula nostalgia — but the wine list is two bottles deep and priced like it knows you have no other options. Order coffee, order juice, order whatever they're putting in the Vodka Fettuccine, and save the wine drinking for somewhere that's actually trying.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Missoula · French / European
The Pearl Café is doing something genuinely unusual — running a thoughtful, fairly priced wine program in a mountain city where most restaurants would coast on a generic list and nobody would complain. Send your wine-curious friends here without apology; just steer them away from the Ste. Michelle.
Solid Range
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Missoula · Sushi, Japanese
SakeTome is a Wild Card: a lively downtown sushi spot with a mostly safe wine list that hides genuine Oregon ambition behind a wall of crowd-pleasers. Come for the rolls, order the Meiomi by the glass or splurge on Walter Scott if it's available — just skip the Priorat.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
South Higgins · Missoula · Italian
Ciao Mambo isn't a destination wine list, but it's honest, fairly priced, and doesn't embarrass itself — which puts it ahead of most Italian spots its size. Send a friend here for dinner and point them toward the Planeta or the Torrontés; they'll thank you.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Missoula · Bar
The Top Hat is a live-music venue first, and the wine list reflects that honestly — approachable, fairly priced, and wide enough to keep most people happy. You're not going for the wine, but you're not going to regret the Rioja either.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.