Great Steaks, Wine List Forgot to Show Up
Central / McClain Rd · Bentonville · Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 18, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed River Grille’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
River Grille looks the part — white tablecloths, serious steaks, the whole upscale Bentonville steakhouse package. But flip to the wine section and the illusion cracks fast. What's visible online reads less like a curated list and more like a dessert wine sampler someone taped to the back of a menu.
The data we can actually confirm is almost entirely dessert wines — a cluster of Moscato d'Astis from Piedmont, a couple of Napa and Willamette valley sweet bottles, and a short Port lineup anchored by Fonseca Bin 27, Graham's Six Grapes, and Sandeman Founders Reserve. That Port selection is actually decent for a steakhouse in northwest Arkansas. But if there's a real red wine list hiding behind this — the Cabernets and Syrahs you'd expect at a $40-60 entree steakhouse — it's not showing up in any public-facing source. A full-service steakhouse this size should have a backbone of Napa Cabs, domestic and Rhône reds, and maybe a Malbec or two. What we see doesn't suggest that backbone exists in any thoughtful form.
By-the-glass options are a blind spot here — we couldn't confirm any pours, pricing, or rotation from available sources. At a white-tablecloth steakhouse in this price range, that's a problem. If you can't confidently order a glass of red with your ribeye without interrogating the server, the program isn't doing its job.
Marenco Scrapona Moscato d'Asti 2017 — $32
If you're ending the meal sweet, Marenco's Scrapona is the pick of the Moscato trio — it's the most serious producer of the three, with more floral complexity than the Luccio or Nivole. At $32 it's at least a defensible choice.
Graham's Six Grapes Reserve Port
It gets overlooked because Port is an afterthought on most American steakhouse lists, but Graham's Six Grapes is a legitimate, consistently excellent ruby Port that holds its own next to much pricier bottles. Order it with dessert and you'll be the smartest person at the table.
Far Niente Dolce 2007/2008
At $120, the Dolce is the most expensive bottle on the visible list, and while Far Niente makes a genuinely excellent late harvest wine, paying $120 for a dessert bottle at a steakhouse where the main wine program is an open question is a tough ask. The age on these vintages also raises storage questions we can't answer.
Noval 10 Year Old Tawny Port + Filet Mignon
Hear us out — a small pour of Noval's 10 Year Tawny after a filet is a classic end-of-meal move. The nutty, dried fruit character of aged Tawny plays off the char and richness of a good filet in a way that works better than most desserts.
The Bottom Line
River Grille is a solid place to eat a steak in Bentonville, but the wine program — at least what we can verify — stops at dessert and Port while the main event stays in the dark. Order a cocktail with dinner and, if you must, grab a glass of Tawny at the end.
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Crowd Pleasers
Steep
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One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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