Santa Fe Cantina Rooftop

You don't expect to find Pétrus and Domaine Serafin Charmes-Chambertin on a rooftop wine list in McAllen, Texas — but here we are. The list opens like a flex, running from a $25 Bogle Merlot all the way up to a $5,000 Pétrus 2014, and somehow that range feels intentional rather than random. This is a wine program with ambition, even if the execution has some rough edges.

The list leans heavily Napa and Champagne, which tracks for a steakhouse crowd, but there are genuinely interesting detours: Reynvaan Grenache Blanc from Walla Walla, Hirsch Reid Lamm Grüner Veltliner from Kamptal, a J.J. Prüm Auslese from the Mosel, and Alvaro Palacios L'Ermita from Priorat. The prestige Champagne section is stacked — Krug 2008, Cristal 2014, Dom Pérignon Rosé 2006, La Grande Dame 2012 — suggesting someone here takes bubbles seriously. Old World coverage is spotty outside of France and Spain, and Italy gets reduced to trophy bottles like Masseto and Solaia rather than anything approachable. Still, for McAllen, this list is a legitimate surprise.

Seventeen by-the-glass options gives you real room to explore, with a price range spanning $9 to $38. That's a solid count for a rooftop steakhouse, though we'd want to see more rotation and transparency about what's actually being poured fresh versus sitting open too long. The glass program would benefit from a couple more Old World entries to balance out the California-heavy pours.