Fifty-Two Pours and a Corporate Safety Net
Route 1 / MarketFair · Princeton · New American / Wine Bar
Reviewed July 22, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Seasons 52 (Princeton MarketFair)’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list here is the size of a small novel — 52 by-the-glass options is not a gimmick, it's genuinely the whole identity of the place. That said, flip through it and you'll quickly realize you've met most of these wines before, probably at a TGI Friday's with better lighting. It's a polished, well-executed crowd-pleaser list that never risks offending anyone.
California leads the charge with heavy hitters like Rombauer Chardonnay and Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon anchoring the list, joined by Oregon, France, Italy, New Zealand, and Argentina rounding out the geography. The producers are recognizable to the point of being reflexive — Kim Crawford, Meiomi, Whispering Angel, La Marca — these are the wines that sell themselves without a conversation. There's nothing here that will surprise you or push you toward a region you haven't explored, but the execution is consistent and the pricing is honest for a national chain. If you're hoping to stumble onto a grower Champagne or a funky Jura white, keep driving.
Fifty-two pours by the glass is a genuinely impressive number, and at $10–$18 a glass, the pricing doesn't punish you for exploring. The rotation appears tied to the seasonal menu concept, which sounds more dynamic than it plays out in practice — the core list is reliable but not particularly adventurous. Still, for the Princeton Route 1 corridor, this is one of the better by-the-glass programs around.
Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay — $18/glass
Russian River Ranches is a legitimate vineyard-designated wine from a respected producer — seeing it available by the glass at the top of the pricing range is still a fair deal given what you'd pay at retail, and it drinks well above its station in this context.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon
Jordan gets dismissed as a supermarket staple, but it's actually a well-made Alexander Valley Cab with real structure and age-worthiness behind the label. In a list full of flashier names, this one quietly delivers — and most tables are ordering the Meiomi instead.
Whispering Angel Rosé
You're paying for the bottle shape and the Instagram moment, not the wine. At Seasons 52's price tier, there are better ways to spend your pour — Whispering Angel has coasted on its aesthetic for years and the liquid doesn't justify the premium.
Sonoma-Cutrer Russian River Ranches Chardonnay + Cedar Plank Salmon
The smoky char and fatty richness of the cedar plank salmon wants a Chardonnay with enough weight to hold its own — Russian River Ranches has the body and subtle oak integration to meet it without steamrolling the fish.
The Bottom Line
Seasons 52 Princeton is a reliable wine stop for anyone who wants a wide-open by-the-glass menu, fair pricing, and zero surprises — in a good way and a bad way. Send a friend here if they're still figuring out what they like; send a wine nerd somewhere else.
· Princeton · Steakhouse
Ruth's Chris Princeton delivers a competent, corporately assembled wine program that covers the bases without taking any real swings. Markups are steep across the board — this is not the place to drop serious money on a bottle — but the all-by-the-glass format and the Trimbach and Catena Zapata picks give you room to drink well if you choose carefully. Come for the steak; drink strategically.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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 · Wine Shop with Tastings
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.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
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
Belmont Heights · Long Beach · New American / Wine Bar
Taste is doing something genuinely uncommon in Long Beach: a neighborhood wine bar with a Baja California identity, a sommelier who presumably knows why that matters, and a food menu built around dishes that actually want wine next to them. We'd send a friend here with one instruction — skip the menu and ask the staff what they're excited about right now.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Lincoln · New American / Wine Bar
Art & Soul is doing something that most restaurants in cities twice Lincoln's size wouldn't attempt: a by-the-glass program anchored by a 1975 Austrian white and a biodynamic Joly Chenin Blanc, at prices that don't make you wince. We don't have enough intel on the food menu or service to give this the full Rager treatment, but if you're in Lincoln and you care about wine, this is the room you want to be in.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlantic City · New American / Wine Bar
The Iron Room is the kind of wine-forward bar Atlantic City doesn't know it needs — cozy, staffed by people who care, and refreshingly serious about what's in the glass. If you're in AC and want something other than $14 Pinot Grigio at a casino bar, this is your move.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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