Spencer's Restaurant
Desert Glamour With a Serious Wine Cellar
Palm Springs · Palm Springs · American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 7, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Spencer's lands with the same energy as the room — mid-century cool, a little theatrical, clearly proud of itself. Somewhere between 350 and 500 bottles deep, it signals immediately that this isn't a list assembled by someone clicking through a distributor catalog. California and Bordeaux anchor everything, and they do it with names that command attention.
Selection Deep Dive
California is the main event here, and Spencer's doesn't phone it in — Opus One, Caymus Special Selection, Stag's Leap, Far Niente, Chateau Montelena, Silver Oak, and Jordan are all present, which reads like a greatest-hits of Napa done right. Bordeaux gets serious real estate too, with Chateau Margaux and Chateau Lynch-Bages representing the left bank at proper depth. Italy shows up with conviction: Antinori's Tignanello and Gaja Barbaresco are exactly the kind of picks that separate a thoughtful list from a safe one. If there's a gap, it's probably on the natural and emerging-region side — this list skews classic and collector-friendly, which fits the room perfectly.
By the Glass
With 20 to 30 pours by the glass, Spencer's is genuinely generous in this department for a steakhouse of its caliber — most rooms like this top out at 12 and call it a day. We don't have the full glass pour lineup, but given the bottle list's California-forward identity, expect a solid rotation of Napa Cabs and Chardonnays holding down the core slots. Whether there's active rotation or it stays locked in place year-round is unclear, but the sheer count means you're not stuck choosing between two mediocre options.
Jordan Vineyard & Winery Cabernet Sauvignon — $75
Jordan consistently overdelivers at its price point — elegant, food-friendly, and approachable without demanding you cellared it for a decade. In a list full of three-digit Napa heavyweights, this is the bottle that drinks well right now and won't wreck your dinner tab.
Antinori Tignanello
Most tables at a Palm Springs steakhouse are reaching for California Cab, which means Tignanello — one of the wines that literally invented the Super Tuscan category — sits there waiting for someone with good instincts. Sangiovese and Cabernet blended with decades of Italian winemaking credibility behind it. Order it and feel quietly superior.
Opus One
Opus One is spectacular wine, full stop — but it's also the first thing status-seekers grab off any list, and restaurants mark it up accordingly. You're paying for the label recognition as much as the wine at this point, and almost everything else in the California section will give you a more honest glass for the money.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon + Prime dry-aged ribeye
Stag's Leap built its reputation on exactly this kind of pairing — structured Napa Cab with enough dark fruit and firm tannin to stand up to serious beef, but with a silkiness that doesn't bulldoze the meat. The dry-aged ribeye at Spencer's has the fat and the funk to handle it. Classic match in a classic room.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Spencer's has held a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence since 2011, and the list earns it — deep California pedigree, credible Bordeaux, and enough Italian ambition to keep things interesting. The markup can sting and there's no sommelier to guide you through it, but if you know what you want, this is one of the better bottles-with-a-steak experiences the desert has to offer.
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