Lafayette's Sneaky Good Wine Situation
· Lafayette · Gulf Coast New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed October 25, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Spoonbill Watering Hole & Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Fifteen labels isn't a lot to work with, but Spoonbill earns points immediately for not leaning on the usual suspects. A pet nat, a Gamay from Beaujolais, and a skin-contact orange wine on the same list as a Gulf Coast watering hole? That's a menu that has opinions. We're already interested.
The list skews French and West Coast with enough curve balls to keep things honest. You've got two Côte de Brouilly options — Les Cardinaux and Mommessin's Les Grande Mises — which is a bold double-down on a region most Louisiana restaurants couldn't place on a map. Illahe Estate Pinot Noir from the Willamette Valley and the Fernand & Fils Sauvignon Blanc round out the more recognizable picks. The real wildcard is the Gonc Winery Grape Abduction, a skin-contact blend of Pinot Blanc, Chardonnay, and Riesling that has absolutely no business being this easy to order at a restaurant called a watering hole.
Fourteen of fifteen bottles are available by the glass, which is practically unheard of and genuinely useful. The glass price range runs $8 to $14, with the entry-level house pours sitting at $9 and the named producers topping out at $14. No listed rotation or special program, so what you see is what you get — but what you get is more interesting than most.
The Bottom Line
Spoonbill shouldn't have a list this considered, and that's the best thing we can say about it. For a small wine program in Lafayette, the presence of Beaujolais Cru, a pet nat, and an orange wine signals real curation — not just a distributor's default order. Glass prices are honest, the bottle markups don't gouge, and you're almost certain to find something worth drinking. If you're eating here, skip the default Cabernet and explore the French side of the list.
15 wines captured from the source list, including wines not yet matched to our catalog. Availability, vintages, and prices can change. View source wine list.
Fernand & Fils 12/45 sauvignon blanc – fernand & fils, loire, france
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$12.00 / glass · $45.00 / bottle
Twenty Rows Reserve 14/60 cabernet sauvignon – twenty rows, napa, ca
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$14.00 / glass · $60.00 / bottle
Illahe Estate 14/60 pinot noir – illahe, willamette valley, or
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$14.00 / glass · $60.00 / bottle
Les Cardinaux Côte de Brouilly 14/60 gamay – beaujolais, france
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$14.00 / glass · $60.00 / bottle
Antonin Rodet 12/45 chardonnay – bourgogne, burgundy, france
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$12.00 / glass · $45.00 / bottle
Côte de Brouilly Les Grande Mises 12/50 gamay – mommessin, beaujolais, france
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$12.00 / glass · $50.00 / bottle
Petulante Pet Nat 13/55 malvasia – vinos de la tierra, spain
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$13.00 / glass · $55.00 / bottle
Arte Latino 8/30 cava – jaume serra, penedès, spain
Wine BY THE GLASS / BOTTLE
$8.00 / glass · $30.00 / bottle
Rosé 9
House Wine
$9.00 / glass
Pinot Grigio 9
House Wine
$9.00 / glass
Chardonnay 9
House Wine
$9.00 / glass
Albarino 9
House Wine
$9.00 / glass
Pinot Noir 11
House Wine
$11.00 / glass
Cabernet Sauvignon 11
House Wine
$11.00 / glass
Gonc Winery "Grape Abduction" Skin contact Pinot blanc, Chard, Riesling. All organic/natural Orange beauty in a 1L bottle.
Kaliste Saloom · Lafayette · American, Seafood, Mediterranean
Mazen Grill is the kind of place you can trust to have a drinkable bottle for a special occasion without having to coach your dining companions through anything unfamiliar. The markups sting a little and the list plays it safe, but the range is real and the execution is solid enough to keep us coming back.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
River Ranch / Camellia Blvd · Lafayette · Seafood / Southern
Half Shell Lafayette isn't where you go to geek out on wine — it's where you go to eat great oysters with something cold and decent in your glass. For that, the list does exactly what it needs to do, and the pricing is fair enough that we're not holding a grudge.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown / Jefferson St · Lafayette · New Orleans-inspired Southern American, cocktail lounge and jazz club
Whiskey & Vine is a genuinely great place to spend an evening — the vibe, the jazz, and the cocktails are all doing their jobs. But the wine list is riding those coattails hard, charging gouge-level markups on unremarkable bottles while a sommelier watches from the sideline. Order the cocktails, grab a $5 pour at happy hour, and save your wine ambitions for somewhere that respects them.
Solid Range
Gouge
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Ambassador Caffery · Lafayette · Seafood
Bonefish Grill Lafayette isn't a wine destination, but it's not an embarrassment either — it's a reliable corporate list that plays defense, not offense. Order the Riesling, enjoy your fish, and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
River Ranch · Lafayette · Italian / Wine Bar
Romacelli is a perfectly enjoyable neighborhood wine bar that punches above its weight on Wednesday nights and below it the rest of the week. Come for the food and the atmosphere — just make sure you're there on a Wednesday if wine is the point.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
· Lafayette · Cajun and Creole
Bon Temps Grill earns its Lazy List badge not through bad intentions but through sheer indifference to wine. The Tuesday half-price bottle deal and happy hour specials show the kitchen knows how to run promotions — they just haven't applied that energy to building an actual wine program. Come for the Cajun cooking and a cold cocktail; save the wine conversation for somewhere else.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Active Program
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
List Variety
Markup
Glassware
Staff
Specials & Deals
Storage & Temp
