Stirrups

You don't expect to find a 350-500 bottle list anchored by Gaja and Opus One at a steakhouse attached to a horse arena in central Florida, and yet here we are. The Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence since 2023 isn't honorary — this list has real bones. Sit down, order something good, and let the Grand Arena view do the rest.

The list leans hard into California and France, which is exactly what a prime steakhouse crowd wants, but Stirrups executes it at a higher level than most. You've got Stag's Leap, Jordan, Silver Oak, and Caymus covering the Napa Cab bases, while the Burgundy section pulls in Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin's Chambolle-Musigny for anyone who wants to go old-world. Italy shows up meaningfully with Gaja Barbaresco and Antinori Tignanello — not just token bottles tossed in to say they tried. The gaps are real: no serious Rhône presence, light on Spain, and the Southern Hemisphere is largely absent — but for the restaurant's identity as an upscale American steakhouse, the focus feels intentional rather than lazy.

With 20-35 pours available at $12-$20, the by-the-glass program is one of the strongest in Ocala — which, granted, isn't a high bar, but the range here would hold up anywhere. You can actually work through different styles rather than defaulting to whatever Cabernet they pre-opened. We'd like to see more rotation, but what's on offer is well-selected.