The Barrel Room on Canal

The wine list at The Barrel Room on Canal is short, sweet, and priced like a neighborhood spot that actually wants you to order a second bottle. Fifteen labels at prices that top out at $33 a bottle — in a world of $80 Cabs at middling Italian joints, that's a breath of fresh air. Don't come here expecting a cellar full of surprises, but do come thirsty.

The list reads like a greatest-hits album: Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, Rosé, Merlot, Cab, Pinot Noir — all the crowd-pleasers, all at $20 a bottle. Step up from that base tier and you get a handful of named producers: Clos Du Bois Sauvignon Blanc, Santa Julia Malbec, and Drumheller Cabernet Sauvignon round out the higher end. There's a sweet wine contingent — Ruby Donna Moscato, Peter Mertes Sweet Red Dornfelder, Innocent Bystander Pink Moscato — that signals this room skews accessible and unpretentious. Old World depth and natural wine curiosities are nowhere to be found, but that's clearly not what The Barrel Room is going for.

Every bottle on the list is also available by the glass, with pours starting at $6 for the Quadrum Red Blend — an honest price for a house pour situation. The $6–$9 glass range means you can taste around the list without doing math all night. The selection by the glass is the same fifteen options as the bottle list, so there's no secret back-of-book program here; what you see is what you get.