A bakery with a serious wine problem (the good kind)
Decatur · Atlanta · Bakery / Café · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 2, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Deer and The Dove Bakery (B-Side at the Bakery)’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You walk into a bakery expecting a pastry case and a latte menu. What you get instead is a 41-bottle wine list with Champagne, Jura Trousseau, Hungarian whites, and a Croatian field blend that has absolutely no business being this good. This is not a normal bakery wine list. This is a statement.
The list is organized into tight, intentional categories — Sparkling, White, Rosé/Orange, Red, and House — and every section punches above its weight class. You'll find Billecart-Salmon sitting next to a Gruet Pinot Noir sparkler, a Greek Vidiano from Douloufakis next to a Sebestyen Cserszegi Fűszeres from Hungary, and a Florian Mathieu orange wine from the Rhône that most dedicated wine bars in Atlanta don't carry. The red section leans Loire and Burgundy-adjacent — Morgon, Santenay, Jura Trousseau — with a Chilean Carignan that rounds things out without pandering. Gaps are few: if you want big Napa Cab or heavy Malbec, you're in the wrong place, and that's entirely the point.
Twenty-three by-the-glass options on a bakery menu is frankly absurd, and we mean that as a compliment. The pour list nearly mirrors the bottle list, which means you can work your way through a Pouilly Fumé, an orange wine, and a Gamay from Morgon without committing to a full bottle — perfect for a long afternoon at a café table. Glass prices run $12–$20, which is honest given what's being poured.
Anthony Thevenet Gamay 'Morgon' 2022 — $18/glass (est.)
Thevenet's Morgon is a legitimately serious Beaujolais cru — structured, dark-fruited, and built to age — and finding it by the glass at a bakery at this price range is the kind of thing that makes you want to linger for two hours. It drinks like something that should cost twice as much.
Douloufakis Vidiano 'Dafnios' 2024
Vidiano is a Cretan white grape that almost nobody outside Greece has heard of, and that's a shame. It's rich and aromatic without being heavy, with a saline, herbal character that's genuinely unlike anything else on the list. Most people will skip it because they can't pronounce it. Order it anyway.
Billecart-Salmon Champagne 'Sous Bois'
Billecart Sous Bois is a genuinely excellent Champagne, but at $195/bottle you're paying a steep restaurant premium on a wine that retails around $90–$100. It's not a rip-off per se — this is just how Champagne pricing works at restaurants — but with this many interesting bottles at lower price points, the math doesn't work in your favor here.
Loxarel Winery Cava 'Almatea Brut Nature' 2022 + Whatever pastry is fresh that morning
A Brut Nature Cava has zero dosage, meaning bone dry with bright acidity and fine bubbles — it cuts through butter and fat without overwhelming delicate flavors. It's the ideal morning or midday pour at a bakery, and at under $20/glass it's the easiest call on the menu.
The Bottom Line
B-Side at the Bakery is the best argument we've seen for what a café wine list can be when someone actually cares. If you're in Decatur, this is a mandatory stop — come for the coffee, stay for the Morgon.
· Atlanta · French
St. John's is running a lean, all-by-the-glass program that's more considered than it looks at first glance — a Vouvray, a Barolo, and an aged Languedoc Syrah on a 14-bottle list isn't an accident. The lack of bottle service is a real limitation for a French dinner, but if you're grazing through courses and glasses, the pricing stays honest. Worth a visit if you want something beyond the usual steakhouse pour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Buckhead · Atlanta · French-American
St. John has the bones of a place worth drinking well at — a thoughtful regional spread, a dining room that takes itself seriously, and a menu built for wine-friendly food. But without confirmed list details or pricing, we can't promise the experience lives up to the setup. Go for the Welsh Rarebit and the mood, and ask your server what they're excited about on the list — that answer alone will tell you what kind of night you're in for.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Southern breakfast and lunch
Bantam + Biddy is a perfectly decent brunch spot that simply has no interest in wine — and that's fine, but you should know going in. If your table is splitting Mimosas and splitting biscuits, great. If you want an actual glass of wine with your eggs, eat somewhere else.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Sandy Springs · Atlanta · Wine bar
Under Pressure is the kind of wine bar Atlanta's northern neighborhoods have genuinely needed — a spot with a real point of view, someone knowledgeable behind the program, and a concept built around guided discovery rather than generic pours. If you're anywhere near Sandy Springs and care about drinking something interesting, this is worth the trip. We'll revisit once the full list is in hand for the deep cuts.
Surprising Depth
Fair
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Atlanta · Mediterranean
Elektra's list is small and smart — a rare combination. The commitment to Greek, Lebanese, and Southern French producers gives it a personality most restaurants with three times the selection can't claim. If you're in the mood to drink something you haven't tried before without getting lectured about it, this list holds up.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Modern Latin
Botanico isn't trying to out-depth the wine bars — it's building a short, intentional list that mirrors its Modern Latin identity, and mostly it works. The by-the-glass availability is excellent, the producers are genuinely interesting, and the Vale de Bomfim and Monte Xanic chenin blanc alone are worth the detour. Markups keep this from being a steal, but if you're here for the food and want a wine that actually makes sense with it, you won't be left stranded.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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