The Fortunate Glass
Wilmington's Best Wine Secret, Finally Confirmed
Downtown Wilmington · Wilmington · American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 9, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at The Fortunate Glass hits differently than you'd expect from a coastal North Carolina dining room — 200-plus bottles anchored by California, France, and Italy, with names that make you do a double-take. This is a serious list in a town that mostly serves you oaky Chardonnay and calls it a day. Wine Spectator has been handing them a Best of Award of Excellence since 2022, and flipping through this list, it's not hard to see why.
Selection Deep Dive
California dominates the spine of this list with heavy hitters like Caymus, Jordan, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Kistler, and Duckhorn doing the work — recognizable names that give the crowd what it wants, but executed with genuine depth rather than lazy default picks. France shows up with Louis Jadot Burgundy and Chateau Margaux anchoring the prestige tier, while Italy brings Antinori Tignanello and Gaja Barbaresco, two bottles that signal someone in this building actually cares. The big gap is beyond those three regions — if you're hunting for Iberian wines, German Rieslings, or anything from the Southern Hemisphere, you're largely out of luck. Still, 200-plus bottles with this caliber of producer is a real accomplishment for a restaurant of this size in this market.
By the Glass
Twenty to thirty-five glass pours is an impressive spread — most places at this tier offer you eight options and consider themselves generous. We don't have the full by-the-glass rundown, but a list this size almost certainly rotates some of those California and French names through the program. If Kistler Chardonnay or Duckhorn Merlot are available by the glass on any given night, you order them without hesitation.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon — $65
Jordan is a reliable, beautifully structured Sonoma Cab that shows up on lists everywhere — but it earns its spot every time. At the lower end of the bottle range here, it's the wine that delivers for a group who wants something genuinely impressive without committing to the Opus One budget.
Gaja Barbaresco
Most tables at a place like this gravitate toward the familiar California reds and never look east. That's a mistake. Gaja's Barbaresco is one of the benchmark expressions of Nebbiolo on the planet — complex, brooding, and built to age. If it's on the list here, it deserves your attention before someone else figures it out.
Opus One
Opus One is a genuinely impressive wine, but it also carries one of the most inflated restaurant markups in the business. You're paying for the name as much as the bottle, and in a restaurant context that premium gets stacked on an already steep retail price. The Jordan or Stag's Leap will make you just as happy for a fraction of the damage.
Antinori Tignanello + Pan-roasted duck breast
Tignanello's Sangiovese-Cabernet blend brings enough savory depth and dark fruit to stand up to duck's richness without overwhelming it — the wine's structure cuts through the fat while the fruit plays nicely against the caramelized skin. It's the kind of pairing that makes a Tuesday feel like a special occasion.
🔥 The Bottom Line
The Fortunate Glass is punching well above its coastal-Carolina weight class — a deep, producer-driven list that earns its Wine Spectator hardware without apology. Markups run steep, but if you navigate carefully, there's a genuinely rewarding wine experience waiting on South Front Street.
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