The French Laundry
The list that makes grown sommeliers cry
Yountville · Yountville · American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 5, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at The French Laundry arrives like a small book — and it should, because it essentially is one. Two to three thousand selections spanning every serious wine region on earth, curated by a team of sommeliers who clearly think about this stuff the way chefs think about mise en place. Before you've ordered a single thing, you already know this place takes wine seriously.
Selection Deep Dive
California and Burgundy anchor the list with serious depth — we're talking Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Henri Jayer, Marcassin, Aubert, and Screaming Eagle sharing real estate with Château Pétrus, Château Mouton Rothschild, and Château Margaux. The Piedmont section leans on the greats: Giacomo Conterno Barolo and Gaja Barbaresco show up, and the Champagne section pulls Krug and Salon Blanc de Blancs, which is exactly the right move. Germany gets its moment too, with Egon Müller Scharzhofberger Riesling — a wine that most restaurants don't bother stocking, and a signal that the list has genuine range beyond the obvious crowd-pleasers.
By the Glass
Twenty to forty options by the glass is genuinely impressive at this level — most restaurants in this tier make you commit to a bottle or nothing. The glass program lets you trace through the tasting menu without bankrolling an entire cellar, which is smart and guest-friendly. Expect the pours to rotate with the menu and the season; the team here isn't the type to let the BTG list go stale.
Schramsberg Blanc de Blancs NV — $125
In a list where bottles regularly crest four figures, Schramsberg at $125 is the one pick that won't make your accountant weep. It's California sparkling done right — proper method, clean bubbles, and a natural fit with the kitchen's lighter early courses. Relative to everything else on this list, it's practically a gift.
Egon MĂĽller Scharzhofberger Riesling
Most people ordering at The French Laundry are hunting for Burgundy or California cult Cabs, which means the German section gets overlooked. That's a mistake. Egon Müller's Scharzhofberger is one of the great white wines on earth — precise, long, and electric with acidity — and it's the kind of wine that makes you rethink everything you thought you knew about what goes with a tasting menu.
Opus One
Opus One is a fine wine, but it's also one of the most marked-up labels in the American restaurant industry. At The French Laundry, with a RhĂ´ne section featuring Guigal's La Landonne and a California list that goes deep on genuinely scarce bottles, spending your budget on Opus One is like ordering the house salad at a Michelin three-star. The prestige is the price tag, not the wine.
Kistler Vine Hill Chardonnay 2021 + Sweet butter-poached lobster
Butter-poached lobster needs a white wine with enough richness to keep up and enough acidity to cut through. Kistler Vine Hill delivers both — it's a full-bodied California Chardonnay with real tension underneath the weight. At $450 it's not cheap, but matched against lobster prepared with this level of care, the combination earns its keep.
🔥 The Bottom Line
The French Laundry's wine program is one of the few in America that genuinely justifies the Grand Award — 2,000-plus selections, a sommelier team that knows the list cold, and enough depth across California, Burgundy, Rhône, and beyond to reward every kind of serious drinker. The markups are steep across the board and this is never going to be the place you stumble into for a casual glass, but if you're already committing to the tasting menu, commit to the wine list too.
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