Great Beer List, Wine Forgot to Show Up
· Fort Wayne · New American / Taco Gastropub · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 18, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Hoppy Gnome’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The Hoppy Gnome is clearly a beer bar that got talked into stocking wine at the last minute. The wine list is ten deep — all of it, bottles and glasses combined — and the producers on hand are the kind you recognize from the supermarket endcap, not a wine shop.
Ten labels total, and the list reads like someone ordered whatever was available on a Tuesday from a regional distributor. CK Mondavi anchors the whites and the cab, Silverlake handles the Moscato and Pinot Noir, and St. James fills the sweet red slot. There's no old-world presence, no regional curiosity, no effort to reflect the gastropub's food ambitions. Half the list is sangria, which tells you exactly where the priorities are.
Everything on the list is available by the glass, which sounds generous until you realize there are only ten options total. Prices land between $7.50 and $9, which is fair for what you're getting — just don't expect to be surprised. The Belposto Prosecco at $7.50 is the lone bright spot in a field of mass-market pours.
Belposto Prosecco — $7.50/glass
At $7.50 a glass, it's the most food-friendly option on the list and an honest pour for the price. If you're eating tacos and need something bubbly and refreshing, this is your move.
St James Sweet Red Blend
Missouri's St. James Winery is a legitimate American regional producer with a cult following in the Midwest. It's easy to overlook next to the Mondavi bottles, but it's the only wine on the list with any actual character or sense of place.
CK Mondavi Chardonnay
At $32 a bottle, it's the priciest thing on the list — and it's CK Mondavi Chardonnay. You can buy this at the grocery store for under ten bucks. The markup isn't outrageous by restaurant standards, but you're paying restaurant prices for a wine that has no business being anyone's splurge.
Sangria Traditional + Tacos
We don't have a specific taco on the menu to call out, but at a taco gastropub, a house sangria at $8 is doing the work it was built to do. It's cold, it's fruity, it won't fight the spice, and nobody's going to overthink it.
The Bottom Line
The Hoppy Gnome is a beer bar, and you should drink the beer. If someone at the table insists on wine, the Prosecco or the sangria will get you through the night — just don't expect anything more than that.
· Fort Wayne · Italian
Biaggi's Fort Wayne is a safe harbor for anyone who wants a glass of California Cab with their chicken parmesan and doesn't want any surprises. If you dig past the obvious picks, there's a short but legitimate Italian selection worth your attention — but the list as a whole isn't why you're coming here.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Fort Wayne · Irish Pub
J.K. O'Donnell's is a beer bar first and a wine list second, but the pricing is so reasonable and the selection so inoffensive that ordering a bottle doesn't feel like a mistake. Come for the pint, stay for the surprisingly affordable Malbec.
Crowd Pleasers
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Fort Wayne · Modern American
Charlie's Place is doing something genuinely uncommon: running a smart, adventurous wine program in a mid-sized Midwest city without hedging everything toward crowd-pleasing safety. We'd send a friend here specifically for wine, which is not something we say often about Fort Wayne.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Fort Wayne · New American
Copper Spoon proves you don't need a 200-bottle binder to run a thoughtful wine program — you just need to care about what you put on the list. For Fort Wayne, this is genuinely one of the better places to order a bottle without second-guessing yourself.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Fort Wayne · Steakhouse / Supper Club
Club Soda is a reliable steakhouse wine list that knows its audience: Cab-drinking Fort Wayne locals who want the Caymus and don't need to think too hard. If you dig a little deeper, the Châteauneuf and the Amarone reward the curious — but nobody's coming here for the wine program alone.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Fort Wayne · Latin / New American
Proximo isn't trying to be a wine destination, but the list is priced fairly, the picks are coherent, and the Torrontés alone is worth a detour. Send a friend here with confidence — just steer them away from the Black Stallion.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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