Princeton's Serious Wine Room Finally Gets Its Due
Downtown Princeton · Princeton · New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 22, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed The Perch at Peacock Inn’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The list lands in your hands and you immediately know this isn't a hotel restaurant afterthought — it's a proper wine program that someone spent real time curating. Grand cru Burgundy, library Bordeaux, Italian icons, South African surprises, and a Liber Pater sitting at $35,000 just to remind you where you are. Wine Spectator's Award of Excellence is on the wall, and for once, it feels earned.
The depth here skews hard toward France — Burgundy and Bordeaux anchor the list with serious bottles like Domaine Laroche Les Clos Chablis Grand Cru and Château Lynch Bages 2020 — but there are genuine curveballs that keep things interesting. Italy shows up strong with Gaja Barbaresco 2012, Sassicaia 2016, and Salvioni Brunello di Montalcino 2018. The Rhône gets a nod via Alain Graillot Crozes-Hermitage and E. Guigal Saint-Joseph. What's less represented: anything natural, anything skin-contact, or anything under $60 that feels genuinely adventurous — the list plays it safe in terms of style even as it goes deep on prestige.
Glass pours run $14–$38, which is a respectable spread for a room at this price point. The program rotates around wine dinner events and regional showcases, suggesting the by-the-glass selection isn't completely static. That said, we'd love more transparency on what's actually pouring on a given Tuesday night — the list breadth implies the glass program could be doing more work.
Alain Graillot Syrah Crozes-Hermitage 2018 — $85
On a list loaded with four-figure bottles, $85 for Graillot — one of the northern Rhône's most consistent producers — is practically a handshake deal. Serious Syrah with real pedigree, and it doesn't require a second mortgage.
Oremus Mandolas Tokaji Furmint Tempos Vega Sicilia 2020
Most people at this table are ordering Burgundy or Bordeaux. The Oremus Furmint at $90 is the sleeper — a Vega Sicilia project in Hungary producing textured, minerally whites that almost nobody orders and almost everyone should. It's genuinely interesting in a room that can trend toward the predictable.
Rombauer Chardonnay 2022
At $95 a bottle, you're paying a steep premium for a wine you can find at any decent wine shop for under $30. Rombauer is a crowd-pleaser, sure, but on a list with actual grand cru Chablis and Chassagne-Montrachet, ordering this feels like going to a steakhouse and ordering chicken fingers.
Domaine de Rome Sancerre 2022 + Refined seafood entrée
At $60, the Sancerre is the smartest move on the list for The Perch's seafood-forward kitchen. Loire Sauvignon Blanc with its cut and mineral drive is exactly what you want against delicate fish preparations — it enhances without competing, and it won't bankrupt you before dessert.
The Bottom Line
The Perch is the real deal for Princeton — a hotel restaurant that genuinely cares about wine, backs it up with a sommelier, serious storage, and a list deep enough to warrant a return visit just to explore. The markups on trophy bottles are what they are, but if you shop smart — Graillot, the Sancerre, the Furmint — you can drink extremely well without the sticker shock.
· Princeton · Steakhouse
Ruth's Chris Princeton delivers a competent, corporately assembled wine program that covers the bases without taking any real swings. Markups are steep across the board — this is not the place to drop serious money on a bottle — but the all-by-the-glass format and the Trimbach and Catena Zapata picks give you room to drink well if you choose carefully. Come for the steak; drink strategically.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Palmer Square · Princeton · Italian / Pizza & Wine Bar
Teresa's has the bones of something genuinely good — a wine-bar concept in a charming Princeton setting, with an Italian-leaning list and the kind of casual-but-intentional vibe that makes you want to linger over a second glass. We'd call it a Wild Card because the setup is promising and the concept is right, but without a fully sourced list in hand, we're betting on potential as much as proof. Worth a walk-in to find out.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Wine Shop with Tastings
Princeton Corkscrew is doing something genuinely useful: shop-floor pricing on a focused, mostly Old World list that punishes nobody for wanting to drink well without a restaurant markup. The Dubreuil-Fontaine Beaune Premier Cru at $67.50 and the Tardieu-Laurent Rhône Blanc at $19 both represent the kind of value that makes a wine list worth paying attention to. If you're in Princeton and care about what's in your glass, this deserves a stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Italian / American
Metro North's wine program is honest, approachable, and priced fairly for what it is — a crowd-pleasing list that gets out of the way and lets you eat dinner. If you're looking for discovery or depth, you won't find it here, but if you want a glass of something reliable at a fair price, the Nebbiolo and the Rosso di Montalcino are quietly doing the real work on this list.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Farm-to-Table / New American
Brick Farm Tavern has no business having a wine list this interesting, and that's exactly the point. The markups are real — this isn't a value destination — but the curation earns genuine respect, especially with the local Unionville pours and the Slovenian Rebula Brut as curveballs. If you're driving out to Princeton for the farm-to-table experience anyway, the wine list is a legitimate reason not to skip it.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Princeton · Italian / Pizza
LaScala's Fire Princeton offers a functional, crowd-friendly wine list that does the job without making any bold moves. The by-the-glass selection is genuinely broad and pricing stays reasonable at the lower end, but markups on recognizable names like Kim Crawford and Veuve Clicquot are steep enough to notice. Send a friend here for a casual pizza night — just point them toward the Vermentino or the Prosecco and away from the big-name bottles.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Columbia · New American
Motor Supply Co. Bistro appears to put its energy into the kitchen, and that may be the right call — but three wines is not a wine program. Until this list gets a serious rethink, order a cocktail or call ahead to ask about corkage.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · New American
THREE isn't trying to be a wine destination, and the list makes that abundantly clear. If you're here for cocktails or the bar scene, you're probably in the right place — but if wine matters to you even a little, this four-item lineup isn't going to do much for you. Order the House Champagne at $5, accept the situation for what it is, and move on.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Sandy Springs · Sandy Springs · New American
Brooklyn Cafe's wine list is doing more than it has to for a Sandy Springs neighborhood restaurant — the white selections alone, from Rudi Pichler to Merry Edwards, show real editorial intent. Pricing transparency is a question mark without confirmed figures, and the glass program is a mystery we couldn't resolve. Worth a visit if you're eating in the area; just go in ready to ask questions.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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