Princeton's Best-Kept Wine Secret Above It All
Princeton · American, French · Visit Website ↗
Updated August 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 8, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Perch’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at The Perch arrives with the kind of quiet confidence you don't always expect from a spot perched above a Princeton inn. It's not trying to impress you with its length — though 200-plus bottles is nothing to dismiss — it's making a clear statement: California and France, done seriously. That focus reads as intentional, not lazy.
The list leans hard into the classics and largely delivers. On the California side, you've got Kistler Chardonnay and Silver Oak Alexander Valley Cabernet anchoring a strong lineup alongside the marquee names like Opus One and Caymus. France gets equally serious treatment — Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet and Château Margaux show up alongside Louis Jadot Burgundy, signaling that whoever built this list actually reads the back labels. There's a nod to Oregon with Domaine Drouhin Pinot Noir, which adds a welcome wrinkle without going full globe-trotter. The gaps are mostly outside those two worlds — if you're hunting for Iberian juice, natural wine, or anything from the Southern Hemisphere, look elsewhere.
Twenty to thirty-five options by the glass is a genuinely strong program — well above the industry average and a sign that The Perch wants you to actually explore rather than default to the house pour. At $12-$25 a glass, the ceiling is real money, but you're getting access to serious producers in that range. Rotation doesn't appear to be aggressive, but the depth of the selection more than compensates.
Louis Jadot Burgundy — $45-$60 (bottle)
Jadot's entry-level Burgundy punches well above its price point on this list — it's your lowest-risk route into proper French Pinot Noir without committing to a three-figure bottle. Solid producer, honest wine, reasonable ask.
Domaine Drouhin Oregon Pinot Noir
Most tables at a place like this gravitate toward the California Cabs or the French headliners. The Domaine Drouhin Oregon is the one worth flagging — Burgundian winemaking discipline applied to Willamette Valley fruit, and it tends to get overlooked precisely because it sits between the obvious choices.
Opus One
It's a trophy bottle at a trophy price, and restaurants reliably mark it up to the point where the math stops making sense. Unless someone else is signing the check, your money works harder almost anywhere else on this list.
Kistler Chardonnay + Pan-seared salmon
Kistler is rich, structured, and oak-forward without tipping into excess — exactly what you want next to a well-seared piece of salmon. The wine's texture matches the fish's weight while the acidity keeps everything from going heavy.
The Bottom Line
The Perch earned its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and the list backs it up — California and France covered with genuine depth, a serious by-the-glass program, and a setting that makes the whole thing feel like an occasion. The markups on the prestige bottles will sting, but there's enough range to drink very well without springing for the trophies.
· 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
Huntly · Huntly · American, French
Houndstooth is the kind of place you'd never stumble across, which is exactly why we're telling you about it. Drive out, let someone else drive back, and let the list do the work.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Varietal Specific
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Huntington Beach · Huntington Beach · American, French
Henry's is a reliable, well-tended California wine program with a genuine expert behind it — not flashy, but consistently good. If you're eating on PCH and want a bottle that was actually chosen with care, this is your spot.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
West Fargo · West Fargo · American, French
Maxwells is the kind of wine program that earns real respect in context — a thoughtfully stocked, sommelier-guided list in a city where 'wine program' often means a Merlot and a Pinot Grigio. If you're passing through West Fargo or lucky enough to live there, this is where you drink.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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