Solid Napa lineup hiding in bourbon country
Downtown / Spalding Hall · Bardstown · Steakhouse / American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 26, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Rickhouse Restaurant & Lounge’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You're sitting in the candlelit basement of a 19th-century seminary, surrounded by bourbon pilgrims, and the wine list lands on the table with 43 labels and a heavy California lean. It's a steakhouse list that knows what it is — built to sell Cabs to people who just finished a distillery tour. Nothing wrong with that, but don't show up hoping for surprises.
California dominates from top to bottom: Silver Oak, Cakebread, Mt. Brave, Brewer-Clifton, Hartford Court, Stonestreet, Darioush — it's a greatest-hits tour of Napa and Sonoma with a few Oregon and European bottles in supporting roles. The range skews toward recognizable, prestige-adjacent names rather than interesting producers, which means the list is safe, functional, and priced accordingly. There are some genuinely good bottles here — the Brewer-Clifton Pinot and the Hartford Court 'Land's Edge' are real wines — but the list isn't trying to teach you anything new. Italy and France show up, but just enough to say they did.
Twenty-six by-the-glass options is a legitimately impressive number for a restaurant this size in Bardstown, Kentucky. The pours span sparkling to red and land between $9 and $15 a glass, which is approachable for what's on offer. The Pessimist Red Blend from Paso Robles shows up at $12 a glass and is one of the more interesting options if you're not committed to a full bottle.
Pessimist Red Blend, Paso Robles — $45/bottle
This Rhône-inspired Paso blend punches well above its price point and holds up against red meat without requiring you to drop triple digits. At $45 a bottle or $12 a glass, it's the most honest deal on the list.
Brewer-Clifton Pinot Noir Santa Rita Hills
A room full of Cab drinkers means this bottle gets overlooked, which is your gain. Brewer-Clifton is a serious Santa Rita Hills producer making structured, site-driven Pinot that has no business being this quiet on a steakhouse list.
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon Napa Valley
At $270 a bottle, you're paying a significant premium for a wine that retails around $80–$90. Silver Oak is a crowd-pleaser, not a collector's bottle, and this markup is hard to justify when better-value Cabs sit right next to it on the same list.
Klinker Brick Zinfandel 'Old Ghost Old Vine', Lodi + Hand-cut steak
Old-vine Zin from Lodi has the fruit weight, spice, and structure to stand up to a properly seared steak without the triple-digit price tag of the Napa Cabs. It's the move most people at this table won't make, and they'll be slightly jealous when they see your glass.
✔️ The Bottom Line
The Rickhouse is a perfectly competent steakhouse wine list doing exactly what a steakhouse wine list in bourbon country is supposed to do — familiar names, heavy pours, and enough bottles to keep the table happy. Just go in knowing you're paying for the atmosphere and the ambiance of that historic cellar as much as what's in the glass.
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Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
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Acceptable
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Crowd Pleasers
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Crowd Pleasers
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Basic Stemmed
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Crowd Pleasers
Steep
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Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
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Set & Forget
Proper
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