Solid Napa lineup hiding in bourbon country
Downtown / Spalding Hall · Bardstown · Steakhouse / American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 26, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed The Rickhouse Restaurant & Lounge’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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.
· Bardstown · Gourmet Small Plates
The Bar at Willett earns its Wild Card badge because nobody walks into a Kentucky distillery expecting a Loire-focused wine list over gourmet small plates — and the fact that it might exist here is worth investigating in person. We don't have enough sourced detail to tell you exactly what to order, but if you find yourself at Willett and the bourbon's already flowing, ask about the wine. You might be pleasantly surprised, and that's worth something.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Bardstown · Sports bar
If you're in Bardstown and craving wings, Buffalo Wild Wings will do the job. If you're planning to drink wine with those wings, our advice is simple: don't. The beer list is longer, the staff knows it better, and your money goes further. Come for the sports, stay for the lager.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Heaven Hill · Bardstown · Lounge
If you're at Bardstown Bourbon Company, drink bourbon — the wine list here is not the reason you came and it won't give you a reason to revisit. The pricing is fair and the pours are inoffensive, but this is a lounge that's made its priorities abundantly clear.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Beam Distillery Area · Bardstown · Contemporary Southern / Bourbon-Inspired American
The Kitchen Table is first and foremost a bourbon experience, and the wine list knows its place in that pecking order. If you're on the Bourbon Trail with a wine lover in tow, this is a perfectly acceptable landing spot — just temper expectations, lean toward the Pinot, and let them order the whiskey flights.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Bardstown / Parkway Drive · Bardstown · New American / Distillery Restaurant
The wine list at BBC Kitchen & Bar does exactly enough to keep non-bourbon drinkers comfortable, and not much else. Send your wine-curious friends here for the experience, but tell them to start with the bourbon.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Casper · Steakhouse / American
Texas Roadhouse is not here to compete on wine, and the six-bottle list makes that abundantly clear. If you're sitting down for a ribeye in Casper, order a beer or a cocktail and skip the wine entirely — this list exists to check a box, not to enhance your meal.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· La Crosse · Steakhouse / American
Freight House is a dependable steakhouse wine list — fair prices, familiar names, no nasty surprises. If you're looking for discovery, look elsewhere; if you're looking for a solid bottle to go with a good cut of meat in La Crosse, you'll leave satisfied.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Casper · Steakhouse / American
Wyoming's Rib & Chop House isn't trying to win any wine awards, and it doesn't need to — the list does exactly what it's supposed to do for a steakhouse in Casper. Grab the Gascon, order your cut medium-rare, and don't overthink it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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