Five Champagnes, Zero Excuses, All Price
Midtown West · New York · Russian-American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 8, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed The Russian Tea Room’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at The Russian Tea Room is exactly five bottles long — all Champagne, all famous labels, all priced for people who don't check the tab. This isn't a wine program; it's a flex menu for the expense account crowd.
Five Champagnes: Ruinart Blanc de Blancs, Veuve Clicquot, Dom Pérignon 2015, Krug Grand Cuvée 168th Edition, and Louis Roederer Cristal 2012. That's it. No reds, no whites, no rosé, no half-bottles, no regional curiosity — nothing. The range runs $325 to $1,275, which means every bottle is already a commitment, and the markups on recognizable names like Dom and Cristal are doing exactly what you'd expect in a room like this. To their credit, the Champagnes themselves are legitimate — Krug and Cristal are genuinely great wines — but calling this a wine list is charitable.
No by-the-glass information is available from the restaurant's own materials, which tells you everything. If you want a glass of wine here, you're likely looking at a full bottle commitment or whatever the server decides to offer.
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs Brut — $325
It's the entry point on the list and the most honest pour here — Ruinart's Blanc de Blancs is genuinely elegant, all Chardonnay, and at least you're getting quality for what remains an eye-watering price. By local comparable markups, this is still steep, but it's the least painful option on the card.
Louis Roederer Cristal 2012
Not hidden in the traditional sense — Cristal is one of the most famous Champagnes in the world — but the 2012 vintage is legitimately excellent and is hitting a beautiful drinking window right now. If you're going to spend the money anywhere on this list, the vintage specificity here at least gives you something worth talking about.
Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin Brut
Veuve Yellow Label is a $50–60 retail bottle being sold in a context where the markup is unjustifiable and the wine itself is the least interesting thing on the list. You can drink this at the airport. Don't order it here.
Krug Grand Cuvée 168th Edition + Beluga caviar service
If you're sitting in the Russian Tea Room spending four figures on a bottle, at least commit to the bit. Krug's oxidative, toasty complexity is one of the few wines that doesn't get steamrolled by the salt and fat of caviar — it meets it head-on. This is the one pairing on the list that actually makes sense.
The Bottom Line
The Russian Tea Room treats wine as an afterthought dressed up in Champagne flutes — five famous labels at punishing prices with no range, no by-the-glass program, and no apparent curiosity about wine beyond what looks impressive on a table. Go for the spectacle, order the caviar, but don't come here expecting a wine list.
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La Grande Boucherie earns its place as a reliable stop for wine in Midtown, especially if you're leaning French. The glass list is genuinely wide and has some smart picks buried in it — the Fleurie and the Wiemer Riesling both punch above their price points. Markups trend steep as you climb the bottle list, so your money works hardest in the by-the-glass section. If you're here for the brasserie experience, the wine program holds up its end of the deal.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Steakhouse
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Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
The Palm Midtown is not where you'd expect to find Puzelat and Ruth Lewandowski sitting next to each other on a wine list — which is exactly what makes it worth a second look. Six bottles is a short menu, but all six are defensible picks at prices that don't insult you. If you're in the mood to trust the list and not overthink it, this works.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Murray Hill · New York · Classic American Steakhouse
Wolfgang's is a reliable steakhouse wine experience in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting: a list built around the bottle you already know, priced for the room you're sitting in. If you're here to close a deal over a Porterhouse for Two, the wine list will do its job without embarrassing anyone — but it's not going to surprise you, and it's almost certainly going to cost more than it should. Go in with eyes open and a strong second-choice red in mind.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Zaytinya's wine list is a rare thing in New York: a focused, regionally coherent program that commits hard to Greek and Eastern Mediterranean varieties without making you feel like you need a flashcard to order. The by-the-glass selection alone — 18 options, all under $18, featuring producers most wine lists wouldn't touch — makes this worth visiting even before the food arrives. If you eat here and order a Cabernet, that's on you.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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