The Village Anchor
Pretty Room, Punishing Markups
Anchorage · Louisville · American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed March 21, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The room is genuinely lovely — stone walls, dark wood, red leather, the kind of place that makes you want to order a nice bottle. Then the wine list arrives and that mood evaporates fast. What you're looking at is a greatest-hits parade of grocery store recognizables dressed up in upscale-casual pricing.
Selection Deep Dive
The list reads like someone grabbed the top sellers off a Wine.com homepage and called it a program. You've got Whitehaven Sauv Blanc, La Crema Pinot Noir, Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay, Josh Cellars Cab — reliable crowd pleasers, sure, but there's no regional depth, no interesting producers, and nothing that would give a curious drinker a reason to explore. The Spanish section is a single Campo Viejo Tempranillo, which is a $12 supermarket bottle. There's no old-world focus, no local curiosity, no natural wine, no surprises anywhere on this list.
By the Glass
We don't have confirmed by-the-glass specifics, but given the bottle list is built almost entirely from mass-market brands, expect the pours to match. If the BTG options mirror the bottle program, you're looking at the same familiar faces — La Marca Prosecco, Josh Cab, Whitehaven — at prices that don't do you any favors.
Sonoma Cutrer Chardonnay — $50
At 67% over retail it's the least offensive markup on the list — still steep, but if you're going to drink here, this is the closest thing to fair value they offer. It's a known, reliable wine that actually justifies some of its price tag.
Mer Soleil Silver Unoaked Chardonnay
Most people skip past unoaked Chardonnay without a second look, but this one is clean, bright, and genuinely food-friendly. At 72% markup it's among the better deals on the list, and it won't fight with anything on the plate.
Campo Viejo Tempranillo
This is a $12 bottle of supermarket Tempranillo that The Village Anchor is selling for $40 — a 233% markup. That's not a wine program decision, that's just taking advantage of guests who aren't paying attention. Hard pass.
La Crema Pinot Noir + Hotter Brown
The pulled roasted chicken with cheddar-Parmesan Mornay sauce needs something with enough fruit to cut through the richness without overwhelming the dish. La Crema Pinot is soft, approachable, and plays well with cream-based sauces — it's the one pairing on this list that actually makes sense.
Wednesday — Half-price bottles of wine all night — the only time this list becomes genuinely worth ordering from.
❌ The Bottom Line
Wednesday's half-price wine night is the only reason to think about wine here — at full price, these markups are hard to defend on a list that's all familiar labels and zero ambition. Come for the room and the Hotter Brown; order a cocktail unless it's Wednesday.
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