Pretty Room, Punishing Markups
Anchorage · Louisville · American · Visit Website ↗
Updated June 2026
Reviewed March 21, 2026
Wingman Metrics
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.
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.
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.
Louisville · Louisville · American, Seafood
Swizzle is a competent, California-focused wine program in a genuinely great room — sommelier Travis Mills keeps things running right, but the list plays it safe enough that adventurous drinkers will want to stick to what they know. Send a friend here for a solid steak-and-Cab night; just don't send them expecting to discover something new.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
NuLu · Louisville · Small Plates
Nouvelle is doing something genuinely interesting in Louisville: a thoughtful, French-forward wine program in a small plates format that rewards guests who actually read the list. We'd send a friend here without hesitation — and tell them to look past the Bollinger.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Springhurst · Louisville · American, European
Cuvée Wine Table is the best wine argument Louisville's suburbs have going for them — three somms, a serious-enough list, and fair pricing in a room that punches well above its strip mall address. Send a friend here without hesitation.
Solid Range
Fair
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
Douglass Hills · Louisville · American, Contemporary, Southern-inspired
LouVino Douglass Hills is the kind of place where the wine list quietly outperforms the neighborhood's expectations — fair prices, real range, and a few genuinely smart picks hiding in plain sight. If you live nearby and haven't been treating it as your go-to wine night spot, you're leaving good bottles on the table.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
St. Matthews · Louisville · Contemporary American and Continental
211 Clover Lane isn't trying to be a wine destination, but it earns the Wild Card badge by caring more than it has to. Wednesday half-price nights alone make this worth bookmarking.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Frankfort Avenue · Louisville · Italian
Volare has the bones of a genuinely good wine program — serious Italian producers, a deep-enough list, and real by-the-glass options that reward curiosity. The markups on entry-level bottles drag it back from greatness, but if you know where to look, you can drink very well here.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Golden Triangle Area · Denton · American
Cheddar's wine program exists to check a box, not to serve you well. Order a cocktail or a beer — they've actually put thought into those — and save the wine for a restaurant that cares.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Golden Triangle Area · Denton · American
BJ's Denton is a beer hall that happens to stock wine, and the list makes that priority crystal clear. If you must drink wine here, come on a Tuesday — Half Off Wine Tuesday is the one thing this program does that actually earns a tip of the glass.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Southridge / Town Center Trail · Denton · American
Houlihan's Denton is not a wine destination, and it has no interest in being one. The one genuine reason to order wine here is Tuesday — half-price bottles all day is a deal worth setting a calendar reminder for, especially if you're grabbing the Portillo or the Bloodroot.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
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