Fort Collins' Best Cheese Date Hiding in Plain Sight
Old Town · Fort Collins · Cheese-focused bistro, wine bar, and small plates
Reviewed July 1, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Walking into The Welsh Rabbit feels like stumbling into a Francophile's dream basement — cozy, slightly dim, and immediately making you want to sit down and not leave for two hours. The wine list is compact but clearly curated with intention, not just padded out with crowd-pleasing grocery store staples. At $13–$57 a bottle, you're not going to flinch when you order.
The list clocks in at 30–50 labels across France, Italy, Spain, Argentina, California, and Oregon — lean by some standards, but every slot feels earned. France anchors the serious end of the list, with the Touraine Sauvignon Blanc doing exactly what Loire whites are supposed to do: cut through fat and make cheese taste better. Argentina and Spain fill out the mid-range with enough personality to keep things interesting. The gaps are real — no deep Burgundy rabbit hole, no weird skin-contact tangent — but this isn't that place, and it doesn't pretend to be.
Twelve pours by the glass is genuinely solid for a spot this size, ranging from $6 to $14, which means you can work through multiple options without doing math you'll regret. The range spans the major list regions, so you're not stuck choosing between two anonymous Chardonnays. We'd love to see more rotation to keep regulars on their toes, but the current lineup holds up.
Touraine Sauvignon Blanc — $13 (bottle entry point)
Loire Sauvignon Blanc at Welsh Rabbit bottle pricing is a genuine steal — this wine was practically designed to sit next to a board of aged goat cheese, and you're getting it without a downtown markup that makes you wince.
Talinay Syrah
Most people at a cheese bistro default to something white or light red, so this Chilean Syrah gets overlooked. That's a mistake — a cool-climate Syrah has the structure and savory edge to handle aged hard cheeses and charcuterie in a way that a safe Pinot Noir simply won't.
California by-the-glass options
Without specific producers named, the California pours at most spots in this format tend to be the most generic and least interesting bottles on the list — and rarely the best value per ounce. At Welsh Rabbit, your glass pour money is better spent going French or exploring the Syrah.
Touraine Sauvignon Blanc + Artisan Cheese Board
Loire Sauvignon Blanc and a cheese board built around fresh and aged chèvre is one of the most honest pairings in wine — the wine's citrus and grassiness mirrors the tang of the cheese while the acidity cuts the fat cleanly. This is the move at Welsh Rabbit, full stop.
🎲 The Bottom Line
The Welsh Rabbit is exactly the kind of small, thoughtful wine program that Fort Collins should be proud of — it's not trying to be a 500-label wine bar, and it's better for it. Send your friends here for a bottle of Touraine and a cheese board, and they'll owe you one.
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Grocery Store
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Crowd Pleasers
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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
Steep
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Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
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Occasional
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.