Fort Collins' Best Cheese Date Hiding in Plain Sight
Old Town · Fort Collins · Cheese-focused bistro, wine bar, and small plates
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 1, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Welsh Rabbit Cheese Bistro’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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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.
Old Town · Fort Collins · Vegetarian / Plant-Based American
Tasty Harmony is not a wine bar, and it doesn't try to be — but it charges fair prices, pours across the whole list by the glass, and assembles a short list that actually makes sense with plant-based food. If you're eating here, drink the wine; you won't regret it.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Old Town · Fort Collins · Tex-Mex / Mexican
Rio Grande isn't a wine destination, and it knows it — but Wine Down Wednesdays with 50% off bottles is a legitimately good deal that earns it a second look. Bring your margarita crew, order the Malbec with your burrito, and call it a win.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
Fort Collins · Fort Collins · Steakhouse
The Still is a genuinely fun spot for whiskey and red meat, but the wine list is a clear afterthought — overpriced grocery store bottles with no story to tell. Order a pour from their whiskey program and save the wine night for somewhere that cares.
Grocery Store
Gouge
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Fort Collins · Fort Collins · French-influenced bistro; seafood-focused
Bistro Nautile is a genuinely appealing restaurant let down by a wine list that plays it safe with familiar labels and then charges aggressively for the privilege. Drink by the glass, stick to the interesting outliers, and don't let the French bistro atmosphere talk you into a $68 bottle of Daou.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
Fort Collins · Fort Collins · Southwestern
Coyote's isn't a wine destination, and it doesn't pretend to be — but the pricing is fair, the Wednesday deal is genuinely excellent, and there's nothing actively wrong here. Show up on a Wednesday, order a bottle of Pinot Grigio for $19.50, and focus on the burrito.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Fort Collins · Fort Collins · Casual Seafood Chain
Red Lobster isn't trying to be a wine destination and the list makes that abundantly clear — grab the Riesling, enjoy the biscuits, and don't come here expecting anything beyond the expected. If wine matters to your dinner, eat somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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