TJ's Highland Steakhouse

You don't expect a 300-500 bottle wine list in Oshkosh, Wisconsin — and yet here we are. TJ's Highland Steakhouse walks in with a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and a list that would hold its own in any major city steakhouse. The Highland theme is cozy and approachable, but the wine program means serious business.

The list leans heavily into the California-Burgundy-Bordeaux trifecta, which is exactly what a steakhouse should do — and TJ's does it well. You'll find names like Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Far Niente, Jordan, and Silver Oak anchoring the California side, while Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin's Chambolle-Musigny hold down the French flank with real credibility. Bordeaux gets a proper nod with Chateau Lynch-Bages, a fifth-growth Pauillac that earns its place next to a dry-aged strip. The breadth here — 300 to 500 selections — is genuinely impressive for a restaurant in a mid-sized Wisconsin city, and sommelier Meena Al-Ghetta's fingerprints are visible throughout.

Twenty to thirty-five options by the glass is a generous pour program, and at $12-$22, the pricing doesn't feel punishing at the glass level even if bottles run steep. We'd expect the Caymus Cab to be a fixture on the BTG list — it always is — but we'd push staff to tell you what else is open and worth exploring. Ask Meena or whoever's working the floor; this is a team that talks wine.