Honest pours in a Montana music bar
Downtown · Missoula · New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 13, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Top Hat Restaurant & Bar’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Fourteen labels, all available by the glass — Top Hat keeps it simple and accessible, which fits a live music venue in downtown Missoula just fine. The list won't make a wine nerd's heart race, but the prices are genuinely fair for a bar that probably moves more whiskey than Montepulciano. It's a wine program built for the room, not for the rating.
The list hits the expected stops — California, Italy, France, Spain, with a nod to the Pacific Northwest via Acrobat Pinot Noir from Oregon and Heritage Cab from Washington. There's a bit of international range here: Lan Rioja Crianza adds some Old World structure, Bodega Benegas Juan Malbec covers Argentina, and Bieler Père & Fils Rosé flies the Provençal flag. What you won't find is anything adventurous — no natural wine, no obscure growers, no vintage variation. This is a crowd-pleaser list built for efficiency, and it does that job without embarrassing itself.
Every bottle on the list is available by the glass, which is the right call for a bar crowd that's here for the show as much as the sip. Prices run $6 to $12 a glass, which in a live music venue in 2024 is borderline generous. The range covers white, red, rosé, and bubbly — you're covered for any table.
Lan Rioja Crianza — $11/glass, $42/bottle
Tempranillo-based Rioja with real structure and age-worthy character — this isn't a throwaway red. At $11 a glass in a Montana bar, you're getting genuine Spanish winemaking for the price of a craft cocktail.
Bodega Benegas Juan Malbec
Most people at a live music bar are grabbing a Cab or a Pinot without a second thought. The Benegas Malbec from Mendoza tends to be the overlooked option on a list like this — and it's usually the most interesting red in the room.
Juggernaut Chardonnay
At $12 a glass or $45 a bottle, Juggernaut is the priciest pour on the list and one of the most ubiquitous supermarket Chardonnays in the country. You can find it at Costco for a fraction of the bottle price. The markup isn't outrageous, but the wine doesn't justify being the top of the price ladder here.
Bieler Père & Fils Rosé + Bar snacks or a pre-show charcuterie board
A Provençal rosé is light enough to carry through a whole set without weighing you down, and it plays well with anything salty or cured. It's the right call before the band starts.
The Bottom Line
Top Hat isn't a wine destination, but it's not trying to be — and for a live music bar in Missoula, the list is fairer and more considered than it needs to be. Grab the Rioja, catch the show, and don't overthink it.
Downtown · Missoula · Pizza / American
Come for the pizza, skip the wine list deep-dive — there's nothing here worth obsessing over. Order a beer or grab the Chalk Hill Chardonnay and move on.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Missoula · Steakhouse / Fine Dining
The Keep is doing something quietly right in Missoula — a 70-label list with real Old World representation, fair by-the-glass prices, and enough depth to reward the curious drinker. It's not a destination wine program, but it's a genuinely solid one, and in this market, that counts for a lot.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
South Missoula · Missoula · American / Chain
Applebee's Missoula isn't a destination for wine — it's a destination for Boneless Wings and a cold domestic beer, and there's zero shame in that. If wine is a priority, order a cocktail and save the bottle for somewhere that cares.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Missoula · Breakfast and Diner-Style American
The Shack is worth visiting for the food and the Missoula nostalgia — but the wine list is two bottles deep and priced like it knows you have no other options. Order coffee, order juice, order whatever they're putting in the Vodka Fettuccine, and save the wine drinking for somewhere that's actually trying.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Missoula · New American / Global
Red Bird is the best wine option in Missoula by a comfortable margin, and the curation is genuinely impressive for its size and location. The markups are uneven enough to require some navigation, but if you stick to the Cristom and the Italian picks, you'll drink well without feeling robbed.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Missoula · French / European
The Pearl Café is doing something genuinely unusual — running a thoughtful, fairly priced wine program in a mountain city where most restaurants would coast on a generic list and nobody would complain. Send your wine-curious friends here without apology; just steer them away from the Ste. Michelle.
Solid Range
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Irvine · New American
Benchmark is a genuinely pleasant surprise for Irvine — a short, owner-driven list that punches above its modest size by leaning hard into Paso Robles producers who actually deserve your attention. If you're a Cab-or-nothing drinker, you might feel constrained; if you're willing to follow the owner's enthusiasm toward Law Estate Grenache or a Bodega de Edgar Tempranillo, this list rewards the curious.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Toledo · New American
The Heights isn't trying to be a wine destination, and it doesn't pretend to be. What it offers is a fair, no-drama wine list with every bottle available by the glass — a practical setup for a casual New American dinner in Toledo. Stick to the Kung Fu Girl or the Petite Sirah, avoid the Cab markup, and you'll be just fine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Jose · New American
The Lexington House is doing more with its wine list than it gets credit for — that Italian section alone beats most comparable spots in the South Bay. The near-total absence of by-the-glass options is a frustrating structural gap, and the familiar crowd-pleasers in the New World section drag the overall ambition down a notch. But if you're ordering a bottle and you know to head straight for the Italian reds or the Director Picks, you'll drink well here.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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