Big-League Cellar in a River Town
Downtown Hood River · Hood River · Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 27, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Votum Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You open the wine list at a seafood spot in Hood River expecting a handful of Willamette Pinots and a token Chablis. What you get instead is a 280-label document that includes a 1971 Maison Leroy and a 1987 La Tâche. It's a genuine gut-check moment — this list did not come from a casual effort.
Burgundy is clearly where the heart is: Domaine G Roumier Clos-Vougeot 1990, Méo-Camuzet Clos de Vougeot 2022, and Maison Leroy Nuits-St-Georges Les Boudots 1971 give the list real vertical depth and collector credibility. Bordeaux holds its own with Mouton Rothschild 1982 and Lynch Bages 2010, while the Champagne section punches hard with Krug Grand Cuvée, Dom Pérignon 1982, and Pierre Gimonnet Special Club 2015. The local angle isn't forgotten — Cristom and Bergström represent Oregon well — and Auguste Clape Cornas 2022 shows someone here actually loves the Northern Rhône. The gap is Italy and Spain, which feel like afterthoughts on an otherwise obsessive list.
Nineteen pours by the glass is a serious commitment for a restaurant this size, ranging from $17 to $35. The Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco by the glass at $33 is a genuine flex — that's a wine most restaurants don't even carry by the bottle. The range appears to span sparkling through reds, though the full rotation isn't publicly documented; a sommelier conversation at the table is worth having.
Cristom Mt. Jefferson Cuvée Willamette Valley Pinot Noir 2023 — $75
On a list where bottles regularly break $200, $75 for Cristom's Mt. Jefferson Cuvée — one of the most consistent expressions of Willamette Pinot made — is the move for anyone who wants a great local bottle without a mortgage payment.
Auguste Clape Cornas 2022
Most tables at a seafood restaurant will default to white or light Pinot. The Clape Cornas is for the person who knows that a young, granite-driven Syrah from the Northern Rhône can absolutely handle a meaty fish preparation — and who wants to drink one of the benchmark producers in the appellation while they do it.
Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet 2020
Leflaive is unimpeachable, but at $590 a bottle the markup lands in uncomfortable territory for a village-level Puligny. The wine is great; the price-to-retail spread almost certainly is not. Unless someone else is paying, this is where the list tips from ambitious into expensive.
Didier Dagueneau Buisson Renard 2018 + Fresh Pacific oysters
Dagueneau's Buisson Renard is pure Loire Sauvignon Blanc at its most mineral and electric — saline, taut, and cut with citrus. Against fresh Pacific oysters, that combination of ocean salinity and bright acidity doesn't just work, it's almost too obvious. In the best possible way.
The Bottom Line
Votum is operating a world-class wine program in a town most people only stop through on the way to a hike — the depth of this cellar belongs in a major city restaurant, and the sommelier presence means you're not navigating it alone. The markups on the prestige bottles will sting, but find your entry point and this list rewards serious attention.
· Hood River · Winery and Farm Cafe
The Gorge White House isn't trying to compete with a big city wine bar — it's a farm property pouring its own wines at prices that feel almost apologetically fair. If you're driving through Hood River and want a cold glass of something local without being gouged, this is an easy yes. Just don't arrive expecting deep-cellar surprises.
Small but Thoughtful
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· Hood River · Hotel restaurant
Hood River Inn's wine list is a catering checklist dressed up as a restaurant program. With no producers named, no bottles available, and a selection that ignores the incredible wine region right outside the door, there's no reason to drink wine here specifically. If you're staying at the hotel and need something with dinner, the $11 pours are fair enough — but if wine matters to you at all, Hood River has actual wine bars and tasting rooms worth your time and money.
Grocery Store
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· Hood River · Cafe
KickStand punches above its weight class for a cafe wine program — six bottles, almost all of them local, with real producers worth knowing. We can't speak to pricing or service confidence without more data, but if you're already in Hood River and want a glass of something made within shouting distance of where you're sitting, this list is doing the right thing in a small package.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
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Set & Forget
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· Hood River · Winery tasting room
Wy'East Vineyards is a short list with a long point of view — estate wines from varieties that have no business growing in Oregon, priced like the winery actually wants you to buy them. If you're anywhere near Hood River and you care even a little about what's possible outside the Pinot Noir monoculture, this stop is worth your afternoon.
Small but Thoughtful
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· Hood River · Winery and Tasting Room
Stave & Stone earns its Wild Card badge not through volume or imported names, but through genuine varietal curiosity — a Gorge winery willing to make Gruner Veltliner and Petit Verdot and price the whole card fairly. If you're passing through Hood River and want to drink local without drinking predictable, this list is worth your time.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
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Willing but Green
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· Hood River · Winery tasting room
Analemma earns its Wild Card badge by doing something most Oregon producers won't: planting Mencía and Grenache in the Gorge and committing to it fully. The list is short, but every bottle has a reason to exist. If you're driving through Hood River and want to taste something that doesn't feel like every other Pacific Northwest tasting room, this is your stop.
Small but Thoughtful
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Atlanta · Atlanta · Seafood
Six Feet Under isn't trying to be a wine destination, and it doesn't pretend to be — but the pricing is fair, nearly everything pours by the glass, and the Cava and Calafuria Rosé give you honest options that actually make sense with seafood. If you're here for the food and want something decent in your glass without overthinking it, this list does the job.
Crowd Pleasers
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· Roswell · Seafood
The Big Ketch Roswell keeps the wine program tightly scoped and mostly on-point for a seafood house — fair prices, smart regional picks, and a by-the-glass setup that rewards curious drinkers. It's not going to blow anyone away, but it's not going to embarrass you either. Send a friend here for the Vinho Verde and whatever's fresh on the menu.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
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Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Chandler · Seafood
High Tide is a genuinely fun, lively seafood restaurant with food worth showing up for — but the wine program is an afterthought dressed up as a list. Twelve Chardonnays with no other variety isn't a curated selection, it's a gap in judgment. Wednesday half-price wine softens the blow, but the program needs a complete rethink before we'd call it worth drinking through. Order the Diatom, skip the Rombauer, and quietly wish someone had added a rosé.
Plays It Safe
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