Mexican Wine Gets Its Houston Moment
Downtown Houston · Houston · Mexican (Oaxacan) · Visit Website ↗
Updated October 2026
Reviewed April 28, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Xochi’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Xochi does something most upscale Mexican restaurants won't — it leads with Mexico. You're not hunting through token Baja bottles buried under a wall of California Cabs; the Mexican wine program here is front and center, curated, and clearly championed by someone who actually cares. That alone earns our attention.
With 150-200 bottles covering Mexico, France, and California, this list has real bones. The Mexican section pulls from Valle de Guadalupe heavyweights like L.A. Cetto and Vena Cava, plus the undersung Bichi out of Sonora — a producer making genuinely weird, genuinely good natural wines that almost nobody outside wine circles knows. France isn't an afterthought either: Domaine Weinbach from Alsace and the legendary Chateau Musar from Lebanon (yes, Lebanon) tucked in shows a curator who thinks in flavors, not just geography. California rounds it out with Raen's Royal St. Robert Cuvée Pinot Noir, a serious Sonoma Coast bottle that holds its own next to the rest. The gaps are minor — we'd love to see more depth in sparkling and South America — but overall this is a list that rewards exploration.
Twenty to thirty by-the-glass options is an ambitious pour program, and at Xochi it means you can actually work your way through Mexican wine without committing to a full bottle — which is exactly how discovery should work. The range appears to span whites, reds, and presumably some mezcal-adjacent territory on the spirits side, though we'd push the staff to rotate the BTG list more aggressively to keep regulars engaged.
Casa Madero — $12
Casa Madero is Mexico's oldest winery — founded in 1597 — and still cranks out bottles that massively overdeliver for the price. If they're pouring this by the glass anywhere near the low end of the range, it's the move for anyone curious about Mexican wine without wanting to gamble a full bottle.
Bichi Sonora
Bichi is a natural wine cult producer operating out of the Sonoran desert, making low-intervention wines from old-vine Mission grapes that taste like nothing else on the planet. Most diners will scroll right past it. Don't. It's the most interesting bottle on this list and a direct conversation with Mexican wine history.
Raen Royal St. Robert Cuvée California Pinot Noir
Raen makes beautiful wine — no argument there — but ordering a California Pinot at an Oaxacan restaurant with this much Mexican wine on the list is a waste of the room you're sitting in. It's not a bad bottle, just the wrong call when Bichi and Vena Cava are right there.
Monte Xanic Cru Blanc + Ceviche
Monte Xanic's Cru Blanc from Valle de Guadalupe is a textured, mineral-driven white with enough acidity to cut through citrus and enough weight to stand up to the seafood. It mirrors the brightness of the ceviche without competing with it — and keeping both the wine and the dish in Mexico is a satisfying full-circle moment.
The Bottom Line
Xochi is doing something genuinely rare: running a serious Mexican wine program inside a serious restaurant, with a sommelier who knows the material and a list that earns its Wine Spectator credential. Send your adventurous friends here and tell them to skip the Cab.
· Houston · Steakhouse
Six bottles shouldn't work this well, but The Palm Houston's list reads like someone with actual taste had five minutes and zero budget to fix the wine program — and somehow nailed it. We can't speak to service knowledge or storage conditions with confidence, but the value here, especially that Lucien Crochet at $23, is hard to argue with. If you're eating at The Palm anyway, ignore every instinct to order something familiar and trust the list.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Houston · Seafood Steakhouse
Truluck's Houston wines by the glass read like an afterthought appended to what is probably a serious seafood and steak menu. Eight safe, mid-tier California and Spanish pours at steep per-glass pricing is not a wine program — it's a placeholder. If wine matters to your evening, manage expectations or ask what's available on a full bottle list that wasn't captured here.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West Ave · Houston · Upscale American Seafood and Steakhouse
Eddie V's is a reliable choice if someone else is picking up the tab and you want a well-maintained list with competent staff to guide you through it. For a self-funded wine night, the likely markups at this price point mean you're paying for the room as much as the bottle — which is fine, as long as you know that going in.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Montrose · Houston · Mediterranean
A very large list organized as Boundaries and Frontiers, with a short glass page that includes Champagne, Portuguese wines, port and madeira. Order the $15/glass Gota Branco, or ask about the Luis Seabra Douro red at 90 (unit not posted) from the Portugal pages, and confirm current availability. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Montrose · Houston · European
A Montrose restaurant with a color-and-country wine list, a separate Rosé & Orange page, and an 18-wine glass list on the dinner menu. Try the Foillard Beaujolais-Villages at 86 (unit not posted) or the Campuget rosé at 14|52 from the glass list, and check the half-off wine windows on the menu. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Downtown · Houston · American Bar
A short, tidy wine list at a bourbon bar, with a bottle price printed next to every glass. Order the Jermann Pinot Grigio at $16 a glass if you want white, or the Altocedro Malbec at $15 if you want red, and confirm prices because the page isn't dated. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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