Best Wine Lists in Tennessee

Firebirds is a reliable wine stop for a chain steakhouse — the list is familiar and priced a touch high, but the selections are legitimate and the glass program is better than most competitors. Send a friend here if they want a dependable Napa Cab with a steak; don't send them if they're looking for anything off the beaten path.

CRU is the kind of wine bar that earns its regulars — a big-enough list, fair enough prices, and a Sunday deal that's worth planning your week around. It won't blow the minds of serious collectors, but for a downtown Knoxville wine night, it does exactly what it promises.

CRU Turkey Creek is the best wine option in a neighborhood that wasn't exactly drowning in them. It's not going to challenge your assumptions about wine, but it will reliably pour you something decent in a comfortable room — and that's worth something.

The Chop House North Knoxville is a dependable, if unadventurous, wine stop — the list serves the steakhouse mission well without ever getting interesting. If you're in the neighborhood and want a solid Cab with a good steak, you won't go home unhappy, just don't come looking for discovery.

The Chop House West Knoxville is a dependable wine stop for steakhouse night — nothing adventurous, nothing offensive, and the California red lineup covers the bases. Just don't expect a deal on the markup, and skip the Meiomi.

Vida isn't trying to be a wine bar, but its Latin-focused list is more thoughtful and specific than most dedicated wine programs in Knoxville. If you're eating here, skip the safe call and lean into something you've never tried — that's the whole point.

The Rosecomb isn't a wine destination, but it's a genuinely good wine surprise — especially on a Tuesday when the whole bottle list goes half-price. Come for the burger, stay for the País.

1885 Grill Ringgold won't change how you think about wine, but it won't embarrass you in front of your dinner date either. It's the reliable neighborhood option in a part of Greater Chattanooga where that actually counts for something.

1885 Grill is a solid neighborhood spot where the wine list does its job without doing much more. The selection is approachable, the BTG count is surprisingly high, but watch the markups on the low end — some of those glass pours are doing a lot of work for the house.

1885 Grill St. Elmo isn't a wine destination, but it doesn't need to be — it's a reliable neighborhood spot with fair prices, a comfortable patio, and a list that won't embarrass anyone. Send a friend here for dinner and tell them to order the Trapiche; don't send them here to geek out on wine.

Bela Lisboa is the most interesting wine list you'll find attached to a cozy neighborhood bistro in Chattanooga — the Portuguese focus is real and it works with the food. The markups are too aggressive on several bottles, but the soul of the program is there, and that's not nothing.

DeBarge is the Wild Card Chattanooga deserves — a real working winery in the city's backyard, making honest wine at honest prices, staffed by people who actually care what's in the glass. If you want a Napa blockbuster, go somewhere else; if you want to drink something made twenty minutes from where you're sitting, this is your stop.