Auburn

The Depot isn't reinventing wine culture in Alabama, but it's doing the honest work of maintaining a thoughtful, fairly priced list in a place where that's rarer than it should be. If you're in Auburn and want a real bottle with a real dinner, this is where you go.

Acre is the kind of place that makes you reconsider your assumptions about wine in the South — Hammond has built a California-forward list that punches well above its zip code. If you're in or near Auburn and serious about what's in your glass, this is the room.

Yes, send your friends here — just warn them they're eating in a teaching restaurant first so the surprise doesn't overshadow how good the wine list actually is. For Auburn, Alabama, this program is genuinely remarkable, and it holds its own against fine dining wine lists in much bigger cities.