Safe Pours in a Bourbon Town
Summit at Fritz Farm · Lexington · New American / Southern · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 4, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at 33 Staves reads exactly like you'd expect from a polished hotel restaurant in a bourbon-first city — recognizable labels, zero surprises, nothing that'll make you put down your Woodford Reserve. It's a list built for guests who want something familiar alongside their shrimp and grits, and it delivers on that narrow brief.
California dominates, with France and Italy showing up to round things out. The roster leans hard on brands that move fast in hotel dining rooms — Josh Cellars, Meiomi, Stag's Leap, Whispering Angel — which tells you this program was curated for ease of recognition rather than depth of discovery. There's nothing wrong with what's here, but the Pacific Northwest and Italy feel like afterthoughts rather than genuine commitments. If you're hoping to stumble onto a grower Champagne or a Willamette Valley outlier, you won't find it.
Ten to sixteen options by the glass is a reasonable spread for this kind of room, and the price range of $10–$18 is consistent with hotel dining in a mid-market city. The selections mirror the bottle list — crowd-friendly, brand-forward, no rotation surprises. Don't expect the pours to change with the seasons.
Stag's Leap Wine Cellars Chardonnay Napa Valley — $38
Stag's Leap carries serious name recognition and consistent quality. If the bottle lands at the lower end of their pricing tier, it's the most credible wine on the list relative to what you're paying.
La Marca Prosecco
It's not glamorous, but ordering bubbles at a bourbon-centric hotel restaurant is an underrated move — La Marca is clean, food-friendly, and flies under the radar here while everyone else defaults to red.
Whispering Angel Rosé Provence
Whispering Angel carries a lifestyle premium that hotels love to exploit. You're paying for the bottle design as much as the wine, and hotel markup on an already overpriced brand is a losing proposition.
Meiomi Pinot Noir California + Shrimp and Grits
Meiomi runs ripe and soft with enough fruit to hold up against a creamy, smoky shrimp and grits without overwhelming it — and it's the kind of easy red that won't polarize a table.
✔️ The Bottom Line
33 Staves is a perfectly competent hotel wine list in a city where nobody's really coming for the wine. Drink it for what it is, keep your expectations calibrated, and save the serious bottle hunting for somewhere else.
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