Charlie Palmer Steak IV
Trophy Bottles in a Beaux-Arts Throne Room
Midtown · New York · American Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 8, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Charlie Palmer Steak IV arrives the way the room itself does — with intent. You're on the fourth floor of the Knickerbocker Hotel, surrounded by Beaux-Arts bones, and the list in your hands runs 400-plus bottles deep with Burgundy, Bordeaux, and California heavyweights staring you down. This is not a wine program that apologizes for itself.
Selection Deep Dive
The list is built around the holy trinity of serious steakhouse wine: Champagne, Burgundy, and Bordeaux, with a California Cab chapter that reads like a greatest-hits album. You'll find Château Margaux and Lynch-Bages anchoring the Bordeaux side, Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin covering approachable Burgundy, and then Screaming Eagle and Harlan Estate for those who want to drop serious money without blinking. Italy gets a respectable cameo — Gaja Barbaresco and Sassicaia show up and earn their place. The gaps are real: New World outside California is thin, and if you're hunting for anything outside the classic power regions, you're going to feel the walls close in quickly.
By the Glass
With 20-35 by-the-glass options, the pour program is legitimately one of the better ones in the Times Square corridor — not hard to achieve, but still worth noting. Expect Bollinger and Krug Champagne by the glass alongside Caymus Special Selection and Silver Oak on the California side. Rotation feels minimal — this list has the energy of something that gets updated seasonally at best.
Silver Oak Cabernet Sauvignon — $100
Silver Oak punches above its retail price in restaurant settings, and at a venue where the ceiling is Screaming Eagle, it lands as the most accessible entry point into serious California Cab without completely wrecking your evening financially.
Château Lynch-Bages
Most tables at a steakhouse like this gravitate toward the California names they already know. Lynch-Bages is a Pauillac powerhouse — fifth growth in classification, but first growth in personality — and it absolutely sings next to a dry-aged ribeye. Most people skip past it. Don't.
Caymus Vineyards Special Selection Cabernet Sauvignon
Caymus Special Selection is a fine wine, but it's also one of the most marked-up bottles in the American restaurant system. You will pay a significant premium for a label that does most of its heavy lifting through brand recognition. The money is better spent going a little deeper into the Bordeaux or Burgundy section.
Gaja Barbaresco + Prime dry-aged ribeye
Gaja Barbaresco brings the kind of tension — tart cherry, iron, dried roses, structural tannins — that cuts through the fat of a well-marbled dry-aged ribeye without steamrolling it. It's the pick for anyone who wants to feel like they know something the rest of the table doesn't.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Charlie Palmer Steak IV earns its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence honestly — the list is deep, the trophy names are real, and the setting makes every pour feel like an occasion. Just know going in that you're paying Manhattan steakhouse prices, and budget accordingly.
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