Drift

The wine list at Drift arrives with the same confidence as the view — elevated, polished, and clearly trying to impress. It's a 60-100 bottle list built for a beach crowd that expects Caymus and Champagne, and it delivers exactly that. There's real depth here, but the price tags carry that familiar coastal resort markup.

The list leans heavily on crowd-pleasing California heavyweights — Cakebread, Caymus, Pahlmeyer — but earns points with some genuinely thoughtful French entries: a Vincent Delaporte Sancerre, Domaine Laroche Chablis, and even a Puligny-Montrachet from Domaine François Carillon. The Champagne section flexes harder than necessary (Armand de Brignac, Perrier-Jouët Belle Epoque), which tells you who this room is designed for. Red selections are California-centric with a tilt toward big Cabernets, though a lone Pahlmeyer Jayson and The Vice Cabernet Franc hint that someone assembling this list has a palate worth respecting. Gaps show up in the Southern Hemisphere and anything remotely funky or natural.

The by-the-glass program runs 10-16 options in the $14-$30 range, which is reasonable spread for a beachfront fine-casual spot. Expect the usual suspects — Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc, Honig — rotated with enough frequency to suggest someone's paying attention. Don't expect anything that'll make you sit up straight, but you won't be stuck with generic house wine either.