Ginger
Pacific Rim Food Deserves a Bolder List
Downtown · Anchorage · Pacific Rim · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 17, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The room is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here — warm lighting, a buzzy bar, the kind of place that makes you want to order something interesting. Then the wine list arrives and reality sets in: about 50 labels, heavy on California and New Zealand, light on anything that might surprise you. For a kitchen sending out Wagyu Fried Rice and Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice, the list feels like it took a safer road than it needed to.
Selection Deep Dive
The list leans hard into crowd-pleasing California and New Zealand staples — La Crema Chardonnay, Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, Meiomi Pinot Noir. These are fine wines. They're also the wines you see at every casual-upscale restaurant from Anchorage to Atlanta. There's no Riesling, no Grüner, no Albariño — nothing from the wine world that actually mirrors Pacific Rim food culture. The 50-label count sounds respectable until you realize the range is doing almost nothing with it.
By the Glass
Eight by-the-glass options at $10–$16 a pour isn't terrible for Anchorage, where wine logistics alone add cost. But the glass program mirrors the same safe bet philosophy as the bottle list — familiar names, no rotation energy, no seasonal moves. If you're here for wine discovery, you're going to have a quiet evening.
La Crema Chardonnay — $38
La Crema is a reliable, well-made Sonoma Coast Chardonnay that drinks above its retail price point. Of the options on this list, it's the one most likely to actually complement the food without fighting it.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Yes, it's everywhere. But paired with the Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice, the bright citrus and cut acidity do real work. Don't sleep on it just because it's familiar — it's on the list for a reason, and at this price range it's the most food-friendly glass pour they offer.
Meiomi Pinot Noir
At $52 a bottle you're paying nearly 160% over retail for a lush, jammy, mass-produced coastal blend that retails for $20. Meiomi is fine wine for a Tuesday at home. It's not a $52 restaurant bottle, and it doesn't do anything interesting with the food here.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc + Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice
The herbal snap and grapefruit acidity in the Kim Crawford cuts right through the richness of the tuna and the heat of the spice. It's not a groundbreaking pairing, but it's a correct one — and on this list, correct counts for something.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Ginger is a genuinely good restaurant with a wine list that's content to coast. The food program is ambitious; the wine program is not. Come for the Pacific Rim cooking, order wine because you want something in the glass, and don't expect the list to keep pace with the kitchen.
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