Herbie's

Walking into Herbie's, the wine list feels like the room itself — upscale but unpretentious, with a clear point of view rooted in California and France. It's not trying to reinvent the wheel, and it doesn't need to. A Wine Spectator Award of Excellence since 2019 tells you this list has been doing something right for a while.

The 150-250 bottle list leans hard into its two strengths: Napa Cabernet and French classics. On the California side, you'll find names like Jordan and Stag's Leap anchoring the Cab section, with Flowers and Meiomi representing the Pinot Noir range — one a serious coastal producer, one a crowd pleaser. Sonoma Chardonnay gets its due, and France shows up with Burgundy and Bordeaux classifications that give the list some old-world credibility. The gaps are real — no meaningful Southern Hemisphere presence, nothing adventurous from Italy or Spain — but the core audience for Beef Wellington and Steak Frites probably isn't crying out for skin-contact Txakoli.

With 12 to 20 pours available, the by-the-glass program is one of the stronger selling points here. That range gives you real options whether you're opening with a glass of Sonoma Chardonnay or closing with a Napa Cab alongside the beef. Rotation evidence is thin, so don't count on surprises — but for a neighborhood bistro, the depth by the glass is above average.