Robert Restaurant

You're fifty floors above Columbus Circle, Central Park sprawling out in front of you, and the wine list lands in your hands like a confident handshake — not flashy, but it means business. California and France anchor everything here, and that's a perfectly reasonable place to anchor when the room already has this much going on. The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, held since 2010, tells you someone upstairs actually thought this through.

The 150-250 bottle list leans hard into Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and Sonoma Chardonnay on the California side, with Burgundy Pinot Noir and Bordeaux red blends covering the French flank — a classic transatlantic pairing that suits the upscale American menu well. There's genuine range here, even if it doesn't push into adventurous territory; this is a list built for the business dinner crowd and the romantic splurge, not the natural wine enthusiast looking for skin-contact surprises. Gaps exist — no meaningful South American, no German Riesling, nothing from Italy worth flagging — but within its chosen lanes, the list is credible and purposeful. California Pinot Noir also makes an appearance, giving you an alternative to Burgundy when the budget or mood calls for it.

Somewhere between 12 and 20 by-the-glass options puts Robert in solid territory for a restaurant of this caliber — enough to give the solo diner or two-top real choices without overwhelming anyone. The glass pour range of $12–$20 is fair for Midtown Manhattan, where you're often paying $18 for something that should be $12. Rotation doesn't appear to be a priority here; this reads more like a stable, curated set than a chalkboard-changes-weekly situation.