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🔥The Rager

The Clocktower

Old World royalty in a hotel worth staying for

Flatiron · New York · American, British · Visit Website ↗

date-nightold-world-focusdeep-cellarsplurge-worthy

Reviewed April 8, 2026

Wingman Metrics

List VarietyDeep & Eclectic
MarkupSteep
GlasswareVarietal Specific
StaffKnowledgeable & Friendly
Specials & DealsSet & Forget
Storage & TempProper

First Impression

You open the wine list at The Clocktower and it feels like someone handed you a passport to the Côte de Nuits. This is not a hotel restaurant wine list that plays it safe — it's a serious document, running close to 500 selections and leaning hard into France's greatest hits. The Ian Schrager setting signals ambition, and the list delivers on it.

Selection Deep Dive

The French triumvirate of Burgundy, Rhône, and Bordeaux anchors everything here, and the depth is legitimate. You'll find Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Leroy sitting alongside Henri Bonneau's Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Château Rayas — that's not padding, that's curation. Rhône fans are particularly well served, with E. Guigal's Côte-Rôtie and M. Chapoutier's Hermitage representing the northern end, while Domaine Tempier Bandol adds a Provençal wildcard. Bordeaux is no afterthought either: Château Pétrus and Château Léoville-Las Cases confirm this list is built for the long game, not impulse orders.

By the Glass

The by-the-glass program runs 20 to 30 options with a $15–$30 price window, which is honest for this zip code and this caliber of room. Sommelier Yumilka Ortiz keeps the pours relevant to the broader list's identity, so you're not stuck choosing between two generic Chardonnays while Burgundy legends sit untouched in the cellar. Rotation details aren't public, but a list this size suggests the glass program doesn't go stale.

đź’°Best Value

Domaine Tempier Bandol — $60+

On a list dominated by four-figure Burgundy, Tempier is the entry point that actually drinks above its price tag. Rich, structured, built for the Beef Wellington, and not yet marked into the stratosphere the way the RhĂ´ne headliners are.

đź’ŽHidden Gem

M. Chapoutier Hermitage

Most tables here are chasing Burgundy or Bordeaux, so Chapoutier's Hermitage gets overlooked. That's a mistake — northern Rhône Syrah at this level is as age-worthy as anything on the list and regularly outperforms its price relative to the DRC crowd.

â›”Skip This

Château Pétrus

It's on the list and it's real, but you're paying Manhattan hotel markup on top of Pétrus's already absurd secondary market pricing. Unless someone else is signing the check, the money goes further almost anywhere else on this list.

🍽️Perfect Pairing

Henri Bonneau Châteauneuf-du-Pape + Beef Wellington

Bonneau's Châteauneuf has the weight and savory depth to stand up to pastry-wrapped beef without bulldozing it. The wine's earthy, spiced character echoes the duxelles inside the Wellington in a way that feels less like coincidence and more like the list was built for this dish.

🔥 The Bottom Line

The Clocktower is what happens when a hotel actually invests in wine instead of just stocking it — a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence since 2023 that feels genuinely earned. Send your most France-obsessed friend here and tell them to skip the Pétrus.

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