The Lower Deck at the Windjammer

Walk into what looks like a lively bar attached to a classic New England steakhouse and you don't expect to find a Cruvinet preserving higher-caliber pours by the glass. But here we are. The Lower Deck is doing something genuinely interesting in South Burlington, and that deserves attention.

The list runs 60 to 100 bottles deep and leans hard into Napa Valley — Cakebread, Duckhorn, Far Niente's Post & Beam, Belle Glos — with a respectable nod to Burgundy via Albert Bichot's Chablis and an Alsace detour with Trimbach Riesling. It's not adventurous, but it's curated with intention for a steakhouse crowd. The Old World representation is thin, and anything outside of France or California is largely an afterthought, but what's here is legit. We'd love to see more Rhône, more Italy, maybe a Willamette Valley Pinot to compete with the Belle Glos — but for Vermont, this is above average without much debate.

Fifteen staple pours cover the everyday bases, but the Cruvinet is the real story — it allows the kitchen to open higher-end bottles and serve them properly by the glass without oxidation risk. That's a meaningful commitment for a casual bar setting. If you're here, skip the house pours and go straight to what the Cruvinet is running that night.