William B's

The wine list at William B's reads like a greatest-hits album of California cabernet — you know every track, and that's kind of the point. It's a steakhouse in a lakeside Indiana casino hotel, and they're not pretending to be something they're not. The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence they've held since 2016 is earned, even if the list isn't exactly adventurous.

The 150-250 bottle list leans hard into California, and specifically into the Napa Valley producers that steakhouse crowds know and love — Caymus, Jordan, Silver Oak, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Duckhorn, Cakebread, Rombauer, and Opus One anchor the lineup. There's depth within that California lane, but if you're hunting for Burgundy, Barolo, or anything from the Rhône, you may be disappointed. Sommelier Patrick Cullars keeps things well-curated and focused — this isn't a list that wanders, it commits. The gap is everything outside California; the strength is that within that focus, the choices are genuinely good ones.

Twelve to twenty pours by the glass at $10–$18 is a solid range for a steakhouse at this level, and the pricing is accessible enough that you can open the evening with a Chardonnay and close it with a Cab without breaking the bank on glass pours alone. We'd expect Rombauer and Cakebread to show up here regularly given their prominence on the bottle list. Rotation seems limited — this is a set-it program, not one that surprises you on a return visit.