RFK Rankings · Detroit
Best Wine Lists in Detroit 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Detroit · 6 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 17, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Detroit's serious wine drinking is concentrated in a downtown that emptied out for decades and filled back in around a handful of cellars. There is no Grand Award room here, but Prime + Proper in Capitol Park carries the city's only Best of Award of Excellence list, anchoring a scene that runs from a riverfront seafood house to a Gilded-Age mansion and a Midtown room built on small growers. Here is who each list suits, what to expect walking in, and how to book it. Six, ranked on depth, the by-the-glass program and value rather than trophy labels alone.
1.Prime + Proper
Detroit's only Best of Award of Excellence cellar, downtown in Capitol Park. Book it for dry-aged beef and an old Cabernet.
Prime + Proper in Capitol Park is the wine anchor of Detroit, the only room in the city holding Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, the middle tier. Chef Ryan Prentiss plates a 100-day dry-aged ribeye and tableside tartare in a glamorous downtown room, and the cellar is built to put a serious, often aged red next to the beef. This is the city's grand steak-and-wine occasion, the booking for a couple or a group marking something who want the floor to pull a bottle with real age. Plan on 100 dollars or more a head before wine. Reserve two to three weeks ahead, tell the sommelier your grape and your number, and ask what is drinking best from the older Cabernets.
Book on the Prime + Proper site; ask the floor for an aged red in your range.
2.Joe Muer Seafood
A riverfront seafood room with 25 by-the-glass and 40-plus Bordeaux. Reserve ahead for the raw bar and a white Burgundy.
Joe Muer Seafood, on the river inside the Renaissance Center, carries the deepest by-the-glass program in the city, with around 25 wines offered by the glass and a bottle list strong in Bordeaux, Cabernet and Chardonnay. The cellar follows the kitchen, crisp and white-leaning to drink with the raw bar and premium fish, with enough big reds for the aged steaks. The Vicari group will move the restaurant to the new JW Marriott Detroit Water Square in early 2027, so the riverfront Renaissance Center room is in its final seasons. This is the polished, river-view booking, the room for a couple who want oysters, a serious white and a Detroit skyline rather than a cellar to study. Plan on 60 to 110 dollars a head before wine, more for the raw-bar towers. Reserve a week or two ahead, ask for a river-facing table, and let the floor pour a white Burgundy by the glass.
Book on the Joe Muer site; ask the floor for a white Burgundy with the raw bar.
3.San Morello
Andrew Carmellini's wood-fired Italian inside the Shinola Hotel. Try it once for pasta and a Sicilian red.
San Morello is James Beard Award winner Andrew Carmellini's wood-fired Southern Italian room inside the Shinola Hotel on Woodward Avenue downtown, and its list is the most food-driven Italian cellar in the city. The wine leans Italian and is built to drink with the wood-fired pastas and pizzas rather than to flex, which makes it the value pick on this list, where a normal dinner runs about 50 to 60 dollars a head. This is the booking for a couple who want a lively, design-led room and a Sicilian or southern red next to the pasta. There is also a three-course prix fixe around 120 dollars per person. Reserve a week ahead, tell the floor you want to drink Italian, and let them match a bottle to the table.
Book on the San Morello site; let the floor pour a southern Italian red.
4.The Whitney
A Gilded-Age mansion with a cellar to match the rooms. Settle in for Beef Wellington and an old-world bottle.
The Whitney is a Gilded-Age mansion on Woodward Avenue in Midtown, an 1894 lumber-baron's house turned grand dining room, and the wine list is built for the occasion the room demands. The cellar leans classic and old-world, chosen to drink with the signature Whitney Beef Wellington, a barrel-cut Creekstone tenderloin, in a series of ornate, candlelit parlors. This is the booking for a couple who want romance and grandeur, an anniversary or a proposal, and a recognizable great bottle rather than a treasure hunt. Plates run roughly 39 to 99 dollars, with the Mansion Tea service at 59. Reserve two weeks ahead, ask for a quiet parlor table, and tell the floor your budget for the bottle.
Book on the Whitney site; name a budget and let the floor pick the bottle.
5.Highlands
Shawn McClain's 71st-floor room pairs a city view with a real list. Worth the trip for sunset and a bold red.
Highlands sits on the 71st floor of the Renaissance Center, chef Shawn McClain's modern American room with a sweeping view across Detroit and the river to Canada, and a list serious enough to be more than a view-tax. The wine is built to function across budgets and occasions, with enough depth for a wine-led night and plenty of by-the-glass for a drink at sunset. This is the booking for a couple who want the view first and a genuinely good bottle second, ideally timed to sunset. Plan on 80 to 140 dollars a head before wine. Reserve two weeks ahead, ask for a window table near sunset, and let the floor pour a bold red to drink with the skyline.
Book on the Highlands site; ask for a window table and a big red at sunset.
6.Selden Standard
Andy Hollyday's Midtown small-plates room and the city's smartest small-grower list. Pencil it in for natural pours.
Selden Standard is chef Andy Hollyday's wood-fired, seasonal small-plates room in Midtown, a James Beard semifinalist since it opened in 2014, and its wine list is the connoisseur's choice in Detroit. The cellar is built around small producers and low-intervention bottles chosen to drink with the changing, vegetable-forward plates rather than to chase points. This is the booking for a couple or a pair of friends who care about wine and want the clever, off-beat bottle and a relaxed, knowledgeable room. The value is real, with a full dinner that stays well below the steakhouses. Reserve a week ahead, tell the floor what you are drawn to, and let them steer you to a grower you have not met.
Book on the Selden Standard site; ask the floor for a small-grower pour.
Avoid for a wine night
Great room, different mission
Ladder 4 Wine Bar. Detroit's most talked-about wine room is a brilliant low-intervention bar with a snack menu, not a deep vertical cellar. Go for the natural pours by the glass and the buzz, and keep a serious bottle night for Prime + Proper or Joe Muer.
The suburban chain steakhouses. The national-brand steak rooms out in the suburbs pour reliably, but their lists are mark-up-driven and short on real depth. For a destination cellar, stay downtown rather than driving out to a chain.
How to drink well in Detroit
The depth in Detroit is downtown, so plan the night around the core: Prime + Proper for the grand steak-and-cellar occasion, Joe Muer for a river view and a strong by-the-glass program, The Whitney for romance in a mansion. Book these two to three weeks ahead through their own sites, where the best weekend tables go first. For an aged red at Prime + Proper, name your grape and budget when you book so the floor can have it ready.
The value and the discovery sit at the food-driven rooms: San Morello for Italy, Selden Standard for small growers and low-intervention bottles, Highlands for a view and a bold glass at sunset. Tell the floor what you are eating and what you want to spend, and match the room to the cuisine driving the meal. And wherever you go, if you are celebrating, say so when you book.
Frequently asked
Which Detroit restaurant has the best wine list?
Prime + Proper in Capitol Park holds our top spot. It is the only restaurant in the city carrying Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence, the middle tier, with a cellar deep in California Cabernet and Bordeaux. Chef Ryan Prentiss plates a 100-day dry-aged ribeye built to drink with an aged red. Reserve two to three weeks ahead, name your grape and budget, and ask what is drinking best from the older Cabernets.
Where can I find a deep by-the-glass list in Detroit?
Joe Muer Seafood inside the Renaissance Center pours around 25 wines by the glass, the broadest program in the city, with a bottle list strong in Bordeaux, Cabernet and Chardonnay. The wine is crisp and white-leaning to drink with the raw bar and premium fish. Ask for a river-facing table and let the floor pour a white Burgundy by the glass.
How much does a good bottle cost at Detroit restaurants?
Plan on 55 to 120 dollars for a genuinely good bottle at most of these rooms, with the ceiling higher at Prime + Proper, whose cellar runs into aged territory. San Morello and Selden Standard are the value picks, built on food-friendly Italian and small-grower bottles. Set a number with the floor and let them find the interesting bottle inside it.
Do you need a reservation for these Detroit wine restaurants?
Yes, and well ahead for the destination rooms. Prime + Proper, Joe Muer, The Whitney and Highlands release tables ahead and the best weekend and window seats go first, so book two to three weeks out. San Morello and Selden Standard are a little easier but still worth reserving. For an aged bottle at Prime + Proper, flag it when you book.
Which Detroit restaurant is best for natural and small-grower wine?
Selden Standard in Midtown is the connoisseur's pick. Chef Andy Hollyday's wood-fired small-plates room, a James Beard semifinalist since 2014, builds its list around small producers and low-intervention bottles chosen to drink with the changing menu. Tell the floor what you are drawn to and let them introduce you to a grower you have not met.
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