Carbone Vino
This is a big, classic list of 785 bottles built on the blue chip pillars of fine wine: Napa Cabernet, red Burgundy, Bordeaux, Tuscany, Champagne, and Piedmont, with red wine making up the bulk at 208 selections. Italy runs deep here, with Antinori at 18 listings, Gaja at 14, and Bruno Giacosa, Sassicaia, and Giuseppe Rinaldi all well represented, so lean Italian when a guest wants depth and provenance. The top end is a trophy case, topped by several Domaine de la Romanee Conti bottlings that climb to 15,000 dollars, but the floor starts at 45 and the median sits around 295, so there is real drinking to be done in the middle without scaring anyone off. Note there is no wine by the glass at all, so every table is a bottle commitment, plan your pacing and your pours accordingly. This list rewards a guest who wants a benchmark bottle from a great region and a somm who knows the classics cold.