San Antonio rolls out the “red” carpet: Valero Texas Open, Oaks Course, TPC San Antonio, April 3-April 6, 2025
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San Antonio has too many chain steak houses to count and appears to be crawling with wine bars. That’s the good news. The bad news is that from a wine perspective the City seems to suffer from a case of the “blands,” at least in terms of what’s visible online. Don’t know why, it seems like it could support something better. The choices below at least give you a fighting chance.
Signature at the La Cantera Resort and Spa has a killer list that covers some 26 easy-to-read pages, a welcome approach akin to playing from the senior tees for someone who is usually squinting at a wine list in the dark. It’s really deep in chardonnay and pinot noir with lots of surprises, including a great chenin blanc selection. It’s expensive but there are plenty of good options if you want to spend less. Limited high-end menu, I might have to go for the antelope loin just to say I did.
Maverick is billed as a “Texas Brasserie” and offers a small but good cross-section of French-inspired dishes. The well-priced wine list has a little bit of everything including relative varietal rarities like jacqeure and schiava. I detect a pulse.
High Street Wine Co carries an outstanding carefully curated selection ranging from off-the-beaten path varietals at excellent prices up to big-time trophy wines. As a wine bar plus retail concept, it offers the ability to drink on premise or take out. Relaxed, friendly, and knowledgeable staff are a difference maker.
Biga has a balanced list with many good options. It’s unaccountably high-priced on certain wines, especially in the limited French and Italian reds, but reasonable enough elsewhere, so be selective.
I spent maybe a half hour clicking through the stack o’ steak houses and regardless of the fact that some have won Wine Spectator Awards, none post a list online. Someone should tell them that’s not the way to differentiate among people for whom wine is also a priority. Maybe Brenner’s is a choice, since at least they advertise an interesting-sounding paired four-course wine dinner facing off two Master Sommeliers. But true to my point, the advertised menu shows the food but not the wines.
Retail in SA is dominated by the local Texas chain Spec’s, with at least nine locations and seemingly an endless supply of good wine. I can’t believe they have all these wines ready on the shelf at every location, so you might want to scout online and call your chosen location to make sure. Be sure to filter for “Explore All Wines” and location.
