Finger Lakes in a bottle, no pretense
Downtown / South Main Street · Canandaigua · Wine Bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 26, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Acquilano Wine Cellars’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
Walking into Acquilano feels less like a wine bar and more like wandering into the winery itself — because that's essentially what it is. The list is short, everything is house-made, and the whole operation is unapologetically Finger Lakes. There's no attempt to be anything other than what it is, and that confidence is refreshing.
The list clocks in at three or four house labels — Riesling, Cabernet Franc, Chardonnay, and a Dessert Wine — all estate-bottled and laser-focused on what the Finger Lakes does best. You're not getting a globe-trotting wine menu here; you're getting a producer's tight edit of their own work. The Cab Franc is the most interesting pour on the list given how well the region handles that grape, and the Riesling is a no-brainer crowd-pleaser. The Dessert Wine is the wildcard that most tables will overlook, which is a shame.
The primary format here is the four-wine tasting flight, priced at $10–$14 per flight pour, which is an excellent low-stakes way to work through the entire lineup. Full bottle pours are available at roughly $30 a bottle for house wines. It's a simple by-the-glass setup — don't come expecting a rotating BTG program.
Acquilano Riesling NV — $30
Retails around $20 and pours at $30 on premise — a near non-existent markup by restaurant standards. For a Finger Lakes Riesling in a dedicated tasting room, this is a genuine steal.
Acquilano Dessert Wine
Most people skip dessert wines on principle, but Finger Lakes dessert wines are genuinely world-class and wildly underrated. This one gets ignored at nearly every table — order it.
Acquilano Chardonnay
Nothing wrong with it, but if you're at a Finger Lakes tasting room and you reach for the Chardonnay over the Riesling or Cab Franc, you're playing it too safe. The region's strengths lie elsewhere.
Acquilano Cabernet Franc + Wine & Chocolate Pairing Flight
Cab Franc's red fruit, herbaceous edge, and soft tannins make it the ideal counterpart to dark chocolate — and this pairing flight was basically designed for it. It's the obvious move and the right one.
The Bottom Line
Acquilano isn't trying to be a destination wine bar — it's a Finger Lakes producer pouring its own work in a casual Main Street setting, and it does that with charm and absurdly fair prices. If you're in Canandaigua and you skip this, you've made a mistake.
South Main Street / lakefront · Canandaigua · Steakhouse and seafood with American fine dining
Nolan's is a dependable lakeside wine list that does right by its guests without taking any real risks — the Finger Lakes locals are a genuine highlight worth seeking out. Send a friend here for the view and the steak; tell them to order the Heron Hill.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Canandaigua · Canandaigua · Spanish tapas and wine bar
Pintxo is punching well above its weight class for a small-city wine bar, and the Spanish regional focus gives it a genuine identity that most places never find. If you're anywhere near the Finger Lakes and care even a little about wine, this one's worth the detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
Canandaigua Lake waterfront · Canandaigua · Hotel Restaurant / American
Rose Tavern is a perfectly pleasant place to drink wine if you're already staying at The Lake House — the setting does a lot of the work. But if you're driving in specifically for the wine list, you'd do better hitting a dedicated Finger Lakes tasting room down the road.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Canandaigua Lake waterfront · Canandaigua · Upscale Contemporary American / Event Dining
The Lake House is a beautiful place to get married or host a corporate dinner, but the wine program is clearly an afterthought — a functional, inoffensive list designed to move bottles at events, not to excite anyone. If you're eating here, drink the Finger Lakes options and leave the Meomi alone.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Canandaigua Lake waterfront · Canandaigua · Hotel Restaurant / American
Rose Tavern isn't trying to be a destination wine bar, but it's got the bones of one — a sommelier, a thoughtful local-first list, and a glass program that lets you actually explore it. Markups on the name brands are punishing, but stick to the Finger Lakes section and you're drinking well at a lake view that most wine lists couldn't dream of.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Lafayette Street · Canandaigua · Indian
Flavors isn't a wine destination, but it's not pretending to be one either — the list is honest, the prices are fair, and the Fox Run Riesling alone justifies ordering a bottle. Come for the food, drink the Riesling, and don't overthink it.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Redmond · Wine Bar
Sama Cellars is doing something genuinely interesting in a city not exactly known for serious wine bars: all-estate, Rhône-focused, and priced like they actually want you to try things. Send a friend here — especially if they think Washington wine means Cab Sauv and nothing else.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
· Daytona Beach · Wine Bar
Wine Not? isn't trying to be a destination wine bar — it's trying to be your relaxed neighborhood pour, and it pulls that off without overcomplicating things. If you live nearby, this is a perfectly decent spot to work through a few glasses; just don't show up expecting to geek out.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
St. Helena · Napa · Wine Bar
Elsewhere is doing something genuinely useful in St. Helena — keeping the lights on after dinner and keeping the list interesting enough to justify the detour. We need more time with the actual list before we'd call it a must, but the bones are right.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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