Alba Los Angeles
Piedmont Royalty Meets Melrose Avenue
West Hollywood · West Hollywood · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 7, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Alba lands like a greatest-hits album of Italian and French fine wine — Giacomo Conterno, Biondi-Santi, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti — names that make serious drinkers put their phones down. At 350–500 bottles, this is not a list assembled by accident. Someone here actually cares, and it shows from the first page.
Selection Deep Dive
The Italian spine is the real story: Barolo from Giacomo Conterno, Bruno Giacosa, and Gaja, Brunello from Biondi-Santi and Casanova di Neri, Barbaresco from both Gaja and the ever-reliable Produttori del Barbaresco. The Super Tuscan shelf — Sassicaia, Ornellaia, Masseto — reads like a flex, but the Burgundy section holds its own with Grand Crus from DRC and Leroy plus white Burgundy from Domaine Leflaive and Ramonet. California Cab gets its seat at the table with Ridge Monte Bello, Opus One, and Screaming Eagle, though that corner skews toward status pours over discovery. The one gap: if you're hunting outside Italy, France, and California, you may find the edges thin.
By the Glass
Eighteen to twenty-eight options by the glass at $15–$30 is a serious commitment for a restaurant of this size and style. The range suggests daily drinkers sit alongside more ambitious pours, which is exactly how a by-the-glass program should work. We'd love to see more rotation and seasonal changes — right now the program feels settled rather than alive.
Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco — $60–$80 (estimated bottle range)
Produttori is a co-op that punches well above its price point — structured, age-worthy Nebbiolo without the Gaja markup. On a list full of trophy bottles, this is the pick for anyone who wants to drink seriously without wrecking the dinner budget.
Borgogno Barolo Cannubi
Cannubi is one of Barolo's most celebrated single vineyards, and Borgogno is an old-school producer that doesn't get the hype of Conterno or Giacosa. Most tables will scroll past it chasing bigger names — their loss, your gain.
Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon
Look, Screaming Eagle is a trophy wine and it's priced accordingly — then marked up on top of that. In a restaurant this deep in Italian wine, ordering a cult Napa Cab feels like going to a sushi bar and ordering a burger. Skip it, stay in the peninsula.
Giacomo Conterno Barolo Monfortino + Truffle-y agnolotti stuffed with caramelized onions
Monfortino is about as serious as Barolo gets — tar, roses, iron, and a decade of patience baked in. The earthy truffle and sweet caramelized onion in the agnolotti need something with that kind of weight and complexity to hold up. It's a big spend, but this is the pairing you'll talk about for years.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Alba has a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and sommeliers named Giovanni and Fabio — this is not a restaurant that treats wine as an afterthought. The markups are real and the list skews toward collector territory, but the depth and credibility here are genuine, and that earns the Rager.
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