Serious Northern Italian Depth in the Pacific
Kahala · Honolulu · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · October 15, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Arancino at The Kahala’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walk into an Italian restaurant in Honolulu and the last thing you expect is a 64-bottle list anchored by Gaja, Ceretto, and a Bava Barolo from 2006. This isn't a hotel wine list built to impress tourists with big-name Californians — someone here actually cares about Piedmont. The surprise is real.
The list leans hard into Northern Italy, and that's not a complaint. Piedmont alone accounts for a substantial chunk of the bottles, with multiple Barolo producers represented across vintages — Damilano shows up with both the Cannubi 2019 ($210) and the Cannubi Riserva 1752 2015 ($440), and Michele Chiarlo brings the Cerequio 2020 at $280. Beyond the Nebbiolo anchors, there's genuine curiosity on display: the Arpepe Valtellina Superiore Sassella Stella Retica 2015 ($150) and Luigi Ferrando Carema Etichetta Bianca 2018 ($205) are the kinds of bottles that signal a buyer who reads more than Wine Spectator. The Valle d'Aosta cameo via Grosjean — both a Gamay and a Petite Arvine — is a flat-out wild move for a restaurant in Hawaii. Where the list thins out is in breadth: there's not much from Central or Southern Italy, and the 64-label ceiling means you'll hit the edges quickly if you're not a Piedmont devotee.
By-the-glass options are not documented in our source data, so we can't confirm what's available on pour. Given the bottle-list composition, we'd hope for at least a few of the entry-level Luganas or Barberas by the glass, but we can't confirm it. Ask your server before committing to a bottle.
The Bottom Line
Arancino at The Kahala is doing something genuinely unusual for a hotel-adjacent Italian restaurant in Hawaii — it's built a list around obscure Northern Italian producers that most diners won't recognize, and that's exactly the point. Markups are on the steeper side and we can't vouch for glassware or staff knowledge from the available data, but the wine selection itself earns respect. If you know your Nebbiolo from your Barbera, this list rewards attention.
· Honolulu · Seafood
Mina's Fish House isn't building a wine program — it's building a dessert wine moment, and that is a genuinely uncommon thing to find at a restaurant of this profile. If you're eating dinner here, you'll need to source your table wine elsewhere on the menu or order cocktails; this list doesn't cover that ground. But if you want to close out a Four Seasons meal in Honolulu with a glass of 2013 Tokaji Aszú or something out of the Madeira cellar, this is a quietly excellent place to do it.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian
Quiora isn't trying to be a wine destination, and it doesn't need to be — it's a 22-label Italian restaurant list on a rooftop in Waikiki with an ocean view doing the heavy lifting. But the list is genuinely considered, the glass-pour selection is deep for the size, and pricing is fair by hotel standards. If you're eating here, drink the Tintero rosato or the Selbach Riesling and enjoy the sunset.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian / Californian Coastal
Botanico is doing something genuinely unusual for Waikiki — building an Italian-forward wine list with real regional depth and mostly fair pricing in a place where restaurants routinely treat wine as an afterthought. The by-the-glass program alone is worth a seat at the bar. If you care at all about what's in your glass, this belongs on your radar.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Hawaii Regional
Moku Nui is a casual Hawaii Regional spot that has no business running a wine list this thoughtful — and we mean that as high praise. Fair glass prices, a sommelier clearly making intentional choices, and enough variety to reward the curious drinker. If you're eating here, skip the default beer order and let someone at the table order the Vouvray.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Seafood
Azure is a genuinely lovely place to drink wine — the setting does a lot of heavy lifting and the France-Italy-Hawaii focus is a sensible match for the island seafood menu. Just go in knowing resort markup is real, and if the tasting menu with wine pairing is available, that's likely your best shot at getting something memorable poured without having to guess blind from the list.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Tasting Menu
Senia's wine program is one of the more thoughtful in the state — sommelier on staff, an Old World-focused list, and a Wednesday night deal where bottles at $65 and under get cut in half plus a tasting flight. If you're serious about what's in your glass, this is where you go in Honolulu. Book a Wednesday if you can.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Active Program
Proper
· Overland Park · Italian
Brio Overland Park's wine list is a functional, crowd-pleasing program that won't offend anyone and won't excite anyone either. If you're here for a work dinner or a low-stakes birthday, you'll find something drinkable — just go in with measured expectations and maybe steer toward the Italian bottles before defaulting to the California heavyweights.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · New Haven · Italian
Villa Lulu is a genuinely appealing Italian restaurant with food worth showing up for — Branzino Puttanesca and Squid Ink Linguini are the kind of dishes that deserve a decent Sicilian white alongside them. The wine program has the right regional bones, but until they put a real list online, we're recommending the restaurant with a side of cautious optimism on the wine. Ask your server what's on by the glass, and keep an eye out for that half-price wine promotion if it's still running — unconfirmed, but worth asking about.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
· Fresno · Italian
Oggi Caffe is a solid neighborhood Italian restaurant where the wine list does its job without doing anything particularly interesting. The Napa-Tuscany focus is predictable but dependable, and at a $25–$45 entree range the bottle prices are likely to feel steep relative to what you're getting. Go for the homemade pasta and the atmosphere — and if wine matters to you, ask what's open by the glass before committing to a bottle.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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