Armando's Italian Restaurant

Sixty-six labels at a fine dining Italian spot in Boca Raton — that's a real list, not a menu insert. The structure is clean, organized by style and occasion, and the sparkling section alone has four solid options before you've even thought about food. First read: they're trying, and mostly succeeding.

The Italian representation is where Armando's earns its credibility — Frescobaldi Perano Chianti Classico, Allegrini Palazzo della Torre, Scarpetta Friuli, Villa Sparina Gavi, and Poggio al Tesoro Vermentino give you a genuine tour of the peninsula without feeling like a wine textbook. The white selection is notably strong, with smart picks from Alto Adige (Kurtatsch pulling double duty with Pinot Grigio and Sauvignon Blanc), Loire (Domaine André Vatan Sancerre), and Burgundy (Bouchard Aîné Chablis). Reds lean toward safe crowd-pleasers — Decoy Merlot, Beringer Knights Valley Cab, Daou Reserve — which will move volume in South Florida but won't excite the adventurous drinker. The gap is Barolo, Barbaresco, or anything from southern Italy; the list is Italian-leaning but not Italian-deep.

Twenty-six by-the-glass options is genuinely impressive for a restaurant this size — that's not just Pinot Grigio and house Cab, that's a proper program. The sparkling BTG section leads well with Bisol Jeio Prosecco at $15 and Monopole Blue Top Brut at $30, covering the spread from casual to celebratory. We'd love to see more rotation and evidence that these pours are getting moved at reasonable pace to stay fresh.