Bari Ristorante e Enoteca
Memphis Gets a Real Italian Wine Education
Cooper-Young · Memphis · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 24, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Bari lands like a love letter to Italy — focused, deliberate, and clearly written by someone who actually cares. In a city not exactly drowning in serious wine programs, this Cooper-Young spot earns its Wine Spectator Award of Excellence with a list that goes deep where it matters and doesn't waste space on filler. You pick it up and immediately feel like you're being taken somewhere.
Selection Deep Dive
Bari keeps its focus tight: this is an Italian list through and through, spanning Piedmont Barolo producers, Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone della Valpolicella, Chianti Classico Riserva, and the Super Tuscan heavyweights like Sassicaia and Ornellaia. It's not trying to be all things — it's trying to be the definitive Italian wine experience in Memphis, and largely succeeds. The range from approachable Chianti to serious Brunello gives you real options whether you're spending $35 or pushing toward $150. The one gap: non-Italian regions are essentially absent, so if someone at the table wants a Burgundy or a Napa Cab, they're out of luck.
By the Glass
Twelve to twenty options by the glass is a generous pour program for a restaurant of this size, and the $10–$18 range suggests they're not just dumping cheap wine into carafes to pad margins. We'd expect the glass list to mirror the bottle list's Italian identity — likely rotating through Chianti Classico, a Nebbiolo-based pour, and something from the south. Ask your server what's open; a list this considered usually has something worth exploring.
Chianti Classico Riserva — $45
Chianti Classico Riserva at the lower end of Bari's price range is where the real drinking happens — you're getting structured Sangiovese with actual age and intent for what cheaper restaurants charge for anonymous Italian red. Best QPR on the list.
Amarone della Valpolicella
Most tables at an Italian restaurant reach for Barolo or a Super Tuscan and call it a night. Amarone is the darker, wilder option — dried grapes, massive concentration, something genuinely different. Most diners walk right past it, which means more for the people who know.
Sassicaia
Look, Sassicaia is a legendary wine — but it's also one of the most recognized Super Tuscans on the planet, which means restaurants mark it up accordingly. You're paying a premium for the name here. The same money spent elsewhere on this list gets you further.
Barolo + Osso buco
Barolo's tannic backbone and tar-and-roses complexity were basically engineered to cut through braised veal shank. The richness of the osso buco softens the wine's edges; the wine lifts the dish out of pure indulgence. This is the pairing to order at Bari.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Bari is the kind of Italian wine program Memphis deserves more of — specific, serious, and fairly priced for what you're getting. If you're anywhere near Cooper-Young and want to drink real Italian wine with real Italian food, this is the move.
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