White tablecloths hiding a serious natural wine obsession
Gramercy · New York · Italian/Mediterranean · Visit Website ↗
Updated October 2026
Reviewed March 25, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Borgo’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The room says upscale trattoria — taper candles, wide-set tables, the kind of place your parents would approve of. Then the wine list arrives and it reads like a natural wine bar that got dressed up for dinner. Occhipinti, Breton, Turley White Zin — this is not your standard midtown Italian list.
Borgo leans hard into Italy — Sicily, Piedmont, Tuscany, Emilia — but the list doesn't stop at the boot. You'll find Romain Chamiot's Savoie Apremont sitting next to Chavost Blanc Assemblage and Massa Piccolo's Derthona Timorasso, which tells you whoever built this list has a point of view. France and Spain make thoughtful appearances, and there's even a California curveball in the Turley White Zinfandel that earns its spot rather than embarrassing itself. At 60-80 bottles, nothing feels padded — every selection seems chosen with intent rather than to fill a quota.
Eighteen by-the-glass options at $20-$22 is a strong program, especially when the pours include wines like Occhipinti SP68 Bianco and Aschero's Vermentino rather than the usual anonymous Pinot Grigio suspects. The list rotates enough to reward repeat visits, and at these price points, experimenting by the glass is genuinely low-risk.
Occhipinti SP68 Bianco — $22/glass
Arianna Occhipinti's SP68 Bianco — a Zibibbo-Albanello blend from Sicily — typically fetches serious money at wine bars around the city. Getting it by the glass here at $22 is the kind of deal you quietly tell one friend about.
Romain Chamiot Apremont
Savoie wines are criminally underordered at Italian restaurants because nobody expects them. Chamiot's Apremont is crisp, mineral, and Alpine in the best way — it cuts through rich pasta dishes better than most Pinot Grigios ever will, and most tables will walk right past it.
Turley White Zinfandel
Turley makes a legitimate case for White Zin as a serious wine, and we respect the move — but ordering it at an Italian trattoria in front of your date requires a level of confidence most people don't have. The rest of the list gives you better stories to tell.
Sottoilnoce + Lasagna
Sottoilnoce's earthy depth and savory structure meet Borgo's lasagna at exactly the right register — rich, layered, no one trying to outshine the other. This is the pairing you came for.
The Bottom Line
Borgo looks like a white-tablecloth Italian and drinks like a downtown natural wine bar — that gap between expectation and reality is where all the fun is. Yes, send a friend here for wine, especially if they think they already know what an Italian restaurant list looks like.
Midtown · New York · French Brasserie
La Grande Boucherie earns its place as a reliable stop for wine in Midtown, especially if you're leaning French. The glass list is genuinely wide and has some smart picks buried in it — the Fleurie and the Wiemer Riesling both punch above their price points. Markups trend steep as you climb the bottle list, so your money works hardest in the by-the-glass section. If you're here for the brasserie experience, the wine program holds up its end of the deal.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Steakhouse
BLT Prime's wine program is glass-only, which limits your options if you came for a big bottle moment, but the pricing is honest and the selection is more thoughtful than most steakhouses bother with. If you're keeping it casual and ordering by the glass, you can drink well here without feeling taken advantage of — and that's not nothing in this city.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
The Palm Midtown is not where you'd expect to find Puzelat and Ruth Lewandowski sitting next to each other on a wine list — which is exactly what makes it worth a second look. Six bottles is a short menu, but all six are defensible picks at prices that don't insult you. If you're in the mood to trust the list and not overthink it, this works.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Murray Hill · New York · Classic American Steakhouse
Wolfgang's is a reliable steakhouse wine experience in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting: a list built around the bottle you already know, priced for the room you're sitting in. If you're here to close a deal over a Porterhouse for Two, the wine list will do its job without embarrassing anyone — but it's not going to surprise you, and it's almost certainly going to cost more than it should. Go in with eyes open and a strong second-choice red in mind.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Mediterranean
Zaytinya's wine list is a rare thing in New York: a focused, regionally coherent program that commits hard to Greek and Eastern Mediterranean varieties without making you feel like you need a flashcard to order. The by-the-glass selection alone — 18 options, all under $18, featuring producers most wine lists wouldn't touch — makes this worth visiting even before the food arrives. If you eat here and order a Cabernet, that's on you.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
Pearl District · Portland · Italian/Mediterranean
A restaurant list with 15 pours by the glass from $11 to $17 and a bottle list from 40 to 1100, split by country. Start with the Hacienda Lopez de Haro Rioja Crianza '22 at $12, or the Tenuta di Lilliano Chianti Classico '22 at $16 alongside the Radiatore, and confirm prices because the list is undated. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Guilderland · Albany · Italian/Mediterranean
MezzaNote's wine list is a footnote, not a feature — a handful of Italian sparklers priced for the house's benefit, not yours. If you're eating here, order the Rotari, skip the Zenato, and focus on the food.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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