Bricco

Walking into Bricco on Hanover Street, the wine list matches the room — polished, confident, and priced for the tourist-adjacent crowd that packs North End on a Saturday night. The Italian-forward selection is genuinely thoughtful, spanning Piemonte to Campania with real producer names, not just region-generic bottles. But flip to the prices and the good vibes take a hit fast.

The Italian backbone here is legitimate — Batasiolo in Piemonte, Caggiano in Campania, a Barolo by the glass that you don't see everywhere. The list covers serious ground from Friuli whites to Puglia reds, and they've layered in some California heavyweights like Chateau Montelena and Cakebread for guests who won't budge on domestic. What's missing is any real adventure: no natural wine, no orange wine, nothing from Sicily or Alto Adige to push past the expected Italian-American comfort zone. It's a list built to impress on first glance rather than reward the second look.

Ten-plus options by the glass is respectable, and anchoring it with a $24 Barolo from Mauro Molino is a genuine flex — that's a wine worth pouring in a proper setting. The Batasiolo Gavi di Gavi at $16 gives you a clean, credible Piemontese white without breaking the bank by the glass. The rotation doesn't appear to change much, but at least what's there is curated rather than default.