Butcher shop meets your new favorite wine nerd
Los Angeles · Wine Bar / Butcher Shop · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 22, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Butchr Bar’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
A butcher shop that also runs an 18-bottle wine program heavy on obscure grapes and natural producers is not a sentence we expected to write, but here we are. The list reads like it was curated by someone who actually gets excited about wine, not someone who just ordered from a distributor catalog. Chenin Blanc, Pet Nat Regent, Arneis, Chasselas, Abouriou — this thing has range.
The list is small at 18 labels but punches well above its weight in terms of category diversity — bubbles, orange, white, and red all get proper representation. France dominates but not lazily: you've got a Grenache Gris from Mas Champart, a Chasselas from Ça Boit Libre, and a Terret Bourret/Picpoul blend from La Baladeuse that most somms wouldn't even recognize. Italy shows up with a Barolo, a Piedmontese Arneis, and a Castello Di Uviglie Barbera/Pinot Noir blend. The Absentee Winery multi-varietal field blend — Pink Carignan, Syrah, Zinfandel, Petite Syrah, and Abouriou — is the kind of wine that makes you ask questions. Bottle pricing tops out at $120 for the Barolo and a Marselan, which is steep but not offensive given the provenance of everything else.
Nine by-the-glass options at $14–$19 is a solid deal for a list this thoughtful. Half the bottle list being available by the glass means you can actually explore without committing to a full bottle of something weird — which is the correct way to run a program like this. We'd go straight for the Deux Punks De La Soif, a blend of Chardonnay, Malvasia, Assyrtiko, Picpoul, and Bourboulenc that sounds like a dare and drinks like a revelation.
Brangero Centofile Arneis 2024 — $56
The cheapest bottle on the list and it's a Piedmontese Arneis from a solid producer — not a throwaway entry-level pick. At $56 you're getting a grape most people can't name, from a region that commands respect. That's a win.
Deux Punks De La Soif Chardonnay, Malvasia, Assyrtiko, Picpoul, Bourboulenc, Sevillon 2023
Five grapes from what appears to be a southern French producer nobody's heard of — this is exactly the kind of bottle that gets ignored because it's impossible to categorize. That's precisely why you should order it.
Château Du Centenaire, Christian De Rivel Gran Marselan Marselan
At $120, this Marselan is the priciest bottle on the list and a tough sell when the Barolo next to it at the same price has a much clearer value story. Marselan is a hybrid grape with limited track record — not the place to drop your top dollar here.
Cacciatore D'uve Carmenere 2020 + Butcher's cut of the day
Carmenere has that savory, herbaceous edge with enough dark fruit to stand up to a serious piece of meat. In a butcher shop setting, this is almost too obvious — but obvious in the best way.
The Bottom Line
Butchr Bar is doing something genuinely different: a tight, weird, well-priced wine list in a space where you'd expect a refrigerator of craft beer. Go for the Arneis, stay for the field blends, and don't overthink it.
· Los Angeles · California small plates
If this four-wine snapshot is the full extent of AOC's current public-facing wine program, it doesn't come close to living up to the restaurant's wine bar billing. The pricing is fair and the Vinho Verde earns its spot, but four uniform options with no dish context and no visible deeper list is not what you go to a place called AOC expecting. Come for the reputation — just hope the full list is hiding somewhere.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Beverly Hills · Los Angeles · Italian Seafood
Marea Beverly Hills brings genuine depth and regional curiosity to a wine list that could have easily coasted on crowd-pleasing Pinot Grigio and overpriced Super Tuscans — and it didn't. The markups are high, as expected for this zip code, and without clearer intel on staff knowledge or specials programming, the full experience is harder to guarantee. But the list itself earns serious respect, and if you navigate it well — start with the Strasserhof, finish with the Rossese — you'll drink far better than most tables around you.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Proper
Beverly Hills · Los Angeles · Prime rib and steakhouse
Lawry's is a Los Angeles institution and the prime rib is genuinely the point — the wine list exists to support that experience, not steal the show. If you hit the weekday happy hour window between 5 and 6 PM, you might find the value equation improves considerably. Come for the beef, enjoy whatever Cab they pour, and don't expect the list to surprise you.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
West Hollywood · Los Angeles · Italian and French Café
Bottega Louie West Hollywood is a solid, reliable choice when you want wine that doesn't distract from the occasion — the room, the company, the cannoli. The Sunday half-price glass program is the single most compelling reason to choose this spot specifically for wine, and we'd encourage you to use it. Just don't expect the list to surprise you; this is a place that knows its audience and plays to them without apology.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
West Adams · Los Angeles · Italian pasta
Cento is a destination for the pasta first, and the wine list seems to know its supporting role without phoning it in. We'd want a verified menu in hand before steering you toward specific bottles, but the regional focus and the evident care in the room give us real confidence this isn't a place that treats wine as an afterthought. Go for the spicy pomodoro, ask what's pouring by the glass, and let the night unfold.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Los Angeles · French tasting menu
Mélisse is a destination for Champagne completists willing to pay fine dining prices for the privilege of choosing between four Philipponnat vintages or three Krug editions in a single sitting. But if you're hoping for a wine list that matches the ambition of a French tasting menu — with depth across regions and styles — the narrowness here will leave you wanting. Come for the bubbles, manage your expectations for everything else.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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