Nine Pours, Zero Apologies, All Natural
· Los Angeles · Wine Bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 18, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Buvons’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Nine wines on the whole list — and we mean the whole list. That kind of restraint either signals laziness or conviction, and at Buvons it's clearly the latter. Every slot is earning its place.
This is a tightly curated natural wine bar doing exactly what it says it's doing. You've got grower Champagne from Emmanuel Lassaigne, a skin-contact orange from Mae Son, a macerated Chardonnay from Les Lunes, and Marcel Lapierre's Raisins Gaulois holding down the Gamay corner — this is not a list built by a distributor rep on autopilot. The geographic spread is real: Loire, Beaujolais, Abruzzo, Catalonia, and beyond. What's missing is depth in any single region, but that's the trade-off when you curate this tight.
Everything is by the glass — all nine, every time — which means there's no bottle program to fall back on and no hiding. At $14–$25 a pour, the pricing is honest for what you're getting, especially when Lassaigne Champagne tops out the list rather than some anonymous Prosecco. Rotation appears limited, but the current lineup doesn't need much help.
Marcel Lapierre Raisins Gaulois 2025 — $14/glass
Lapierre is one of the foundational names in natural Beaujolais, and getting his Raisins Gaulois for $14 a glass is genuinely good value. Light, crunchy, carbonically charming — this is the pour you order twice.
Oriol Rossell Cava Brut Nature 2024
Most people sleep on Spanish sparkling wine and reach for the Champagne. Don't. This Brut Nature Cava from Catalonia is bone dry and textured in a way that punches well above its $14 price point. It's the smartest order on the menu.
Emmanuel Lassaigne Vignes de Montgueux
This is genuinely great Champagne — Blanc de Blancs from a top grower in the Aube — so 'skip' is relative. But at $25 a glass you're paying restaurant Champagne pricing for something you could find retail. Order it if you're celebrating; otherwise the Cava at $14 scratches the same itch for a lot less.
Nicolas Reau Attention Chenin Mechant 2024 + Any cheese or charcuterie board on offer
Loire Chenin with real texture and acid is basically built for a spread of aged cheese and cured meat. The wine's tension cuts fat and the fruit plays off savory without getting in the way.
The Bottom Line
Buvons is for people who already know what natural wine is and want nine well-chosen pours without a 50-page list getting in the way. If that's you, you'll feel right at home.
· 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
· San Jose · Wine Bar
Rootstock is doing something genuinely uncommon for San Jose: building a wine list with a real perspective, fair prices, and enough depth to reward repeat visits. The pét-nat and multi-vintage Reeve presence alone put it ahead of most dedicated wine bars in the Bay. If you care about what's in your glass, this place deserves your attention.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Telluride · Wine Bar
Communion is a focused, deliberate wine bar that built a short list with real intention — anchored on Leitz, punctuated by a standout Chave Selections white, and thoughtful enough to include non-alcoholic options alongside the serious stuff. We don't have pricing data to confirm value, and the list is compact enough that adventurous drinkers may want more range — but what's here is chosen with care. If you're in Telluride and want wine that someone actually thought about, this is your stop.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Downtown St. Helena · St. Helena · Wine Bar
Elsewhere is doing something genuinely useful in St. Helena: giving people a place to drink well after dinner without the pageantry of a tasting room or the markup theater of a hotel bar. We can't confirm every bottle or price point from here, but a sommelier-driven list with Napa, Burgundy, and Bordeaux range plus honest small plates earns a look. Go in, talk to the staff, and let them guide you — that's exactly what this kind of place is built for.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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