Albany's Most Serious Italian Wine Room
Downtown Albany · Albany · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 12, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Cafe Capriccio’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
The list arrives and it reads like a love letter to the Italian peninsula — no New World detours, no hedging toward crowd-pleasing Pinot Grigio bulk pours. This is a room that has made a choice, and the choice is Italy, top to bottom.
Piedmont and Tuscany anchor the list with real intent: Barolo, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico Riserva, and Amarone della Valpolicella all make appearances, which tells you someone here is paying attention. Southern Italy shows up too, which keeps the list from feeling like a greatest-hits museum. The 100-150 bottle range is deep enough to reward repeat visits without becoming overwhelming. The gaps are real — if you want anything outside Italy, you're out of luck — but that's a feature, not a bug.
Eight to twelve options is a respectable glass program for a room this focused, and the expectation is they're cycling through the same Italian regions you'd find on the bottle list. That said, we didn't find evidence of a regular rotation or a curated glass program that surprises — what's on the menu is what's on the menu.
Chianti Classico Riserva — Unknown
Chianti Classico Riserva from a focused Italian list at a mid-tier price point is almost always where the kitchen and the cellar shake hands — it's the sweet spot between the house pours and the Brunello.
Southern Italy selection
Most tables at a place like this tunnel-vision straight to Barolo and Brunello. The Southern Italian bottles — lighter on the wallet, just as interesting — are where savvy drinkers quietly do their best work.
Amarone della Valpolicella
Amarone is the kind of wine that restaurants mark up aggressively because the name carries weight. Unless you know the specific producer and price is right, this is the line item most likely to sting on the check.
Barolo + House pasta with braised meat
Barolo's high tannin and acid structure is basically engineered for slow-cooked meat and house-made pasta — the fat and richness of the dish tames the wine's edge and lets the fruit come forward.
The Bottom Line
Cafe Capriccio is the kind of neighborhood Italian that Albany doesn't deserve to have this good — the wine list is thoughtful, Italy-first, and built for the food. The markups aren't doing anyone any favors, but if you pick smart, this is a genuinely rewarding room to drink in.
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Ama Cocina isn't a destination wine bar, but it's a Wild Card worth respecting — a food-forward Latin spot that actually thought about its wine list instead of phoning it in. Come for the tacos, order the Albariño, and be pleasantly surprised.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Warehouse District/Riverfront · Albany · Wine Bar / American Small Plates
The Shaker & Vine is Albany's best argument for the self-pour wine bar format — the markup is shockingly fair, the riverside setting earns its keep, and the list is approachable without being embarrassing. Don't come hunting for rare producers, but do come for a relaxed pour with a view.
Solid Range
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Colonie · Albany · Classic Italian-American
Lombardo's wine list is the culinary equivalent of a comfortable booth — nothing revelatory, but nothing offensive, and it gets the job done alongside a plate of baked ziti. Send a friend here for the food and tell them to order the Barolo if they want to feel like they tried.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Albany · Albany · Steakhouse / Lounge
677 Prime Lounge is the wine list equivalent of a perfectly cooked strip steak — nothing surprising, nothing wrong, everything exactly where you expect it to be. If you're in Albany and someone else is buying, order the Silver Oak and enjoy the room; if you're watching your tab, lean on Jordan and don't let them upsell you to Caymus.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Albany · Albany · Traditional Greek and Mediterranean
Athos isn't trying to build the most ambitious wine program in New York State — it's trying to give you an honest Greek wine experience to go with honest Greek food, and it largely delivers. If you're eating moussaka and lamb in Albany, this is where your glass should be.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Albany · Albany · Modern American fine dining with Indonesian accents
Yono's is the best wine program in Albany and it's not particularly close — a thousand-label cellar, a sommelier who knows it, and a room built for the occasion. The markups are real and the by-the-glass list plays it safer than the cellar deserves, but if you're willing to lean on the staff and spend a little, this is one of the more serious wine experiences in upstate New York.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Atlanta · Italian
Bici's wine list won't knock you sideways, but it's honest, Italian-focused, and fairly priced — a reliable partner to the food. We'd send a friend here and tell them to skip the Sauvignon Blanc and go straight for the Greco.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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The Best Italian's wine list does exactly what it needs to do: keep casual diners happy, not drain wallets, and get out of the way of the garlic knots. We wouldn't drive to Gatlinburg for the wine, but if you're already there and want something decent with dinner, you'll be fine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Vail Village · Vail · Italian
La Nonna brings a legitimately serious Italian cellar to a town where most restaurants are content to coast on their ski-town captive audience — and that deserves real credit. The markups are steep across the board, but the bones of the list are strong enough that the right bottle makes the whole evening.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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