Eight Bottles, Zero Apologies, All Conviction
· Healdsburg · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 23, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Ciao Bruto’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Eight wines. That's the whole list. Most restaurants would call that a flight menu — Ciao Bruto calls it a wine program, and honestly? They've got a point. Every single bottle here was picked with intention, and at prices that top out at $60/bottle, this is one of the more honest wine lists in Healdsburg.
The list leans hard into Italian varieties — Montepulciano, Sangiovese, Verdeca, Grillo, Nero d'Avola — but it's not a greatest-hits tour of the boot. Occhipinti SP68 Rosso and Caruso e Minini Grillo Bio signal that whoever curated this knows the conversation happening in natural and low-intervention Italian wine right now. There's a detour into the Valle d'Aosta with Cave Mont Blanc's Blanc de Morgex, a high-altitude alpine white that almost no one in Northern California bothers to stock. Local producers get a nod too, with Jupiter Wine Co. showing up twice and Rancho Coda and Delphinium representing Sonoma County's more experimental side. The gap is obvious — no Barolo, no Nebbiolo, no Champagne — but this list isn't trying to be everything. It's trying to be interesting, and it succeeds.
By-the-glass options aren't confirmed from the available data, so we can't tell you what's being poured by the stem. Given the bottle pricing starts at $15, even if the list is bottle-only, the damage is minimal — grab a friend and split something.
The Bottom Line
Ciao Bruto is running one of the smallest and most coherent wine lists in wine country, which is either audacious or brilliant — probably both. If you want a 200-label deep-dive, go somewhere else. If you want eight smart picks at prices that won't make you wince, this is the move in Healdsburg.
· Healdsburg · Wine Bar
Maison is what happens when someone builds a wine bar list with genuine curiosity instead of a regional checklist — you're in the heart of Sonoma Wine Country and the list keeps pointing you toward Mosel Riesling, Douro whites, and 1934 Madeira. The by-the-glass program alone justifies a visit, and the pricing is fair enough that you can explore without flinching. If you're in Healdsburg and you actually care about wine, this is the stop.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · New American
The Spinster Sisters are doing something genuinely unusual in Healdsburg: running an adventurous, globally-minded wine list at prices that don't make you do math before ordering a second glass. If you care even a little about wine, this list is worth your time — and if you're a local Sonoma drinker who wants to try something that isn't another Valley Chardonnay, this is exactly the detour you've been looking for.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Seafood
The Marshall Store earns its reputation as a low-key, scenic spot for fresh West Coast oysters and smoked salmon — and if that's your mission, it delivers. But the wine program is effectively an afterthought: undocumented, uncurated, and not a reason to visit. Bring a bottle from one of the Healdsburg producers down the road, check the corkage policy at the door, and spend your energy on the food.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Geyserville · Healdsburg · Italian
Diavola earns its Wild Card badge because it's a wood-fired pizza joint that punches well above its weight on wine — sommelier on staff, regional focus, and a setting that practically demands you order a second glass. We can't give you the bottle-by-bottle breakdown until we get eyes on a current list, but the bones here are good enough to say: don't just order a beer and move on.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Healdsburg · Italian
Ca'Bianca is a genuinely lovely place to eat, and if the food lives up to its reputation for house-made pasta and classic Italian technique, a bottle of something from the list is absolutely worth ordering. We just can't tell you exactly which bottle to order yet — the wine program's specifics aren't publicly documented well enough for us to make a confident call. When in doubt, ask your server what's local and what they're excited about, and go from there.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Global small plates
Bird & The Bottle is doing something genuinely unusual: a near-complete by-the-glass program, fair pricing in an unfair wine country market, and a list that rewards curious drinkers willing to stray from the obvious. We'd send any friend here who wants to drink well without the Healdsburg sticker shock.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Italian
If you're visiting Healdsburg for the wine — and why else are you there — The Union Hotel's list isn't the reason to sit down. The Montepulciano and the Albarino are the most interesting things on a short, cautious list that plays it extremely safe for a town surrounded by world-class vineyards. Order a bottle, enjoy your dinner, and save the serious wine exploration for a tasting room down the street.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Historic Norcross · Norcross · Italian
Dominick's isn't trying to be a wine destination, and that's fine — the list is priced fairly, available almost entirely by the glass, and has a few genuinely good bottles mixed in with the crowd-pleasers. If you're in Norcross and want a solid glass of Allegrini with your pasta without paying downtown Atlanta prices, this works.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Sandy Springs · Sandy Springs · Italian
Il Giallo is doing something genuinely unexpected for suburban Atlanta: building a focused, Italy-first wine list with real regional depth and glass prices that don't insult you. We'd send a friend here specifically for the wine, which is not something we say about many osterie north of Buckhead.
Surprising Depth
Fair
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.
List Variety
Markup
Glassware
Staff
Specials & Deals
Storage & Temp
