Old-school Staten Island with serious Italian bottles
Staten island · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 20, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Don Cheech Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walk into Don Cheech and the room does the talking first — burgundy booths, chandeliers, a glass wine room visible from the dining area. It's the kind of place where you half-expect a Barolo to show up before the bread basket, and honestly, you wouldn't be wrong to hope for that.
The list runs 100-150 bottles deep and stays squarely in its lane: Italy, top to bottom. Piedmont anchors the serious end with Barolo representation, Brunello di Montalcino holds down Tuscany, and Super Tuscans like Sassicaia and Tignanello make an appearance for the spenders at the table. The lighter side isn't neglected either — Alto Adige Pinot Grigio and Gavi di Gavi give the seafood crowd something worth drinking. It's not an encyclopedic list, but it's a focused one, and Wine Spectator handed them an Award of Excellence in 2024 for good reason.
Ten to sixteen options by the glass is a respectable spread for a neighborhood Italian, and the price range of $10–$18 keeps things accessible without scraping the barrel. We'd like to see more rotation and a few curveball pours beyond the usual suspects, but what's here covers the room well enough.
Chianti Classico Riserva — $45
Chianti Classico Riserva at the lower end of this list's range is almost always a win with Italian food — structured enough to handle red sauce, approachable enough to not need a lecture. At Don Cheech's price point, it's the bottle that earns its keep.
Pinot Grigio (Alto Adige)
Most people walk past Alto Adige Pinot Grigio without a second look because they're thinking of the flat, forgettable stuff. Up in the Alto Adige, the grape actually has spine — minerally, crisp, with real presence. Order it while everyone else argues over the Barolo.
Sassicaia
Sassicaia is a legitimate wine, no argument there — but it's also one of the most universally distributed bottles in the world, and restaurant markups on trophy Super Tuscans can be punishing. Unless someone else is paying, you'll get more pleasure per dollar elsewhere on this list.
Brunello di Montalcino + Linguine Vongola
Hear us out — Brunello is usually a red meat call, but a well-aged one with some secondary savory character against briny clam pasta is a genuinely interesting move. The wine's earthy depth doesn't fight the seafood; it frames it.
The Bottom Line
Don Cheech is a Staten Island neighborhood spot punching above its weight with a tight, Italy-focused list that earned a Wine Spectator nod in its first eligible year. If you're anywhere near Bay Street and want a proper Italian bottle with your dinner, this is the move.
· Eugene · Italian
Excelsior Inn Ristorante has the bones of a solid wine destination — Italian-focused list, upscale setting, food that deserves a proper bottle — but we can't fully vouch for it until the wine program is better documented. If you're heading there for a special occasion, ask your server what's drinking well from the Italian side and what they're pouring locally from Oregon; a restaurant this thoughtful about atmosphere usually has at least one or two right answers.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· San Diego · Italian
An 'enoteca' with five wines is a bit like a steakhouse with one cut. The Italian-focused selection is at least on-theme, and the Aglianico shows someone made at least one interesting call — but five bottles, no whites, and no visible by-the-glass program is hard to defend under any concept, let alone this one. If wine matters to your night out, look elsewhere in San Diego.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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