Forsythia
Italy in a bottle, pasta on the plate
Lower East Side · New York · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 19, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
Walking into this snug Lower East Side spot, the wine list feels like it was written by someone who actually loves Italian wine — not just checked a box. It's tight, purposeful, and doesn't try to be everything to everyone. That restraint is refreshing.
Selection Deep Dive
The list clocks in somewhere between 150 and 250 bottles, but the real story is the editorial discipline: Barolo from Piedmont, Brunello di Montalcino, Chianti Classico, Amarone della Valpolicella, and some genuinely interesting northern pours like Alto Adige Pinot Grigio and Sardinian Vermentino. This isn't a greatest hits compilation — there's a through-line here, a point of view. The gaps you'd expect from a focused Italian list (no sprawling New World section, no token Champagne hedge) are features, not bugs. Wine Spectator handed them an Award of Excellence starting 2025, and it's easy to see why.
By the Glass
Ten to twenty by-the-glass options puts them in solid territory for a room this size. Sommelier Julianny Gomez clearly curates the pours with intention — expect something from the north and the south, a red worth lingering over, and at least one white that won't embarrass itself next to a plate of pasta. Rotation details weren't pinned down, but the program has the bones of someone who pays attention.
Vermentino (Sardinia) — $12
Sardinian Vermentino is chronically underpriced relative to how much pleasure it delivers — herbal, saline, bright — and at the low end of this list's entry point it's a steal before your pasta even arrives.
Pinot Grigio (Alto Adige)
Most people hear Pinot Grigio and mentally check out. Alto Adige's version is a different animal — crisp, mineral, with real structure. It's the bottle that makes guests stop mid-sip and ask what they're drinking.
Amarone della Valpolicella
Amarone is a magnificent wine in the right context, but at a restaurant built around delicate pasta dishes, dropping top dollar on something this big and brooding is fighting the food. Save it for a winter steak dinner somewhere else.
Chianti Classico + Agnolotti with short rib and butter
Chianti Classico's bright acidity and earthy cherry cut straight through the richness of butter-tossed short rib — it's the kind of pairing that feels inevitable once you try it.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Forsythia is a small room doing a focused thing extremely well — if you want a deep dive into Italian wine alongside some of the better pasta in the city, this is absolutely worth the reservation. Send your friends here, but tell them to let Julianny steer.
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