Italy in a bottle, pasta on the plate
Lower East Side · New York · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Updated September 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 19, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Forsythia’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
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.
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.
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.
NoHo · New York · Italian
Il Buco has one of the most compelling Italian wine lists in New York City — deep, principled, and staffed by people who actually care. The markup is real, so budget accordingly, but this is a room worth splurging in.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown · New York · Steakhouse
STK Downtown is a place where people order Champagne to celebrate, not to drink — and the wine program is built accordingly. If you're here for the vibe and someone else is paying, pop the Dom and enjoy it; if you actually care about what's in your glass, you're in the wrong room.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown · New York · Upscale Seafood & Steakhouse
Three happy hour wines do not a wine program make. Ocean Prime is a place you eat well and drink safely — but if wine is a priority, this list will let you down before the bread basket arrives.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
Midtown · New York · Steakhouse
STK Midtown is a great place to see and be seen, but the wine list is there to pad the check, not to excite you. If you're here for the experience, lean on the cocktails or grab a glass of Bonanza at the bar — don't expect the bottle list to reward any real curiosity.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown West · New York · Russian-American
The Russian Tea Room treats wine as an afterthought dressed up in Champagne flutes — five famous labels at punishing prices with no range, no by-the-glass program, and no apparent curiosity about wine beyond what looks impressive on a table. Go for the spectacle, order the caviar, but don't come here expecting a wine list.
Grocery Store
Gouge
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
David Burke Tavern's list is a Chardonnay lover's comfort zone with a solid sparkling section propping up the top — but the narrow focus and steep pricing mean you're paying for familiarity, not discovery. Send a friend here if they want California whites and a glass of Champagne; send them somewhere else if they want to explore.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Italian
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.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
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
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