Hawaii's Most Unexpected Wine List, Full Stop
· Honolulu · New American · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 15, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Fête’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
You open the wine list at Fête expecting something safe and tropical-adjacent — maybe a predictable Pinot Grigio and a big California Cab — and instead you get Txakolina, Bugey Cerdon, and two César Florido Sherries staring back at you. This is not a restaurant that defaulted to a distributor's top-sellers list. Someone here genuinely cares, and it shows immediately.
The 69-bottle list reads like a greatest hits of the natural and low-intervention world, with serious Old World credibility across France, Italy, and Spain. Loire Valley gets real love — Pepière's Muscadet and Jacky Preys' Touraine Silex are both on the glass list, which almost never happens outside a dedicated wine bar. There's a Rhône thread running through (Thomas Farge's St. Joseph Marsanne, La Cabotte's Grenache-Syrah), Occhipinti SP68 for the Sicily obsessives, and Produttori del Barbaresco — one of Piedmont's most reliable co-ops — representing the serious end. The one genuine gap is depth on the bottle side for old vintages or more esoteric appellations, but for a restaurant in Honolulu, this list is frankly remarkable.
Twenty-six options by the glass is a legitimately impressive number, and the quality skews way above what you'd expect at most price points. The BTG program is organized thoughtfully — Rosé/Skin Contact, White, Red, Reserve Red, Sparkling — and there are almost no filler picks in the bunch. At $13–$26 for most pours, this is where Fête really delivers.
Pepiere La Pepie Muscadet Sevre et Maine Sur Lie 2023 — $13/glass
Muscadet on a Honolulu wine list is already a win; Pepière's 'La Pepie' at $13 a glass is the kind of value that makes you want to order two. It's briny, focused, and does everything you want from a white with seafood. At this price, it's almost rude not to order it.
Alberto Orte Vara Y Pulgar Tintillo Jerez 2022
Most people will walk right past a Tintillo from Jerez and grab a Zinfandel or the Barbaresco. That's their loss. This is a rare red wine from the Sherry region made from Tintilla de Rota — a grape most wine nerds have never even heard of. Earthy, slightly oxidative, and completely unlike anything else on the list.
Nicolas Maillart Platine 1er Cru Champagne
At $35 a glass, the Maillart is a real Champagne from a real producer — no complaints there. But unless you're celebrating something, you're getting dramatically less wine for your money than everything else on this list. The Bugey Cerdon or the Gondolino Prosecco will scratch the bubbles itch for a fraction of the price.
Txomin Etxaniz Txakolina 2025 + Any raw bar or seafood starter on the menu
Txakolina's high acid and faint spritz make it one of the best raw-bar wines on earth — it cuts through brine and fat without overpowering delicate seafood. At $16 a glass in Honolulu, where fresh fish is never an afterthought, this is the obvious first pour of the night.
The Bottom Line
Fête is quietly running one of the most interesting wine programs in the state of Hawaii, and most people eating there probably have no idea. If you care at all about what's in your glass, this is worth the trip.
· Honolulu · Steakhouse
Morton's Honolulu gives you a competent, Cabernet-saturated list that will reliably satisfy the guest who came for a big steak and a big red — just don't expect any surprises, and watch the markup on the entry-level bottles. Send a friend here if they want comfort, not if they want discovery.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Latin American / Tasting Menu
El Cielo earns its reputation on atmosphere and food, but the wine program is a black box — and in a city where you're already paying tourist-tier prices, a list you can't see or trust is a list you should probably skip. Order a cocktail and save the wine night for somewhere that wants to earn it.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikīkī · Honolulu · Steakhouse
Ruth's Chris Waikīkī is a dependable splurge for steak night, but the wine list is corporate comfort food — Napa-forward, markup-heavy, and unlikely to surprise you. If wine is the point of your evening, this isn't your destination; if steak is the point, it'll get the job done.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Proper
Waikiki · Honolulu · Seafood / Steak
Chart House Waikiki is giving you a safe harbor, not a destination — the list is functional, the by-the-glass selection is surprisingly broad, and a couple of smart picks exist if you know where to look. Come for the ocean views and the fish; just don't expect the wine list to match the scenery.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Honolulu · Honolulu · Hotel Wine Bar
Vintage 1901 is a well-organized hotel wine bar doing exactly what it should — giving visitors something better than the minibar without demanding too much effort or knowledge. The port program is legitimately great and worth your time; the rest of the list is competent, if a little sleepy on value.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Rooftop Wine Bar
Tchin Tchin is a perfectly pleasant place to drink wine with a view, and nearly everything being available by the glass means you can graze without committing to a bottle. Just don't come expecting discovery — come expecting a solid pour and a great sunset.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Yountville · New American
The Charter Oak's wine program is a quiet act of restraint in a town that usually goes big or goes home. Eighteen glasses, fair prices, and enough range to reward curiosity — the Gamay alone is worth the detour. If you're eating in Yountville and don't want to spend your evening navigating a 200-bottle list or getting upsold into triple-digit Cab territory, this is your room.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vail · New American
Larkspur has the bones of a Reliable — a thoughtful regional spread, a polished dining room, and a kitchen putting out serious plates like the Creekstone Farms strip loin and Ahi tuna crudo that deserve equally serious wine. We just don't have enough list detail to hand you a confident pick or warn you off a specific bottle. If you're heading here, ask the server what's drinking well right now and set a firm price ceiling before you open the book — Vail markups are real and they are not shy.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vail · New American
Harvest clears the bar that most ski town wine lists don't even bother approaching — there are real producers, genuine regional diversity, and a by-the-glass program with actual depth. Markups skew steep, as expected in Vail, but the J.L. Chave and the Madeira show that someone on staff is paying attention. If you're eating here, don't default to whatever's loudest on the list — dig into the by-the-glass section and you'll be rewarded.
Solid Range
Steep
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.
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