Italy and Washington State, sharing a table
Lower Queen Anne · Seattle · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 9, 2026
RagingWine reviewed How to Cook a Wolf’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at How to Cook a Wolf reads like it was built by someone who actually eats Italian food — not someone trying to impress a table of collectors. It's compact, confident, and doesn't waste your time with filler. The Italy-forward focus fits the room, and the presence of Washington State bottles alongside the imports shows a little regional pride without turning into a local wine manifesto.
The list runs 60 to 100 bottles deep, anchored by Italian heavy hitters like Barolo and Barbaresco on one end and lighter, food-friendly options like Vermentino and Sicilian Nero d'Avola on the other. That range is exactly right for a place built around shareable pastas and small plates — you can go serious or go easy depending on the night. Washington Sangiovese earns its spot as a smart bridge between the Italian roots of the menu and the local sourcing ethos. What's missing is any adventurous reach into lesser-known Italian regions — no Etna Rosso, no Friuli — but for a neighborhood restaurant at this price point, that's a quibble, not a complaint.
Eight to fourteen pours by the glass is a respectable spread, and the mix likely tracks the bottle list — some Italian whites, a couple of reds, and at least one Washington option keeping the locals happy. Rotation appears limited, so don't expect the list to surprise you on a return visit. That said, if the Vermentino is on pour, it's a no-brainer with the pasta course.
Washington Sangiovese — $40–$55
Washington Sangiovese is still underpriced relative to its quality, and at a restaurant built around Italian food, it makes more sense here than almost anywhere else. It's the kind of bottle that punches well above its price tag and makes everyone at the table look smart for ordering it.
Sicilian Nero d'Avola
Most tables will gravitate toward the Barolo and ignore this completely — which is a mistake. Nero d'Avola is darker and earthier than its reputation suggests, and it holds up beautifully against anything rich and braised on the menu. It's also almost certainly the better value in the red column.
Barolo
Barolo on a restaurant list at a $30-and-under casual spot almost always means you're paying a steep premium for a wine that needs another five years in a cellar anyway. Unless this one is priced like a gift, the money goes further elsewhere on this list.
Vermentino + Fresh house-made pasta
Vermentino's bright acidity and slight saline edge cut right through the butter and olive oil in fresh pasta without overpowering it. It's a textbook match that actually works in practice — crisp, clean, and it makes you want another pour before the plate is empty.
The Bottom Line
How to Cook a Wolf is doing the right things with wine without making a big deal about it — a focused Italian-leaning list, fair prices, and enough by-the-glass options to keep things interesting. Send a friend here and tell them to skip the Barolo and order the Nero d'Avola.
Belltown · Seattle · Pizza
Belltown Pizza's wine list won't be the reason you come back, but it also won't be the reason you're annoyed. Fair prices, local representation, and just enough Italian to make sense — it does the job without making you think too hard.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Eastlake · Seattle · Italian
Serafina is a reliable Italian neighborhood spot with a wine list that matches its ambitions — cozy, competent, and a little expensive for what it is. Send a friend here for the pasta and Nebbiolo, but warn them to steer clear of the Prosecco markups.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Capitol Hill · Seattle · French / Northwest Seafood and Wine Bar
Bar Melusine is what Capitol Hill needed more of: a focused, France-forward wine program that actually earns its place next to the food. If you're eating oysters in Seattle, this should be in your regular rotation.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Magnolia · Seattle · Italian
Picolinos is the kind of neighborhood Italian where the wine list genuinely backs up the food, and that's rarer than it should be. Send your friends here if they want a proper Barolo with their osso buco without flying to Turin.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Pike Place Market · Seattle · Italian-American with Northwest influence
The Pink Door is a reliable wine list in a genuinely great room — the atmosphere does a lot of heavy lifting, and the wine program is good enough not to get in the way of a memorable evening. Just watch the markups, stick to the Italian bottles, and let the trapeze act do the rest.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Capitol Hill · Seattle · Modern steakhouse with French-influenced Pacific Northwest cuisine
Bateau is the rare steakhouse where the wine list earns as much attention as what's on the butcher board. Markups keep it from being a total steal, but the depth, the staff, and the Pacific Northwest-first perspective make this one worth the splurge.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· 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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