Serious Wine Hiding Behind the Spicy Tuna
Palm Beach · West Palm Beach · Japanese and Asian-inspired cuisine, sushi and small plates · Visit Website ↗
Updated September 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 5, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Imoto’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The list at Imoto catches you off guard in the best way. You're in a dimly lit, chic sushi lounge expecting a roster of safe Sancerres and grocery-store Pinot Grigio, and instead you find Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs, Alsatian Riesling, and skin-contact whites sharing space on the same menu. Someone here actually gives a damn about wine.
The list clocks in at somewhere between 60 and 100 labels — small by fine dining standards, but curated with real intention. Champagne and Alsace anchor the whites, which makes a lot of sense for the food here. The Domaine Weinbach Riesling is a sharp pick for a sushi-forward menu. California shows up with producers like Matthiasson doing interesting things (skin-fermented white, not just another Chardonnay), and Burgundy rounds out the old-world side. The Sashi Pinot Noir covers the lighter red end if you're the one at the table who refuses to drink white with raw fish. The gaps are real — South America, Spain, and anything remotely adventurous beyond the Austrian whisper are mostly absent — but what's here is intentional.
The by-the-glass program runs 12 to 20 options, with pours ranging from $14 to $28 — above average for the format but not obscene for Palm Beach. The range appears to hit both the approachable and the genuinely interesting ends of the list. If the Matthiasson Skin-Fermented White is pouring by the glass, that's where you start.
Domaine Weinbach Riesling Alsace — $50–$80 (bottle estimate based on range)
Domaine Weinbach is one of Alsace's great producers, and Riesling is arguably the perfect food wine for sushi — high acidity, zero oak, clean finish. Getting this with a spread of spicy tuna and pork belly buns is the move.
Matthiasson Skin-Fermented White
Most tables at Imoto are ordering Champagne or something safe. The Matthiasson skin-contact white is the pick that most people overlook — textured, saline, and genuinely interesting with the heavier umami-forward dishes on the menu. It's the kind of wine you remember.
Sashi Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir at a sushi lounge in Palm Beach is almost always a concession to the guest who won't drink white wine. The Sashi is fine, but you're paying a Palm Beach markup on a bottle that doesn't fit the menu as well as anything else on this list. Order it at home — here, go white or go bubbles.
Billecart-Salmon Blanc de Blancs Champagne + Spicy Tuna Crispy Rice
Blanc de Blancs Champagne is all Chardonnay — lean, precise, high acid, and loaded with fine bubbles that cut straight through the richness of the spicy tuna and the crunch of the rice. Billecart-Salmon is one of the benchmark houses for this style. This is the table order.
The Bottom Line
Imoto earns its Wild Card badge because nobody expects a sushi lounge in Palm Beach to stock Domaine Weinbach and skin-fermented California whites — and yet here we are. Markups run on the steeper side (this is Palm Beach, after all), but the list has genuine personality and a sommelier who clearly put in the work. Go for the spicy tuna, stay for the Blanc de Blancs.
Palm Beach Gardens · West Palm Beach · Steakhouse
The Capital Grille Palm Beach Gardens is a reliable wine stop if you're already there for the steak — just don't expect the list to excite you. Lean toward the glass pours, chase the value picks, and avoid the temptation to drop $30 on that Orin Swift.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Worth Avenue · West Palm Beach · French / Bistro
Le Bilboquet Palm Beach is a safe, French-focused list that suits its dressed-up crowd without pushing anyone toward something new or surprising. Send a friend here for the vibe and the steak frites — just go in knowing the wine spend will feel steeper than it probably should.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· West Palm Beach · Wine Bar / Tasting Room
If you want to spend an afternoon actually understanding Willamette Valley wine across a single focused producer, there's no better setup in West Palm Beach. Just don't show up expecting a world tour — this room has a point of view and it's Oregon, all the way down.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· West Palm Beach · Italian
Cafe Sapori's wine list is a reliable Italian-leaning companion — not adventurous, not cheap, but curated enough that the right picks reward you. Skip the Whispering Angel, dig into the Tuscans, and you'll leave satisfied.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· West Palm Beach · New American
Kitchen West Palm has no business having the Casanova di Neri Brunello and the Ménard-Geborit Muscadet on the same 13-bottle list — and yet here we are. It's small, priced fairly, and clearly curated by someone who actually drinks wine. Send a friend, order the Ridge.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· West Palm Beach · Wine Bar / Lounge
Le Bar is a stripped-down concept that works because the six bottles it chose are actually worth drinking — unusual for a lounge where wine is often an afterthought. If you want depth, go elsewhere. If you want a smart glass of something Italian while you decompress, this earns its keep.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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