Eight Wines, Zero Producers, All Questions
· Sacramento · Tapas / Wine Bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 22, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Karma Brew’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Karma Brew is eight lines long — and not in a curated, every-bottle-earns-its-spot way. It reads more like a category placeholder: Sparkling France, Rosé Australia, Red USA. No producers, no grapes, no vintage. Just vibes and a flat $9 price tag across the board.
To Karma Brew's credit, they've covered the bases geographically — France, Italy, Spain, Australia, USA — and hit the major color groups: sparkling, rosé, white, red. But coverage isn't curation. Without knowing who made the French white or what grape the Spanish red is built on, there's no way to know if this list is a hidden treasure or a distributor's clearance rack. Two sparkling options is a nice touch for a tapas-forward spot, but the lack of any producer transparency makes it impossible to get excited.
Everything is by the glass here — all eight wines, all $9. That flat pricing is genuinely democratic and makes the math easy. The problem is you're essentially ordering blind: you know the country and color, and that's it. For a wine bar, that's a significant ask of a guest.
The Bottom Line
At $9 a glass across the board, the pricing is about the only thing we can confidently praise here. Until Karma Brew tells us what's actually in the bottle, this is a coin flip dressed up as a wine program.
· Sacramento · Wine bar
Nine Spanish wines, fair prices, and zero apologies — The Nook is a wild card worth taking. If you want a broad international list, look elsewhere; if you want a focused, confident program that actually knows what it's doing, pull up a stool.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sacramento · Italian
Aiona's wine list is doing more than most Italian restaurants would dare — global picks, fair glass prices, and a genuine point of view that rewards curious drinkers. Send a friend here and tell them to ignore the obvious choices.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Sacramento · French cafe / wine bar
Franquette is what happens when someone who actually cares about wine opens a small café and refuses to phone in the list. Ten bottles, nine by the glass, all French (almost), fairly priced — send your friends here and tell them to order the Crémant first.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Midtown · Sacramento · Cocktail Bar / Irish-Influenced Bar with Snacks
The Snug is a cocktail bar first and a wine destination never — but for what it is, the wine list is shockingly well-curated and worth exploring if you're the one at the table who doesn't want a Negroni. Don't come here for a deep wine night; do come here knowing the glass of Gamay you order between cocktails will be better than it has any right to be.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Midtown · Sacramento · New American, seasonal farm-to-table
Mulvaney's is doing something genuinely unusual for Sacramento: serious grower Champagne and left-field regional picks in a converted firehouse that doesn't take itself too seriously. If you eat here and order the house red without looking at this list, that's on you.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown · Sacramento · Seafood
Scott's Seafood is a safe, solid choice for a riverfront dinner where you want to pop some bubbles without thinking too hard — just don't come here expecting the wine list to match the view. Stick to the sparkling section and you'll leave happy.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Springfield · Tapas / Wine Bar
The MGM Springfield Tapas Lounge is a perfectly acceptable place to drink wine if you're already at the casino — just don't expect the list to excite you or the markups to be kind. Order by the glass, keep it simple, and save your serious wine curiosity for somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Town Square · Jackson Hole · Tapas / Wine Bar
Bin22 is the wine bar that has no business being this good in the middle of Wyoming ski country, and that's exactly why we're sending people here. If you're in Jackson Hole and you care about what's in your glass, this is the only address that matters.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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