Oceanfront Burgundy Dreams in Paradise
Waikiki · Honolulu · French · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 7, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed La Mer’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at La Mer arrives with the same quiet confidence as the room itself — ocean air, candlelight, and a catalog that opens straight into Burgundy royalty. This is not a list assembled by a food-and-beverage committee hedging bets; it's a list curated by people who actually care. Holding a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence continuously since 2008 isn't an accident.
With somewhere between 400 and 600 selections, the list leans hard into its four pillars — Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne, and California — and doesn't apologize for it. You'll find Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Leroy sitting at the top of the Burgundy section like they own the place, which, effectively, they do. Bordeaux gets the full treatment too: Château Pétrus and Château Margaux represent the trophy end, while the list presumably fills in the middle tiers reasonably well. California isn't an afterthought — Harlan Estate, Opus One, and Kistler Chardonnay signal that the team takes the New World seriously alongside the classics.
The by-the-glass program runs 12 to 20 options, which is respectable for a fine dining room of this size and focus. Expect the pours to skew French and California-forward, with price points that reflect the address. Sommeliers Randall Parker and Taro Kurobe are your best resource here — ask what's open and you may land something worth the flight to Honolulu on its own.
Kistler Chardonnay — $80–$120 (est.)
In a list anchored by four-figure Burgundy, Kistler represents a Chardonnay that actually competes with the big French names at a fraction of the cost. It's the move if you want serious glass of white wine without triggering sticker shock.
Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet
Everyone reaches for DRC and Pétrus on a list like this, but Leflaive's Puligny-Montrachet is quietly one of the most compelling white Burgundies on the planet. Next to the Hawaii seafood preparations, it's the kind of wine that makes you forget what you paid for the flight.
Opus One
Opus One is a fine wine, but it's also one of the most aggressively allocated and restaurant-marked-up bottles in the American market. In a list this deep in Burgundy and Bordeaux, paying a La Mer premium on top of Opus One's already-inflated retail price is a hard sell. Spend that money in France.
Krug Grande Cuvée + Lobster bisque
Krug's Grande Cuvée has enough oxidative richness and toasty complexity to stand up to the depth of a proper lobster bisque without getting buried. It's a pairing that earns the oceanfront table.
The Bottom Line
La Mer is the real deal — a destination wine list in a destination restaurant, backed by a team that clearly knows what they're doing. Yes, the markups sting, but when you're sitting oceanside in Honolulu with a glass of Leflaive in hand, it's difficult to argue with the experience.
Kahala · Honolulu · Italian
Arancino at The Kahala is doing something genuinely unusual for a hotel-adjacent Italian restaurant in Hawaii — it's built a list around obscure Northern Italian producers that most diners won't recognize, and that's exactly the point. Markups are on the steeper side and we can't vouch for glassware or staff knowledge from the available data, but the wine selection itself earns respect. If you know your Nebbiolo from your Barbera, this list rewards attention.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Seafood
Mina's Fish House isn't building a wine program — it's building a dessert wine moment, and that is a genuinely uncommon thing to find at a restaurant of this profile. If you're eating dinner here, you'll need to source your table wine elsewhere on the menu or order cocktails; this list doesn't cover that ground. But if you want to close out a Four Seasons meal in Honolulu with a glass of 2013 Tokaji Aszú or something out of the Madeira cellar, this is a quietly excellent place to do it.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian
Quiora isn't trying to be a wine destination, and it doesn't need to be — it's a 22-label Italian restaurant list on a rooftop in Waikiki with an ocean view doing the heavy lifting. But the list is genuinely considered, the glass-pour selection is deep for the size, and pricing is fair by hotel standards. If you're eating here, drink the Tintero rosato or the Selbach Riesling and enjoy the sunset.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Italian / Californian Coastal
Botanico is doing something genuinely unusual for Waikiki — building an Italian-forward wine list with real regional depth and mostly fair pricing in a place where restaurants routinely treat wine as an afterthought. The by-the-glass program alone is worth a seat at the bar. If you care at all about what's in your glass, this belongs on your radar.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Honolulu · Hawaii Regional
Moku Nui is a casual Hawaii Regional spot that has no business running a wine list this thoughtful — and we mean that as high praise. Fair glass prices, a sommelier clearly making intentional choices, and enough variety to reward the curious drinker. If you're eating here, skip the default beer order and let someone at the table order the Vouvray.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waikiki · Honolulu · Seafood
Azure is a genuinely lovely place to drink wine — the setting does a lot of heavy lifting and the France-Italy-Hawaii focus is a sensible match for the island seafood menu. Just go in knowing resort markup is real, and if the tasting menu with wine pairing is available, that's likely your best shot at getting something memorable poured without having to guess blind from the list.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
River Market · Kansas City · French
A French-led list with 25 two-price wines up front and a long run of Burgundy, Bordeaux and Rhône bottles behind them. Start with the Chinon Le Garenne at 42 or the Cornas 'Granit 60' at 88, ask which number is the glass price, and confirm prices, since the page is undated. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Union Square · San Francisco · French
A 66-page list that starts with a 20-pour glass page and moves quickly into Burgundy, Rhône and Bordeaux bottles priced in the hundreds and thousands, so decide early whether you are drinking by the glass or committing to a bottle. Start with the $20 Chablis or the $23 Corsican red, and confirm today's list because it carries no print date. This unrated guide covers the posted wine list, not service, storage or markups.
Meatpacking District · New York · French
A French wine list with a wide price ladder: $16 glasses, $40 half bottles and $60 full bottles at the bottom, Pétrus and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti at the top. Start with the $16 Famille Coulon Rhône white by the glass, or spend $115 on the Marcel Deiss Alsace pinot noir, and check prices because the two PDFs show different bottle prices for Delos. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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