Serious Italian Cellar in a Ski Town
Vail Village · Vail · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 28, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed La Nonna’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at La Nonna hits you like a well-curated Italian-American love letter — Barolo adjacents, Super Tuscans, and enough Napa heavyweights to keep the ski crowd happy. At 120 labels, it's not massive, but it's doing real work. The price ceiling is sky-high, which sets the tone fast.
The Italian section is the clear star here — Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Asili', Gaja Barbaresco, Biondi-Santi Brunello, Ornellaia, and Tignanello all make the cut, which is a genuinely strong showing for a mountain-town trattoria. The California side isn't just an afterthought either: Far Niente, Opus One, and Saxum's James Berry Vineyard fill out the Cab and beyond category. There are a few wild-card picks tucked in — the Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2001 is a legitimate stunner that most tables will walk right past. Gaps exist: the by-the-glass program is undocumented and Burgundy, Rhône, and Southern Italian are largely missing.
By-the-glass specifics aren't published, which is frustrating for a list of this ambition — it's hard to know if the pours rotate or if you're stuck with three defaults. Given the bottle-heavy focus and high floor prices, we'd ask the server directly before assuming there's a glass worth ordering. If there's a Deltetto Roero Arneis or something from their Piedmont inventory poured by the glass, jump on it.
Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Asili' 2019 — $225
One of the most respected co-op Barbarescos on the planet, the Asili cru is iron-fisted elegance. Retail on this typically runs $90-$110, so yes, the markup stings — but relative to everything else on this list, it's the bottle that actually delivers the most wine per dollar. Order it, let it breathe, drink it with the mushroom ravioli.
Emidio Pepe Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2001
A 2001 Emidio Pepe on a restaurant list in Vail is genuinely unexpected. Pepe is one of Italy's most uncompromising, biodynamic, zero-intervention producers, and a wine this old from that house is a rare find outside of serious wine bars. Most tables will skip straight to Tignanello or Opus One without a second glance. That's a mistake.
Ruinart Blanc de Blancs NV (375ml)
Two hundred and fifty dollars for a half-bottle of Ruinart. That's the kind of pricing that makes you put the list down and order an Aperol Spritz. Ruinart is lovely Champagne, but a 375ml at that price point is a Vail Village tax we're not willing to pay.
Produttori del Barbaresco Riserva 'Asili' 2019 + Mushroom Ravioli
Nebbiolo and mushrooms is one of those combinations that feels almost too obvious — earthy, woodsy, with enough tannin structure to cut through the richness of pasta in butter or cream. The Asili vineyard brings a floral lift that keeps the whole thing from getting too heavy. This is the pairing you came to Vail for.
The Bottom Line
La Nonna brings a legitimately serious Italian cellar to a town where most restaurants are content to coast on their ski-town captive audience — and that deserves real credit. The markups are steep across the board, but the bones of the list are strong enough that the right bottle makes the whole evening.
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Here's the one concrete reason to pay attention to Capitol Public House's wine program: Wednesday half-price bottles. That single policy can turn an unremarkable list into a genuinely good deal. If you're a local in Eagle or passing through on a Wednesday, plan accordingly — even a middle-of-the-road bottle at half price is worth the stop. For everything else, manage expectations and let the whiskey bar do the talking.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
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Barriosocial is doing something genuinely unexpected in Vail: a wine list that reflects the food's Iberian DNA instead of defaulting to crowd-pleasing New World reds and overpriced Champagne by the bottle. The by-the-glass program alone — 20 options, fair pricing, real producers — is worth the visit. If you're eating in the mountains and actually care what's in your glass, this is the room.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vail · Hotel Bar & New American
The Lobby Bar is fine — and in Vail, fine is doing a lot of heavy lifting. The list is short, static, and priced for people who just got off the mountain and aren't reading the bill too closely. If you're here, order the Grochau Pinot and call it a night; don't come looking for discovery.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Vail · Italian
La Nonna is an Italian restaurant in a ski resort town that somehow assembled one of the more thoughtful grower Champagne lists in Colorado — and that's genuinely worth acknowledging. Markups run steep across the board, which is par for the Vail course, but if you order smart (Mignon, Larmandier-Bernier, the Correggia sparkler), you'll drink better than almost anywhere on the mountain. Come for the pasta, stay for the bubbles.
Surprising Depth
Steep
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 · Steakhouse
Russell's isn't trying to be a wine destination and doesn't need to be — but the list is better than the room probably demands. Fair pricing, a genuine global reach, and twenty pours by the glass make this a steakhouse wine program worth engaging with. Order the Fincas de Ganuza, skip the Laurent Perrier, and leave the mountain resort markup where it belongs: on the cocktail list.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Italian
Six wines at an Italian restaurant helmed by a celebrity chef is not a wine program — it's a placeholder. The markups lean steep (Collet at $100/bottle is a tough sell), there's zero Italian red depth, and the list hasn't been built to match the cuisine. Come for the food if Scott Conant's cooking earns your visit, but manage your wine expectations accordingly.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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LaStrada's wine list is honest about what it is: a low-friction, low-drama selection designed for guests who want a glass of something familiar with their pasta. The glass-to-bottle ratio is excellent, markups are fair across the board, and the Valpolicella is a quiet nod to Italian authenticity. Just don't arrive expecting the list to match the cuisine's ambitions — it's a reliable neighborhood companion, not a destination.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Woodstock · Italian
Tuscany Italian in Woodstock isn't trying to reinvent the wheel, and that's fine — the Italian selections are legitimate, the glass pour count is genuinely impressive, and the pricing is fair without being exciting. If you're looking for a deep cellar or a rotating seasonal program, keep driving; if you want a solid glass of Chianti with your pasta without any drama, this gets the job done.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
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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