Serious Italian Cellar at 9,500 Feet
Mountain Village · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 7, 2026
RagingWine reviewed La Piazza Del Villaggio Ristorante’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 Piazza lands like a quiet flex — you're sitting outside in Sunset Plaza, the San Sophia peaks are doing their thing in the background, and someone hands you a list anchored by Sassicaia, Ornellaia, and Giacomo Conterno Barolo. This is not a resort town afterthought. Someone here actually cares.
The list is unapologetically Italian and deeply so — Tuscany and Piedmont carry the weight, and they carry it well. You've got the full Super Tuscan murderers' row: Sassicaia from Tenuta San Guido, Ornellaia, Tignanello from Antinori, all present and accounted for. Piedmont gets serious treatment too, with Barolo from both Giacomo Conterno and Bruno Giacosa — two of the most important names in the appellation. Throw in Biondi-Santi Brunello and Allegrini Amarone and you've got a list that Wine Spectator has recognized with a Best of Award of Excellence every year since 2012, and you understand why.
The by-the-glass program runs 12 to 20 options, which is a solid spread for a mountain resort restaurant. We'd expect the pours to skew Italian given the list's DNA, and in a room this serious about Tuscany and Piedmont, even a modest pour should be interesting. Rotation details weren't available, but with a cellar this calibrated, the glass options likely hold their own.
Castello di Ama Chianti Classico — $45–$65
In a list that runs deep into triple-digit territory, the Castello di Ama Chianti Classico represents one of the few spots where you can access a genuinely great Tuscan producer without the resort markup hitting you in the face. This is serious Chianti from one of the appellation's most consistent estates — not a consolation prize.
Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella
Everyone tunnels straight to the Super Tuscans and the Barolos, which means the Allegrini Amarone gets overlooked. That's a mistake. Allegrini is one of Valpolicella's best producers and Amarone is one of Italy's most singular wines — dense, concentrated, nothing else tastes like it. Order this while everyone else is fighting over the Tignanello.
Ornellaia
Ornellaia is a genuinely great wine — we're not disputing that. But at a destination resort in Colorado, you're almost certainly looking at a 3.5x to 4x markup on a bottle that's already expensive at retail. The wine is worth experiencing, but not at whatever they're charging here. Buy it at a wine shop and save the markup for another bottle.
Giacomo Conterno Barolo + Lasagna
Conterno Barolo is built for this moment — the high acidity and firm tannins cut through the richness of a layered meat lasagna while the wine's depth of fruit and earthy complexity mirrors the slow-cooked sauce. It's a classic combination for a reason, and Conterno is one of the best reasons to drink Barolo at all.
The Bottom Line
La Piazza is the rare mountain resort wine list that earns its reputation honestly — deep Italian roots, iconic producers, and a Wine Spectator pedigree going back over a decade. The markups sting at altitude, but if you're here to drink serious Tuscan and Piedmontese wine with the mountains as your backdrop, this is the place.
· West Palm Beach · Italian
Sant Ambroeus Palm Beach is a reliable, if unambitious, wine experience — Italy and France, done cleanly, priced for Royal Poinciana Way. If you're here for the scene, the truffle pizza, and a glass of something Italian and uncomplicated, it delivers. Just don't come looking for value or discovery.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Newark · Italian
Five Corners has stocked four respectable Italian reds and essentially stopped there. Without pricing, pour options, or a list that can accommodate the full table, it's hard to call this a wine program — it's more like a wine shelf. Come for the Italian cooking; manage your expectations on the wine side.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Decatur · Decatur · Italian
Sotto Sotto is a genuinely Italian wine list in a city that usually settles for Italian-American approximations — the Timorasso, the Lambrusco di Sorbara, the Franciacorta all signal real intent. The glass program is accessible, markups are reasonable, and the bubbles section alone justifies a visit. If you want depth across all of Italy, you'll hit the edges fast at 68 labels, but what's here is well-chosen. Send a friend who likes to drink something they've never heard of.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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