Gaucho Knives Meet Serious California Cabs
Koreatown · Los Angeles · Brazilian Steakhouse · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 7, 2026
RagingWine reviewed M Grill’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into M Grill, the scene hits you fast — gaucho servers in full regalia, meat flying off skewers, and a room that's genuinely buzzing. Then you open the wine list and realize this place is more serious about bottles than the churrascaria format would suggest. A Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence hanging on a Brazilian steakhouse on Wilshire is its own kind of plot twist.
The list clocks in at 300-500 bottles with a clear California-first mentality backed by strong French and Italian support — exactly the trifecta Wine Spectator flagged when handing out that award. You've got Opus One, Caymus, Silver Oak, and Jordan anchoring the Napa side, while Chateau Margaux and Lynch-Bages hold it down for Bordeaux, and Sassicaia and Tignanello represent Italy's heavy hitters. It's not the most adventurous list in the world — don't come hunting for grower Champagne or esoteric Jura — but for a meat-forward room, the depth in Cabernet Sauvignon and big reds is exactly what you'd want. The gaps are real: limited Southern Hemisphere options is a mild irony for a Brazilian concept, and natural wine seekers will feel very alone here.
Fifteen to twenty-five options by the glass is a respectable pour program for this format, and it means you can work through dinner without committing to a full bottle before your third skewer of picanha arrives. We'd want to see more rotation to keep regulars engaged, but the anchors are solid enough that you're not stuck choosing between bad options. Wednesday's half-price wine night is the sleeper deal on this list — more on that below.
Jordan Cabernet Sauvignon — $145
Jordan Alexander Valley Cab is the move if you want Napa-adjacent quality without paying full Napa ego pricing. It's the most food-friendly pour on the list for the money, and it'll handle every cut that comes off those skewers without fighting them.
Antinori Tignanello
Everyone in this room is ordering Caymus or Silver Oak, which means Tignanello is sitting there for the rare guest who knows what a Sangiovese-Cabernet blend from one of Italy's great estates actually tastes like. It's a more complex, more interesting glass than most of what's getting ordered, and it genuinely loves red meat.
Château Margaux 2018
At $950 a bottle, you're paying a serious restaurant premium on a wine that needs another decade in the cellar to open up properly. If you're going to drop that kind of money, at least do it on a wine that's ready to drink tonight — this one isn't, and no amount of skewered beef is going to change that.
Caymus Vineyards Cabernet Sauvignon + Picanha
Caymus is a big, fruit-forward Napa Cab with enough richness to stand up to picanha's fat cap and beefy intensity without overwhelming the natural sweetness of the sirloin cap. It's not a subtle pairing, but subtle was never on the menu here.
Wednesday — Half-price wine night every Wednesday — the single best reason to rearrange your week. This is when the Silver Oak and Sassicaia start looking like reasonable decisions.
The Bottom Line
M Grill earns its Wine Spectator badge — the list is real, the depth is there, and Wednesday half-price wine night makes it one of the better deals in LA for a proper bottle with serious meat. Just know you're paying steakhouse markups across the board, so pick your spots carefully.
· Los Angeles · California small plates
If this four-wine snapshot is the full extent of AOC's current public-facing wine program, it doesn't come close to living up to the restaurant's wine bar billing. The pricing is fair and the Vinho Verde earns its spot, but four uniform options with no dish context and no visible deeper list is not what you go to a place called AOC expecting. Come for the reputation — just hope the full list is hiding somewhere.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Beverly Hills · Los Angeles · Italian Seafood
Marea Beverly Hills brings genuine depth and regional curiosity to a wine list that could have easily coasted on crowd-pleasing Pinot Grigio and overpriced Super Tuscans — and it didn't. The markups are high, as expected for this zip code, and without clearer intel on staff knowledge or specials programming, the full experience is harder to guarantee. But the list itself earns serious respect, and if you navigate it well — start with the Strasserhof, finish with the Rossese — you'll drink far better than most tables around you.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Proper
Beverly Hills · Los Angeles · Prime rib and steakhouse
Lawry's is a Los Angeles institution and the prime rib is genuinely the point — the wine list exists to support that experience, not steal the show. If you hit the weekday happy hour window between 5 and 6 PM, you might find the value equation improves considerably. Come for the beef, enjoy whatever Cab they pour, and don't expect the list to surprise you.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
West Hollywood · Los Angeles · Italian and French Café
Bottega Louie West Hollywood is a solid, reliable choice when you want wine that doesn't distract from the occasion — the room, the company, the cannoli. The Sunday half-price glass program is the single most compelling reason to choose this spot specifically for wine, and we'd encourage you to use it. Just don't expect the list to surprise you; this is a place that knows its audience and plays to them without apology.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
West Adams · Los Angeles · Italian pasta
Cento is a destination for the pasta first, and the wine list seems to know its supporting role without phoning it in. We'd want a verified menu in hand before steering you toward specific bottles, but the regional focus and the evident care in the room give us real confidence this isn't a place that treats wine as an afterthought. Go for the spicy pomodoro, ask what's pouring by the glass, and let the night unfold.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Los Angeles · French tasting menu
Mélisse is a destination for Champagne completists willing to pay fine dining prices for the privilege of choosing between four Philipponnat vintages or three Krug editions in a single sitting. But if you're hoping for a wine list that matches the ambition of a French tasting menu — with depth across regions and styles — the narrowness here will leave you wanting. Come for the bubbles, manage your expectations for everything else.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Newark · Brazilian Steakhouse
The Taste of Brazil is almost certainly a great time if you're here for the rodízio experience — the meats, the energy, the all-you-can-eat chaos. The wine program, though, is an unknown quantity we can't responsibly endorse, and the lack of any transparent list online suggests wine isn't a priority here. Order a caipirinha, enjoy the picanha, and save the serious bottle for another night.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Bellevue · Brazilian Steakhouse
Novilhos isn't a wine destination, but it's a fair, functional list that respects your wallet and doesn't embarrass itself next to the meat. Order the Rioja, finish with Port, and let the churrasco do the heavy lifting.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Tysons Corner · Brazilian Steakhouse
Chima is a great place to eat a lot of meat. It is not a great place to drink wine — five Napa Cabs at $89 flat is a placeholder, not a program. Order the caipirinha and save the wine for somewhere that cares.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
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