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 →
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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.
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Adams is doing something genuinely rare in LA: a community-anchored wine bar with actual conviction behind the list and staff who can back it up. Send your friends here, especially the ones who think they don't like wine.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
· Los Angeles · Wine Bar
Augustine is doing the work: a genuinely eclectic 66-bottle list, half of it available by the glass, with pricing that respects what it's selling. If you like exploring wine without having to commit to a full bottle, this is exactly where you want to be.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
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Proper
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Buvons is for people who already know what natural wine is and want nine well-chosen pours without a 50-page list getting in the way. If that's you, you'll feel right at home.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Los Angeles · Los Angeles · French Bistro / Wine Bar
Bar Etoile is doing exactly one thing, and it is doing it with conviction — if you want grower Champagne from serious small producers in a French bistro setting, this is your room. If you want options, look elsewhere.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Los Feliz · Los Angeles · Wine Bar
Tabula Rasa is the kind of wine bar that rewards regulars — the list rotates, the prices are fair, and the room alone is worth the visit. We'd send friends here on a Tuesday without hesitation.
Small but Thoughtful
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Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Los Angeles · Los Angeles · Sushi / Japanese
Sushi Note is doing something genuinely uncommon: a thirteen-bottle list with no dead weight, fair prices, and the confidence to put Greek orange wine next to bluefin. If you let the list guide you, you'll drink better than you expected.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Boston · Brazilian Steakhouse
Fogo de Chão is here to sell you a meat experience, and the wine list is an afterthought that exists to support that mission — not elevate it. Stick to the Zuccardi Malbec or the Garzón Albariño and spend your energy on the food.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Paramus · Brazilian Steakhouse
The food at Fogo de Chão does the heavy lifting here, because the wine list is not trying. Five bottles at $6 each is a convenience tray, not a wine program — come for the meat, order the Malbec, and don't expect anything more.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Charlotte · Brazilian Steakhouse
Chima is clearly a steakhouse that sells meat and uses wine as an afterthought. Order the beef, have a caipirinha, and save your wine enthusiasm for somewhere that returns the favor.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
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