1,200 bottles deep and earning every star
Midtown · New York · Coastal Italian · Visit Website ↗
Updated July 2026
Reviewed March 25, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Marea’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Marea lands like a serious statement — 1,200 selections, anchored in Piemonte and Burgundy, with enough depth to keep a collector busy for months. This is not a list assembled by a marketing team; someone who actually cares about wine built this thing. You'll want to clear your schedule before you start reading it.
Piemonte is the undisputed heart of this list: Giacomo Conterno Monfortino, Bruno Giacosa Falletto, Giuseppe Rinaldi Brunate, Burlotto Monvigliero — it reads like a greatest-hits of Barolo with actual vintage depth going back to 2000 and beyond. Burgundy holds its own with Rousseau Clos St. Jacques, Comtes Lafon Meursault, Domaine Leflaive Puligny-Montrachet Les Pucelles, and Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne — not filler Burgundy, the real stuff. The Italian beyond Piemonte gets a look too, with gems like Podere Le Boncie Le Trame and a Soldera Brunello Riserva that will make your hands shake a little. The only gap is that if you want something outside Italy and France, you're mostly on your own.
The by-the-glass program here is legitimately one of the best in New York City — a high bar in a city drowning in good wine lists. Expect well-chosen options that rotate with intention, including serious producers that most restaurants wouldn't dare pour by the glass. The 2022 Roland Lavantureux Chablis Vieilles Vignes showing up in a pours program is the kind of detail that tells you exactly who is running this list.
2022 Roland Lavantureux Chablis Vieilles Vignes — N/A — by the glass
Lavantureux is one of Chablis' most reliable growers and this Vieilles Vignes bottling punches well above its price tier. Finding it available by the glass at a midtown Manhattan restaurant that's charging $65 for pasta is a genuine win — order a glass before you look at anything else.
2022 Podere Le Boncie Le Trame
At $225 on a list where Barolo bottles can run into four figures, Le Boncie's Le Trame is easy to overlook — but this Sangiovese-based blend from Chianti Classico is a genuinely soulful wine from one of the appellation's most thoughtful producers. It's the bottle for someone who wants to drink beautifully without announcing it to the whole table.
BAROLO RISERVA MONFORTINO GIACOMO CONTERNO 2004 ($3,300)
It's a great wine. It is also $3,300. Unless someone else is paying or you are actively celebrating something that changed your life, the opportunity cost here is enormous — you could drink most of the Italian section for that price. Save Monfortino for the cellar.
2016 Comm G.B. Burlotto Barolo Monvigliero + Fusilli with red wine braised octopus and bone marrow
Burlotto's Monvigliero is all iron, roses, and structure — it has the backbone to cut through the richness of bone marrow and enough bright acidity to keep up with braised octopus without bulldozing it. This is the kind of pairing that makes you put your fork down and just think for a second.
The Bottom Line
Marea is the real thing — a destination wine list that rewards the curious, punishes no one for asking questions, and makes a strong case that Italian and Burgundian wines belong in the same conversation. The markups are what they are at this level in New York, but the quality of what's in the cellar and in the glass earns it.
Midtown · New York · French Brasserie
La Grande Boucherie earns its place as a reliable stop for wine in Midtown, especially if you're leaning French. The glass list is genuinely wide and has some smart picks buried in it — the Fleurie and the Wiemer Riesling both punch above their price points. Markups trend steep as you climb the bottle list, so your money works hardest in the by-the-glass section. If you're here for the brasserie experience, the wine program holds up its end of the deal.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Steakhouse
BLT Prime's wine program is glass-only, which limits your options if you came for a big bottle moment, but the pricing is honest and the selection is more thoughtful than most steakhouses bother with. If you're keeping it casual and ordering by the glass, you can drink well here without feeling taken advantage of — and that's not nothing in this city.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
The Palm Midtown is not where you'd expect to find Puzelat and Ruth Lewandowski sitting next to each other on a wine list — which is exactly what makes it worth a second look. Six bottles is a short menu, but all six are defensible picks at prices that don't insult you. If you're in the mood to trust the list and not overthink it, this works.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Murray Hill · New York · Classic American Steakhouse
Wolfgang's is a reliable steakhouse wine experience in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting: a list built around the bottle you already know, priced for the room you're sitting in. If you're here to close a deal over a Porterhouse for Two, the wine list will do its job without embarrassing anyone — but it's not going to surprise you, and it's almost certainly going to cost more than it should. Go in with eyes open and a strong second-choice red in mind.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Mediterranean
Zaytinya's wine list is a rare thing in New York: a focused, regionally coherent program that commits hard to Greek and Eastern Mediterranean varieties without making you feel like you need a flashcard to order. The by-the-glass selection alone — 18 options, all under $18, featuring producers most wine lists wouldn't touch — makes this worth visiting even before the food arrives. If you eat here and order a Cabernet, that's on you.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. 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.
List Variety
Markup
Glassware
Staff
Specials & Deals
Storage & Temp
