New Hampshire's Most Serious Italian Wine Room
Downtown Portsmouth · Portsmouth · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 24, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Massimo's Cucina Italiana’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
When a restaurant in Portsmouth, New Hampshire is pouring 1994 Sassicaia and 2000 Ornellaia, you stop and pay attention. This is not your red-sauce-and-house-Chianti situation — Massimo's has clearly put serious thought and real money into this list. Walking in, you get the sense that whoever built this program actually cares.
The 150-label list leans hard into Italian greatness — Tuscany and Piedmont anchor everything, with Biondi Santi Brunello, Gaja Barbaresco, and multiple Antinori Super Tuscans doing the heavy lifting. There's enough range across Veneto, Campania, and Sicily to show this isn't just a greatest-hits vanity list. The Napa presence is light but credible — Continuum's Proprietary Red Blend earns its spot. If you're looking for French depth beyond the prestige bubbles and a Sauternes from d'Yquem, you'll find the selection thin, but that's a minor quibble when the Italian spine is this strong.
Twenty by-the-glass options is genuinely generous for a restaurant this size, and the price range suggests they're not just pumping cheap juice through the taps. We didn't catch evidence of regular rotation or a standout glass program with frequent updates, but the sheer volume means most people at the table can find something that works without committing to a bottle.
Marchesi Antinori 'Tignanello' Super Tuscan Tuscany 2021 — Market
Tignanello is a benchmark Super Tuscan that routinely trades hands for $90-$120 retail — if Massimo's is pricing it anywhere near that range, it's the best bottle-for-bottle value on a list that skews toward collector-tier pricing. It's approachable young, built for food, and a recognizable name that actually delivers.
Continuum 'Proprietary Red Blend' Napa Valley CA 2018
Most eyes at an Italian restaurant drift straight to the Tuscans, but Continuum — the Tim Mondavi project — is quietly one of Napa's most thoughtful Cabernet-based blends. The 2018 vintage is excellent, and it's the kind of bottle that gets overlooked on an Italian list precisely because it doesn't have an Italian name on the label.
Moët et Chandon 'Dom Perignon' Brut France 2015
Dom Pérignon at a restaurant carries a punishing markup by default, and here it's almost certainly sitting at 3-4x retail on a list where the money is better spent on the Italian bottles this kitchen was built around. If you want to celebrate, put that budget toward a Biondi Santi Brunello instead.
Biondi Santi Brunello di Montalcino Tuscany 2015 + Osso buco
Brunello and braised veal shank is one of the great Italian marriages — the wine's iron-edged Sangiovese tannins cut through the collagen-rich braise while the acidity keeps every bite fresh. The 2015 vintage has the structure to stand up to it and the fruit to complement the gremolata.
The Bottom Line
Massimo's is the kind of place that makes you wish you lived in Portsmouth just so you could work through this list one dinner at a time. The pricing is not shy, but for a collection that includes Gaja, Biondi Santi, and a 1994 Sassicaia, you're paying for access to something genuinely rare for northern New England.
New Castle · Portsmouth · Hotel Restaurant / New American
Salt Kitchen & Bar is a perfectly adequate place to drink wine if you're already staying at the Wentworth, but we wouldn't recommend driving out to New Castle for the list. Order the local seafood, pick something coastal to drink, and enjoy the view — that's the real value here.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Market Street · Portsmouth · Italian
Dolce Vita is a reliable neighborhood wine bar with enough Italian depth to satisfy anyone who came to drink well with their dinner. The markups on the California heavy-hitters are a soft deterrent, but lean Italian and you'll leave happy.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Portsmouth · French patisserie, crêperie, and wine bar
La Maison Navarre is a genuine Wild Card — a French patisserie and crêperie in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that actually bothered to build a coherent, France-only wine list to match. It's not deep, it's not adventurous, but it's honest and well-matched to what's on the plate, and that's more than most places manage.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West End · Portsmouth · Global Street Food / Eclectic American
STREET is a genuinely fun, globe-trotting neighborhood spot that deserves a wine list as curious as its food — instead it has six grocery-store staples marked up steep and left on autopilot. Order a cocktail, enjoy the Bibimbap, and don't overthink the wine.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Portsmouth · Modern Mexican
Vida Cantina is a genuinely fun spot for food and cocktails, but the wine list is on autopilot — overpriced California standards with no imagination and no connection to the kitchen. Order a mezcal cocktail, grab the Vinho Verde if you insist on wine, and don't come here expecting anything more.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Portsmouth · Bar / Rooftop
Come for the rooftop, stay for the vibe — but don't come for the wine. The Wednesday half-price bottle deal is the one reason to order a bottle, and even then, temper your expectations accordingly.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Downtown Napa · Napa · Italian
A16 Napa is a genuine Wild Card in Napa's sea of big-bottle Cab temples — if you want to drink interesting Italian wine with great food and actually get some guidance doing it, this is your spot. Just know that Napa real estate prices show up on the wine list, so budget accordingly.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
· Franklin · Italian
Pelato Franklin isn't going to make wine pilgrims drive down from Nashville, but it's doing more than the Italian-suburban average — an orange wine, some solid regional Italian whites, and a few California names that earn their spot. Come for the food, stay curious about the list.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Duluth · Italian
Va Bene is presumably doing something right in the kitchen, but the wine list is a two-item afterthought that tells you this place doesn't take wine seriously. Order a glass, enjoy your pasta, and don't expect anything more.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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