Napa Icons, But Where's the Rest?
· San Diego · Steak and Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 28, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Mastro's Ocean Club’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Mastro's Ocean Club reads less like a curated program and more like a highlight reel from a single Napa Valley greatest hits album. Seven labels. That's it. For a restaurant positioning itself as a premium steakhouse and seafood destination, this is a swing and a miss before you've even looked at the menu.
What's here is genuinely good — Stag's Leap Wine Cellars and Chateau Montelena are Napa royalty, and the inclusion of Royal Tokaji 5 Puttonyos shows at least a flicker of ambition beyond Cabernet. But seven labels total, with four of them being Cabernets, is not a wine program — it's a tasting menu masquerading as one. There's no white Burgundy, no Champagne, no Italian, no Spanish, nothing for guests who don't want a big red or a dessert pour. The Sauvignon Blanc and Chardonnay options are single bottles each, leaving white wine drinkers with exactly two choices at a seafood-forward restaurant. That's a structural problem, not a curation philosophy.
No by-the-glass information is available from our research, which is itself telling — a restaurant with only seven labels likely has a very thin glass program if one exists at all. If you're hoping to explore or match wines to different courses, you may find yourself bottled in.
The Bottom Line
Mastro's Ocean Club carries some excellent producers, but seven wines at a premium steakhouse is a list that gave up before it started. The Chateau Montelena and Stag's Leap bottles are worth ordering if the price is right, but we can't verify what you'll pay — and at a restaurant this upscale, that uncertainty rarely resolves in your favor. If wine is central to your evening, go somewhere that's put in the work.
La Jolla · San Diego · Italian
Marisi earns its Wild Card badge by building a wine list that actually reflects curiosity about Italian wine rather than just the greatest hits. The dessert wine section alone puts it ahead of most Italian restaurants in San Diego. Pricing data wasn't available to us, and staff knowledge is an open question — but if you're the kind of person who gets excited about Albana from Emilia-Romagna or a Barolo Chinato to close the night, this list is worth your attention.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Little Italy · San Diego · Italian
Davanti Enoteca is a solid neighborhood Italian spot where the wine list does its job without doing anything remarkable. If you're heading here for the meatballs and Roman artichokes — and you should be — grab a bottle of something Italian, stay out of your own way, and enjoy the room. Just don't expect the wine program to be the reason you came.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Del Mar · San Diego · Italian
Davanti Enoteca Del Mar has done something quietly smart: built an Italian-forward wine list with real regional depth, made nearly all of it available by the glass, and priced it fairly across the board. It won't win awards for cellar depth or adventurousness, but if you want a Villa Matilde Falanghina or a Roero Arneis with your pasta without taking out a second mortgage, this is your spot. Send a friend here — just steer them toward the Italian whites.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · San Diego · Hotel rooftop restaurant
Topside Terrace is selling a vibe and the wine list is an afterthought — functional, recognizable, and priced to extract rooftop tax from every pour. Come for the sunset, order a cocktail, and save the serious wine for dinner somewhere else.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Little Italy · San Diego · Wine Bar + Bottle Shop
Vino Carta is exactly the kind of neighborhood wine bar San Diego needs more of — casual enough to drop into on a Tuesday, knowledgeable enough to actually teach you something. If natural wine and France are your compass headings, this is your spot.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
· San Diego · Steakhouse
STK San Diego is a vibe-first, wine-second operation — the list exists to support the scene, not the other way around. If wine is actually important to your evening, you can do better in San Diego without breaking a sweat.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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