NC's Most Adventurous Winery List, Full Stop
· Winston Salem · Winery Restaurant / Small Plates · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 19, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Medaloni Cellars’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Medaloni Cellars reads like someone dared a local winery to stop playing it safe — and they took the bet. You won't find a single bottle from California, France, or Italy here; it's all in-house, all North Carolina, and somehow all over the map in the best possible way. Kerner, Vermentino, Carignan, Petit Manseng — this is not your standard winery tasting room lineup.
Twenty-three labels split across two tiers — the Signature Series and the Flight Series — and the range is legitimately impressive for a single-producer list. On the white side, they're swinging at hybrids like Traminette and Valvin Muscat alongside more familiar Sauvignon Blanc and Viognier, which signals real experimentation, not just crowd-pleasing. The reds are equally restless: Chambourcin and Petit Verdot sit alongside Carignan and Zinfandel, grapes you'd expect to find in a Rhône cellar or a Lodi cult winery, not Winston-Salem. Rounding it out are a skin-contact white, a sparkling red, and a Muscadine Noble — that last one is either a nod to Southern tradition or a trap for unsuspecting visitors, depending on your tolerance for the grape.
By-the-glass specifics weren't confirmed during our visit, but given the winery format, it's reasonable to expect pours available across most of the list — that's typically how estate tasting rooms operate. If they're running structured flights, even better, because this is a list built for exploration rather than just bottle commitment. We'd ask the staff what's pouring before you commit to anything.
The Bottom Line
Medaloni Cellars is doing something genuinely interesting in Winston-Salem: building a single-producer list that doesn't bore you into ordering a cocktail. If you have any curiosity about what North Carolina wine can actually do, this is the place to test it.
· Winston Salem · Thai
Thai Harmony is genuinely worth visiting for the food — the khao soi and kai yang have real fans for a reason, and the downtown space is one of the better dining rooms in Winston-Salem. But come for the kitchen, not the cellar. Until the wine program shows us something specific worth recommending, you're better off ordering a Thai iced tea and saving the wine for another night.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Winston Salem · Modern Mexican
Alma Mexicana is a genuine wild card — a modern Mexican restaurant in Winston-Salem with a wine program that's quietly pointing at Old World Europe instead of the expected California house pour. We need the full list to give you the real numbers, but the instinct here is good enough to warrant ordering something other than a margarita.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
· Winston Salem · Wine Bar / Bottle Shop
The Caviste is doing something genuinely weird for Winston-Salem — a curated, Austria-only bottle shop with prices that should embarrass most restaurant wine lists. If you're even slightly curious about Grüner Veltliner or natural-leaning reds, this is a low-risk, high-reward detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Winston Salem · Winery Tasting Room / Light Bites
Divine Llama is a fun, farm-genuine detour if you're exploring North Carolina wine country and want something local and unpretentious. Don't come for depth or discovery beyond the estate — come for the story, the setting, and a glass of Traminette you probably wouldn't have ordered anywhere else.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
· Winston Salem · American Cafe
West End Cafe isn't a wine destination, but it's a perfectly decent place to drink something decent without overpaying for it. Send a friend here if they want wine with dinner and aren't looking to make an event out of it.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Winston Salem · Wine Bar / Market
Little Pep is doing something genuinely uncommon for Winston-Salem: a short, confident, all-by-the-glass natural wine list with real producer cred and fair prices. Send a curious friend here; skip sending someone who wants a Napa Cab.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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
