All-Italian, All-In, Surprisingly Affordable
· White Plains · Italian wine bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed September 12, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Mima Vinoteca’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Twenty bottles, all Italian, no filler — Mima Vinoteca is not trying to be everything to everyone, and that's exactly what makes it interesting. The list reads like someone actually cared when they built it: Etna Bianco, a Sicilian Pet-Nat, Brunello, Barolo, and a Franciacorta sharing the same compact menu. For White Plains, this is a genuine surprise.
The list runs the full Italian boot — Franciacorta and Prosecco for bubbles up north, Vermentino and Gavi for the bianchi crowd, then a sharp pivot south with Nero d'Avola and Catarrato Pet-Nat from Sicily. The reds are where it gets serious: a Barolo from Azienda Agricola Marianot at $74, a Brunello di Montalcino from Petraiolo at $98, an Amarone at $78, and a Montepeloso Super Tuscan at $66. For a 20-bottle list, the geographic spread is genuinely impressive. The only real gap is a lack of Piedmontese whites or anything from Campania, but at this scale, you pick your battles.
Eighteen of twenty bottles are available by the glass, which is essentially the whole list — a rare and generous move. Glass prices run $10–$25, making it easy to drink across the menu without committing to a bottle. That kind of access to everything from a Catarrato Pet-Nat to an Amarone by the pour is the core reason to come here.
Rapitala Nero d'Avola — $46
The cheapest red on the list and it's from one of Sicily's most consistent producers. At $46, you're getting a proper bottle of food-friendly, warm-climate red that retails around $15–18 — markup is reasonable and the wine overdelivers for the price point.
Rufulia Catarrato Pet-Nat
A Sicilian Pet-Nat made from Catarrato — a grape most people have never heard of — at $54. It'll be slightly cloudy, lively, and nothing like the safe Pinot Grigio the table next to you is drinking. Order it and don't explain yourself.
Petraiolo Brunello di Montalcino
At $98 it's technically the least offensive markup on a Brunello you'll find, but Brunello needs air, needs time, and needs the right moment. A casual wine bar pour is not that moment — you're paying for a wine that won't show its best in this format. Save it for somewhere with a decanting program.
Tornatore Etna Bianco + Charcuterie board
Etna Bianco has that volcanic minerality and saline edge that cuts through fatty cured meats without overpowering them. The Tornatore is a textbook example of the style, and at $62 it's one of the more interesting whites on the list.
The Bottom Line
Mima Vinoteca is doing something genuinely useful: a tight, all-Italian list with fair prices and nearly everything available by the glass, in a suburb that rarely rewards this kind of effort. If you're in White Plains and you want to drink well without a spreadsheet, this is your spot.
· White Plains · Brazilian Steakhouse
Fogo de Chão White Plains is not a wine destination, but it's not trying to be. The by-the-glass program is wide enough to find something that works with the meat parade, the Malbec lineup is appropriately on-theme, and the $10 entry point keeps things accessible. Markups trend steep as you climb the list, so stay in the $10–$20 glass range and you'll leave satisfied. Send a friend here for the beef; the wine is just along for the ride.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· White Plains · Steakhouse
This appears to be a Restaurant Week wine promotion rather than Benjamin Steakhouse's full list, and we'd want to see a complete menu before rendering a final verdict on the overall program. Based on what's sourced here, though, the wine offering is thin for a steakhouse of this caliber — if you're coming for a serious bottle of Cab with your dry-aged ribeye, call ahead and ask what's actually on the full list.
Grocery Store
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
· White Plains · Steakhouse
The Capital Grille Stamford isn't going to excite anyone who takes wine seriously, but it's not the embarrassment that many chain steakhouse lists are either. The Prüm Riesling and Substance Cab punch above their price points, and 23 BTG options gives you real flexibility. Just go in knowing the markups are aggressive and the list hasn't changed since someone in a corporate office approved it — probably over a Meiomi.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· White Plains · Italian
La Bocca is a polished, reservation-worthy Italian room in White Plains with a wine identity that leans on Italy's marquee regions — safe, serviceable, and priced for a special-occasion crowd. Until we can get eyes on the actual list and confirm what's pouring, we'd treat the wine program as a pleasant companion to the food rather than a destination in its own right. Ask the staff for their recommendation and see what happens.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Bronxville · White Plains · Wine Bar & Small Plates
Ernie's is the kind of neighborhood wine bar Westchester needs more of: unpretentious, genuinely wine-forward, and priced like they actually want you to order a second glass. If you're in the area on a weekday, hit that happy hour window and settle in.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Active Program
Acceptable
· White Plains · Spanish tapas & wine bar
Buleria is doing the right things — an actual Spanish-leaning list at fair prices in a market that could easily get away with slapping Malbec and Pinot Grigio on a page and calling it done. It's not a destination wine list, but it's a genuinely solid one, and that's worth something.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Atlanta Village · Atlanta · Italian wine bar
Sagra is doing something genuinely rare for Atlanta: running a deep, focused, low-intervention wine list with fair pricing in a neighborhood that doesn't usually ask for it. We don't have dish details to close the loop on food pairings, but the wine program alone is worth the trip. Send your adventurous friends here — and tell them to ask about the col fondo.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Little Italy · San Diego · Italian wine bar
Vinarius isn't trying to out-impress anyone, and that's its quiet strength — a cozy Little Italy wine bar with a clear Italian identity and prices that won't ruin your evening. Send a friend here for a low-key date-night bottle, but tell them to ask questions and be open to wherever Sicily takes them.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
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