Portsmouth's Playful Underdog With Genuine Curiosity
Downtown · Portsmouth · New American / Tapas-Style · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 21, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Moxy’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Moxy walks in with the confidence of a small-plates room that actually thought about its wine list — not just tacked on a dozen California standards and called it a day. The reported regional lean toward Italy, Portugal, and yes, New Hampshire, signals someone behind this program has opinions. That's already more interesting than half the wine lists in Portsmouth.
The list appears curated rather than comprehensive — the kind of approach that suits a tapas-style room where you're ordering four dishes and want something versatile enough to swing across them all. The Italy-Portugal-New Hampshire axis is a genuinely compelling through-line: acid-driven, food-friendly wines from two Old World anchors plus a local wildcard that takes some nerve to put on a serious list. We don't have bottle counts or producer names to dig into, but the regional intent alone puts this above the generic crowd. Gaps likely exist in depth — a tight list like this probably doesn't offer much vertical drinking or obscure producer discovery — but for the format, focused beats bloated.
By-the-glass specifics aren't available to us right now, so we can't tell you whether you're getting four pours or fourteen. What the format of the room suggests is that a rotating short list of glass pours would serve the small-plates concept well — ideally something bright and Italian, something from Portugal, and something local to anchor the New Hampshire pride. Whether they're actually executing that vision, we'd need to sit down and find out.
The Bottom Line
Moxy earns its Wild Card badge not because we can confirm every pour, but because the bones of the wine program — an intentional regional focus, a menu built for wine-friendly snacking, and a room that draws people back — suggest genuine effort. If you're in Portsmouth and want something more interesting than a safe Napa Cab next to your tapas, this is worth the reservation. Come in curious, ask the staff what they're excited about, and let the list surprise you.
· Portsmouth · Seafood & American
The Oar House wine list is a workmanlike effort — short, safe, and priced fairly for what it is. If you're coming for the seafood and want a glass of Albariño or a crisp Sauvignon Blanc to go with it, you'll be well served. Just don't come here expecting to be wowed by the wine program.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Portsmouth · Japanese / Sushi
Nichinan's wine list is short but earns its keep — the presence of Pieropan, Grüner Veltliner, and Henri Bourgeois Sancerre tells you someone on staff understands that sushi and Chardonnay is not the only answer. Markups are fair across the board, and the by-the-glass selection is wide enough to keep the table happy without forcing a bottle. If you're in Portsmouth and want something better than the default wine-at-a-sushi-restaurant experience, this delivers.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Portsmouth · Italian-American
The Rosa isn't trying to reinvent the wine list — it's trying to serve its room well, and largely succeeds. Twenty-five by-the-glass options with Italian producers mixed alongside California staples makes this one of the more thoughtful pours in Portsmouth. If you're after wine-bar ambition, look elsewhere; if you want a reliable glass with your gnocchi without any drama, The Rosa delivers.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Portsmouth · Steakhouse
The Library Restaurant is a Wine Spectator award holder that plays it very, very safe — heavy California Chardonnay, a prestige Champagne tower, and markups that favor the house. If you're here for a special occasion and want to pop a Pol Roger at $125 or a Veuve at $155, it's a fine room for that. But if you're hoping to find something unexpected or feel like the wine program is working hard for you, this list isn't going to surprise you.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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
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