Tokyo discipline meets Burgundy obsession in Midtown
Midtown Manhattan · New York · Japanese
Reviewed April 8, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Nama’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Nama lands with the same quiet confidence as the food — no flash, just weight. You're looking at 350 to 500 bottles anchored by serious French and Italian heavy hitters, curated by a three-person sommelier team that actually knows what they're talking about. This is not a list built to impress Instagram; it's built to impress people who grew up reading wine maps.
Champagne and Burgundy are the clear obsessions here — Krug and Salon anchor the sparkling section while Domaine de la Romanée-Conti and Henri Jayer make appearances that will either thrill you or give you an invoice-induced panic attack. Bordeaux holds its own with Château Pétrus in the mix, and the California contingent — Screaming Eagle, Opus One — plays to the Midtown crowd without overwhelming the French backbone. Tuscany punches in via Sassicaia and Masseto, rounding out a list that reads more like a collector's cellar than a restaurant inventory. The gaps are minor: more depth in Germany, Spain, and the Southern Hemisphere would push this from great to genuinely exhaustive.
Twenty to thirty-five options by the glass is generous for a room this focused on the bottle — and at $15 to $40 a pour, the range covers both a quick pre-dinner Champagne and something more serious to sip through a multi-course omakase. We'd expect the sommelier team to rotate the program thoughtfully, though hard data on how often the BTG list actually changes is limited. Ask Slim or Ellie what's open — they'll steer you somewhere smart.
Salon Blanc de Blancs — $40 (by the glass, estimated)
Salon by the glass at a Japanese restaurant in Midtown is genuinely rare. If it's available as a pour, that's the move — the laser-focused Chardonnay acidity is made for raw fish, and you're accessing one of Champagne's most celebrated houses without committing to a full bottle.
Domaine Leflaive
Most eyes at this table go straight to DRC and Pétrus, but Leflaive's whites — if they're on — are the quiet overachievers. Puligny-Montrachet from this producer alongside a course of uni or yellowtail sashimi is a combination most diners at Nama will walk right past. Their loss.
Opus One
Opus One is a technically solid wine and a serious brand, but at Midtown Manhattan markups alongside a Japanese omakase menu, it's a mismatch of both price and culture. You're paying a premium for a California Cabernet-heavy blend that fights the delicate flavors on the plate. The list has better options at every price point.
Krug Champagne + Omakase sushi selection
Krug's toasty complexity and relentless bubbles cut through the fat of nigiri and keep every bite feeling fresh. It's one of the few wines that can hold its own across an entire omakase progression without clashing — course after course, it just works.
The Bottom Line
Nama earned its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and you'll feel exactly why the moment you open the list. The markup is real and the occasion needs to match, but for a proper celebration dinner where the wine is as serious as the food, this is one of the better rooms in the city.
Midtown · New York · French Brasserie
La Grande Boucherie earns its place as a reliable stop for wine in Midtown, especially if you're leaning French. The glass list is genuinely wide and has some smart picks buried in it — the Fleurie and the Wiemer Riesling both punch above their price points. Markups trend steep as you climb the bottle list, so your money works hardest in the by-the-glass section. If you're here for the brasserie experience, the wine program holds up its end of the deal.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Steakhouse
BLT Prime's wine program is glass-only, which limits your options if you came for a big bottle moment, but the pricing is honest and the selection is more thoughtful than most steakhouses bother with. If you're keeping it casual and ordering by the glass, you can drink well here without feeling taken advantage of — and that's not nothing in this city.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Restaurant
The Palm Midtown is not where you'd expect to find Puzelat and Ruth Lewandowski sitting next to each other on a wine list — which is exactly what makes it worth a second look. Six bottles is a short menu, but all six are defensible picks at prices that don't insult you. If you're in the mood to trust the list and not overthink it, this works.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Murray Hill · New York · Classic American Steakhouse
Wolfgang's is a reliable steakhouse wine experience in the sense that you know exactly what you're getting: a list built around the bottle you already know, priced for the room you're sitting in. If you're here to close a deal over a Porterhouse for Two, the wine list will do its job without embarrassing anyone — but it's not going to surprise you, and it's almost certainly going to cost more than it should. Go in with eyes open and a strong second-choice red in mind.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· New York · Mediterranean
Zaytinya's wine list is a rare thing in New York: a focused, regionally coherent program that commits hard to Greek and Eastern Mediterranean varieties without making you feel like you need a flashcard to order. The by-the-glass selection alone — 18 options, all under $18, featuring producers most wine lists wouldn't touch — makes this worth visiting even before the food arrives. If you eat here and order a Cabernet, that's on you.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
SoHo · New York · Italian
A long bottle list with Italian, Burgundy and Champagne sections, fronted by a 22-wine glass page. For a glass, try the Skerk Orange Wine from Friuli at 25/95, and for a bottle on a lighter budget, the Volpaia Vermentino at 60; upstairs in the café, the labeled list pours Palistorti di Valgiano's orange Tuscan blend at Glass $22. Confirm prices before you order, because the site's Upstairs Café dinner menu and the beverage PDF do not match. This unrated guide covers the posted wine lists, not service, storage or markups.
· Duluth · Japanese
Haru Ichiban is not a wine destination, and that's fine — plenty of great Japanese restaurants aren't. But if wine matters to you at dinner, this list gives you nothing to work with: no producers, no prices, no effort. Come for the food, skip the wine, and maybe order the Choya Plum Wine if you want something that at least fits the vibe.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Roswell · Japanese
Tanaka's wine list is functional in the same way a vending machine is functional — it technically dispenses what you need, but no one's excited about it. The pricing is fair and the Umeshu is a genuine bright spot, but seven bottles at a sit-down Japanese restaurant in 2024 signals that wine just isn't a priority here. Order the sake, or bring your own if corkage allows.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Jersey City · Japanese
For a Japanese lounge with a 21-bottle list, Stingray is doing more work than it has any reason to. The Grüner, the Loire whites, and that Grand Cru Champagne are all legitimate finds at prices that won't sting. If you're nearby and want something better than the usual sushi-spot house white, this is worth the detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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