Sushi bar with a serious wine habit
Unknown · Atlanta · Japanese Sushi · Visit Website ↗
Updated March 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · March 20, 2026
RagingWine reviewed O-Ku Sushi’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
A 144-label wine list at a sushi restaurant is not something you see every day, and O-Ku leans into it hard. The sheer number of by-the-glass options — 70, which is legitimately wild — signals that someone here actually thought about wine. Whether the execution lives up to the ambition is another question.
The list skews heavily toward whites and bubbles, which makes sense given the menu, and the Pacific Northwest representation is genuinely strong — St. Innocent's Freedom Hill Chardonnay and Benton Lane Pinot Noir showing up on a sushi list is the kind of thing that makes us do a double-take in a good way. There's also a solid Oregon and New Zealand thread running through the whites, with the Drylands Sauvignon Blanc and Argyle Chardonnay earning their spots. The Champagne section has range — from Avissi Prosecco as the entry point all the way to Veuve Clicquot La Grande Dame 2015 at the top — though leaning so hard on Veuve for prestige feels a little hotel-bar. Gaps show up on the red side: the list thins out considerably, and if you're a Nebbiolo or Tempranillo person, you may be eating omakase with a Pinot Noir because that's what's left.
Seventy by-the-glass options is either a stroke of genius or a logistical nightmare, and we suspect it's a little of both. The range covers Prosecco through Rosé Champagne, Albarino, Viognier, and several Chardonnays, which gives you real choices to match your progression through the meal. The risk with a list this big is that wines sit open too long — freshness on those pours is something worth asking about before committing.
Bodega Garzon Albarino 2024 — $10 (glass est.)
Uruguayan Albarino is still flying under the radar for most diners, and Garzon makes a genuinely crisp, saline version that's built for raw fish. If the glass price lands at the low end of their range, this is the move.
St. Innocent Chardonnay 'Freedom Hill' 2020
Freedom Hill is one of the Willamette Valley's benchmark single-vineyard sites, and St. Innocent makes a restrained, Burgundian-leaning Chardonnay from it that most people at a sushi restaurant will walk right past in favor of something more familiar. Don't be that person.
Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label Brut
Veuve Yellow Label is fine, but at a restaurant markup it's almost certainly sitting north of $100 — a price point where you can do considerably better with the Pierre Moncuit or even a domestic sparkler. You're paying for the orange label, not the wine.
Chateau de Sancerre Sancerre 2023 + Yellowtail Sashimi
Loire Sauvignon Blanc and clean, buttery raw fish is a classic combination for a reason — the minerality and citrus edge in the Sancerre cut through the fat without overwhelming the fish. Chateau de Sancerre is a reliable, well-distributed producer that drinks above its price point.
The Bottom Line
O-Ku is doing more with wine than almost any sushi restaurant in Atlanta, and the Pacific Northwest whites alone are worth your attention. Markups keep it from being a true destination for wine, but as sushi-and-wine combinations go, this one actually tries.
· Atlanta · New American / Tasting Menu
Choose your courses, then choose your glasses. Bacchanalia's posted pairings give you concrete options: Carl Loewen Riesling at $24 with crab, or Ca' La Bionda Ripasso at $27 with duck. Ask which suggestions match tonight's menu before committing to the wine bill.
Midtown · Atlanta · Southern European
Start with the $14 Vostinic-Klasnic Ikons if you want to explore beyond familiar grapes, or the $16 chilled La Galoche Gamay if that's your lane. Lyla Lila's posted glass list makes trying something different a one-glass decision, not a whole-bottle commitment.
· Atlanta · New American
Siren has a wine list that punches above its weight in a few key areas — particularly the by-the-glass whites and the Champagne bottle program — but the markup structure means you're spending real money to access it. If you're the kind of diner who wants to order Furmint on a Tuesday night in Atlanta, this is one of the few places that makes that possible, and that alone earns it a spot on the shortlist.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Regional Italian
Make Monday your bottle night at Indaco: half off bottles priced up to $100, then $50 off above that. Ask for the current bottle list before choosing; the discount has a ceiling, even if your wine budget doesn't.
Atlanta · Atlanta · Vietnamese
NAM Kitchen is doing something genuinely unexpected: running a thoughtful, fairly priced 68-label wine list inside a Vietnamese restaurant, anchored by a strong sparkling section and some legitimately food-smart white wine choices. If you're the kind of person who wants a real glass of wine with your bún bò Huế, this is worth knowing about.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Steakhouse
Il Premio is a steakhouse that took its wine list seriously enough to skip the obvious plays, and the result is one of the more interesting Italian-focused lists in Atlanta right now. It's compact, priced fairly across the board, and built for exploration — whether you're going glass by glass through the Italian regions or just need a solid bottle of Chianti Classico at $72 to make a steak dinner feel right. We'd send a friend here specifically for the wine.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown / State Street · Santa Barbara · Japanese Sushi
Arigato is a destination for sushi, not wine — but the list is sensibly built around what actually works with raw fish. Order the Kessler-Haak, eat well, and don't overthink it.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Old Town Scottsdale · Scottsdale · Japanese Sushi
Sushi Roku is a great place to eat and a fine place to drink wine, so long as you're not there for the wine. The list is safe, the markups are real, and the energy of the room will distract you from caring too much — which is probably the intent.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
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.
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