Italy in the Rockies, Done With Conviction
Downtown · Colorado Springs · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 5, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Oro Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Oro, you get the immediate sense that someone actually thought about this wine list — and then priced it for a hotel restaurant. The space is gorgeous: stamped tin ceilings, gold accents, the kind of room that makes you want to order a second bottle even before you've seen the menu. The list lands squarely in Italian territory and doesn't apologize for it.
The list runs 80-120 bottles and stays almost entirely Italian, which is exactly the right call for a restaurant named Oro sitting inside a historic Colorado Springs hotel. You've got Nebbiolo from Piedmont, Sangiovese from Tuscany, Falanghina and Nero d'Avola representing the south — this is a proper tour of the boot, not just a Pinot Grigio-and-Chianti afterthought. The inclusion of Arneis from Piedmont signals that whoever built this list wanted some range on the white side, not just the usual suspects. The gap is a lack of standout grower producers or any real depth in aged vintages — this is a list built for accessibility, not discovery.
Twelve to eighteen by-the-glass options is a healthy pour program, and with a sommelier on staff there's at least a fighting chance the pours are rotating with some intention. The glass list mirrors the bottle focus — Italian all the way, which keeps things coherent. We'd like to see more turnover and experimentation here, but what's on offer is reliably solid.
Cantine Colosi Nero d'Avola — null
Sicilian Nero d'Avola from a reliable producer like Colosi is almost always the smart order at an Italian restaurant — ripe, food-friendly, and consistently underpriced relative to the Tuscan and Piedmontese heavyweights on the same list. Order this before anyone at the table reaches for the Chianti.
Arneis
Most people skip right past Arneis on a wine list because they don't recognize it. That's their loss. This Piedmontese white is lean, aromatic, and has enough texture to hold up to richer dishes — and at a restaurant where everyone's fighting over Nebbiolo, the Arneis is sitting there quietly being excellent.
Sangiovese from Tuscany
Not because Sangiovese is bad — it's not — but because a generic Tuscan Sangiovese at a hotel restaurant at these price points is almost certainly marked up well past what it's worth. Without a specific producer name to anchor the value, you're paying for the category, not the wine.
Nebbiolo from Piedmont + Braised Lamb Shank
Braised lamb is exactly the kind of dish Nebbiolo was made for — the wine's grippy tannins and sour cherry backbone cut through the richness of the braise and find their footing in all that savory depth. It's a classic match and one of the few moments on this list where the price feels justified.
The Bottom Line
Oro is the best Italian wine list in Colorado Springs by a comfortable margin, which matters more than it sounds in this market. The pricing leans hotel-steep and the list won't surprise a seasoned wine drinker, but the focus is right, the staff knows what they're doing, and the room makes you want to stay for another glass.
Broadmoor · Colorado Springs · Steakhouse and American
La Taverne is a well-run, properly staffed wine program inside one of Colorado's most storied resort properties — expect to pay for the privilege and the setting. If you stick to Jordan and Peter Michael and resist the siren call of the trophy bottles, you'll drink very well here.
Solid Range
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Broadmoor · Colorado Springs · Italian (Northern Italian, trattoria-style)
Ristorante del Lago is the rare resort restaurant where the wine program actually earns some respect — the Italian focus is real, the sommelier knows the list, and a few genuinely exciting bottles are hiding in there if you look past the marquee names. Just go in knowing you're paying Broadmoor prices, and order accordingly.
Solid Range
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown Colorado Springs · Colorado Springs · Steakhouse
Famous Steakhouse is the dependable old hand — the wine list won't excite you, but it won't embarrass you either, and with a prime rib in front of you and a Stag's Leap in the glass, that's a perfectly decent Thursday night. Just don't come looking for discovery.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Manitou Springs · Colorado Springs · Mexican / Tex-Mex
Crystal Park Cantina is a genuinely fun spot for tacos and margaritas with a mountain view — lean into that and skip the wine entirely. The list is overpriced grocery store inventory with no ambition, and no amount of scenery changes that.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Manitou Springs · Colorado Springs · Upscale American, Contemporary Fine Dining
The Cliff House wine program is the dependable friend who always shows up dressed well — you know exactly what you're getting, and it's genuinely good, even if it never blows your mind. For a special occasion in the mountains, this is a comfortable, well-run room that will take care of you.
Solid Range
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Downtown / West Colorado · Colorado Springs · Fine Dining / Steak & Seafood
Pepper Tree is a reliable wine stop for what it is — a classic Colorado fine-dining room where the tableside Steak Diane is the main event and the wine list is a well-behaved supporting cast. Don't come here chasing discovery, but do come knowing you'll drink decently without drama.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Italian
Ciao Bruto is running one of the smallest and most coherent wine lists in wine country, which is either audacious or brilliant — probably both. If you want a 200-label deep-dive, go somewhere else. If you want eight smart picks at prices that won't make you wince, this is the move in Healdsburg.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Geyserville · Healdsburg · Italian
Diavola earns its Wild Card badge because it's a wood-fired pizza joint that punches well above its weight on wine — sommelier on staff, regional focus, and a setting that practically demands you order a second glass. We can't give you the bottle-by-bottle breakdown until we get eyes on a current list, but the bones here are good enough to say: don't just order a beer and move on.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Healdsburg · Italian
Ca'Bianca is a genuinely lovely place to eat, and if the food lives up to its reputation for house-made pasta and classic Italian technique, a bottle of something from the list is absolutely worth ordering. We just can't tell you exactly which bottle to order yet — the wine program's specifics aren't publicly documented well enough for us to make a confident call. When in doubt, ask your server what's local and what they're excited about, and go from there.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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