Great Room, Wine List Needs Work
Back Bay · Boston · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Updated April 2026
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · March 23, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Piattini’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
Walking into Piattini on Newbury Street, the Italian enoteca energy is real — small plates, warm lighting, the whole thing. Then you open the wine list and it starts strong: 100-plus bottles, heavy Italian focus, some serious names scattered throughout. But flip a few pages and the cracks show fast.
The Italian backbone here is genuinely solid — Antinori Solaia, Brunello di Montalcino from Colombini, Barolo from Ca'Viola, and Allegrini Amarone give the list real credibility at the top end. The problem is the middle and entry tiers, which lean on grocery-store stalwarts like Josh Cellars Chardonnay and Kenwood Cabernet Sauvignon — bottles you can grab at Stop & Shop for $14 and $18, respectively, being sold here for $46 and $59. The Italian house pours are similarly thin: La Vis Pinot Grigio and Zonin Prosecco are fine in their place, but not at 200% markup. There's a real list hiding here behind the budget filler; it just needs a tighter edit.
Twenty-plus options by the glass is a legitimately good number for a neighborhood Italian spot, and the range covers the usual suspects — whites, reds, bubbles, rosé. What's missing is any sense of rotation or curation; this reads like a static list that hasn't been touched in a while. At $10–$17 a glass, you're paying mid-tier Boston prices for entry-level pours.
Barolo Ca'Viola — $N/A — bottle
If you're going to spend money here, spend it on this. Ca'Viola makes real Barolo — not a trophy bottle, but the kind of producer who actually gives a damn about Nebbiolo. It's the most honest pour on the list relative to what you're getting in the glass.
Brunello di Montalcino Colombini
Colombini (Donatella Cinelli Colombini) is a name most people scroll past because they don't recognize it, but this is a respected Montalcino producer making age-worthy Brunello. On a list that otherwise leans safe, this is the bottle worth hunting down.
Chardonnay Josh Cellars Craftsman 2023
At $46 a bottle, you're paying nearly 3.5x retail for a $14 grocery store Chardonnay. Josh Cellars is fine at a backyard barbecue. It has no business commanding $46 on a restaurant wine list that's supposedly celebrating Italian culture.
Amarone Allegrini + Piattini small plates (cured meats and aged cheeses)
Allegrini's Amarone is a big, raisined, serious red that needs something equally rich to stand up to it. A spread of cured meats and hard cheeses from the piattini selection gives it the fat and salt it wants — and turns a few small plates into an actual moment.
The Bottom Line
Piattini has the bones of a great Italian wine bar — the right address, the right vibe, a few genuinely exciting bottles — but the markup on entry-level pours and the reliance on supermarket brands undercut the whole thing. Go for the Brunello or the Barolo, skip everything else under $50.
Seaport District · Boston · Greek
Trade is doing something genuinely rare in Boston: taking Greek wine seriously and giving diners the tools to explore it without a lecture. If you're eating anywhere near the Seaport and curious about what's actually in your glass, this is the move.
Surprising Depth
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Financial District · Boston · American Steakhouse
The Vermilion Club isn't trying to reinvent the steakhouse wine list, and it doesn't need to — the California depth is real, the execution is consistent, and it delivers exactly what a power-lunch crowd in the Financial District wants. Just know what you're walking into: this is Cab country, the markups are steakhouse-standard steep, and adventurous wine drinkers should calibrate expectations accordingly.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Post Office Square · Boston · Cuban
Mariel earns its Wine Spectator credential by being genuinely thoughtful about a list that could have easily phoned it in. If you're in Boston's Financial District and want something more interesting than another steakhouse Cab Franc, this is exactly the kind of wild card worth having in your back pocket.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Back Bay · Boston · Seafood
Atlantic Fish is a reliable, well-run wine program in a room that takes its seafood seriously — Greg Bergeron keeps the white Burgundy and Italian whites sharp and the BTG list honest. Markups will sting on the big bottles, but if you navigate toward the value end of the list, you'll drink very well.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Lovejoy Wharf · Boston · American, Seasonal
Alcove isn't a destination wine list, but it's a genuinely solid one with fair prices and enough depth to reward the curious drinker. If you're coming for the view and the lobster risotto, you'll leave happy on the wine front too — and that's more than most waterfront spots in Boston can say.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Beacon Hill · Boston · American, Small Plates
1928 Beacon Hill is exactly what a Beacon Hill neighborhood spot should be on wine — honest, Italy-forward, and priced fairly enough that you won't feel the sting. It's not a destination list, but it's a very good reason not to skip the wine.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Italian
Bici's wine list won't knock you sideways, but it's honest, Italian-focused, and fairly priced — a reliable partner to the food. We'd send a friend here and tell them to skip the Sauvignon Blanc and go straight for the Greco.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Parkway / Elks Plaza · Gatlinburg · Italian
The Best Italian's wine list does exactly what it needs to do: keep casual diners happy, not drain wallets, and get out of the way of the garlic knots. We wouldn't drive to Gatlinburg for the wine, but if you're already there and want something decent with dinner, you'll be fine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Vail Village · Vail · Italian
La Nonna brings a legitimately serious Italian cellar to a town where most restaurants are content to coast on their ski-town captive audience — and that deserves real credit. The markups are steep across the board, but the bones of the list are strong enough that the right bottle makes the whole evening.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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