Great Views, Grocery Store Wines
Unknown · Portsmouth · Bar / Rooftop · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 24, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Portsmouth Gas Light Co. – Rooftop’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Take Vibe Match and we’ll tell you what to order here.
Wingman Metrics
The rooftop itself is genuinely fun — open air, downtown Portsmouth below you, cold drink in hand. But the wine list reads like someone grabbed whatever was on sale at the distributor and called it a day. If you came up here hoping to drink well, adjust your expectations now.
The list runs 20-35 bottles and leans on California, Italy, and France — but not the interesting parts of any of those places. We're talking Apothic Red, Cupcake Prosecco, and Barefoot Moscato territory: brands you'd find stacked at the end of a supermarket aisle. Francis Coppola Diamond Collection is the apparent top-shelf red, which tells you everything you need to know about the ambition level here. There are no real producer stories, no regional depth, and nothing that would make a wine-curious drinker lean in.
Eight to fourteen pours by the glass, which sounds promising until you realize the pool they're drawing from. Expect the usual suspects — a house red, a house white, something bubbly, probably Kim Crawford for the Sauvignon Blanc slot. Rotation appears minimal; this list doesn't change much with the seasons.
Francis Coppola Diamond Collection Cabernet Sauvignon — $42
It's the least bad option on a list that isn't trying hard. Retails around $18, so the markup is still steep, but at least you're getting a recognizable, consistent wine rather than rolling the dice on something cheaper here.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
It's not a hidden gem in any universe outside of this list — but on a warm night on this rooftop, a cold glass of Kim Crawford is doing exactly what you need it to do. Sometimes context is everything.
Barefoot Moscato
A $7 retail wine priced at $24 a bottle. That's a 243% markup on something you can grab at any gas station. Hard pass.
Mionetto Prosecco DOC Treviso + Wood-fired pizza
Bubbles and pizza is a dependable combo anywhere, and Mionetto is a step up from Cupcake in the sparkling department. The acidity cuts through the cheese and char without demanding your full attention — which is fine, because the view is the real attraction up here.
Wednesday — Wine-down Wednesday: half off all bottles of wine. Promotion appears to apply venue-wide across Grill and Rooftop.
❌ The Bottom Line
Come for the rooftop, stay for the vibe — but don't come for the wine. The Wednesday half-price bottle deal is the one reason to order a bottle, and even then, temper your expectations accordingly.
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
Downtown · Portsmouth · French patisserie, crêperie, and wine bar
La Maison Navarre is a genuine Wild Card — a French patisserie and crêperie in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, that actually bothered to build a coherent, France-only wine list to match. It's not deep, it's not adventurous, but it's honest and well-matched to what's on the plate, and that's more than most places manage.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West End · Portsmouth · Global Street Food / Eclectic American
STREET is a genuinely fun, globe-trotting neighborhood spot that deserves a wine list as curious as its food — instead it has six grocery-store staples marked up steep and left on autopilot. Order a cocktail, enjoy the Bibimbap, and don't overthink the wine.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Unknown · Portsmouth · Modern Mexican
Vida Cantina is a genuinely fun spot for food and cocktails, but the wine list is on autopilot — overpriced California standards with no imagination and no connection to the kitchen. Order a mezcal cocktail, grab the Vinho Verde if you insist on wine, and don't come here expecting anything more.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Portsmouth · American Grill
Skip the Gas Light on any night but Wednesday — half off all bottles turns a steep list into a genuinely solid deal and makes this a legitimate downtown Portsmouth option. The rest of the week, order a beer.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Portwalk · Portsmouth · Seafood and Oyster Bar
Row 34 Portsmouth gets the fundamentals right — the right whites, the right bubbles, a couple of smart French picks — but the markups sting and the red selection is on autopilot. Come for the oysters and a bottle of Chablis, not a wine adventure.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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