Red-Sauce Comfort, Red-Flag Wine List
Lake Katrine/Kingston Periphery · Kingston · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 24, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed Reginato Ristorante’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The room sells the dream — white tablecloths, family recipes, old-school Italian hospitality — but the wine list lands you right back at the grocery store. This is a list assembled by someone who asked 'what do people recognize?' and stopped there. It reads less like a curated selection and more like a convenience store wine aisle with a prix-fixe markup.
Twenty-odd bottles covering Italy, California, Argentina, and beyond, but the producers tell the story fast: Alamos, Layer Cake, Fetzer, Bonanza, Barefoot, Sutter Home. These are fine for a weeknight at home but feel underdressed for a restaurant charging $25–$40 per entrée. The Italian representation — a single Gabbiano Chianti Classico and a Zenato Pinot Grigio — is almost embarrassing for a place with this much Italian food ambition. There's no Barolo, no Brunello, no Nero d'Avola, nothing that suggests anyone behind the list actually loves Italian wine.
Ten to fifteen pours ranging from $9.50 to $35, which sounds generous until you see what's in the lineup — Melomi Pinot Noir, Barefoot Moscato, Sutter Home White Zinfandel, Lancers Rosé. The top end of that glass range is doing a lot of work for brands that don't deserve it. There's no rotation to speak of and no sense that anyone is curating this with any intention.
Gabbiano Chianti Classico — $9.50
It's the one wine on this list that actually makes sense with the food. Chianti Classico alongside veal parmigiana is a no-brainer, and at the low end of the glass pricing, it's the only pick where you're getting honest value for your dollar.
Fess Parker Riesling
Most people at this table are reaching for Pinot Grigio out of habit, but the Fess Parker Riesling is a smarter move — it has enough body and slight sweetness to actually handle the richness of cream sauces and cuts through without disappearing. Most people will scroll past it. Don't.
Sutter Home White Zinfandel
There is no version of a $25–$40 entrée dinner where White Zinfandel is the right call. This bottle costs $8 at CVS and has no business on a restaurant list — at any price.
Gabbiano Chianti Classico + Veal Parmigiana
Sangiovese and tomato sauce is one of the most reliable combinations in Italian cooking — the acidity locks in, the earthy fruit stands up to the breaded veal, and the whole thing tastes like someone thought about it even if they didn't.
The Bottom Line
Reginato's food reputation is real and the kitchen clearly cares — the wine list does not return the favor. Order the pasta, drink the Chianti, and keep your expectations firmly earthbound.
· Kingston · New American, Hotel Restaurant
Restaurant Kinsley is a hotel restaurant that treats wine as a utility — something to have on the table, not something to think about. The $10 flat pricing is fair and the Crémant is a bright spot, but five labels with no rotation and no depth is a hard sell if wine is part of why you're going out. Drink the bubbles, enjoy the room, and don't come here expecting a wine experience.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kingston · Italian, Pizza and Pasta
Lola Pizza isn't trying to be a wine bar, but it's clearly not phoning in the list either. The natural wine orientation and Italian varietal focus are smart choices for the food coming out of that kitchen. We'd go back — and we'd let the list surprise us.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kingston · Mexican Grill
Los Jalapenos isn't trying to be a wine destination, and the list makes that abundantly clear. At $7 a glass across the board the pricing is hard to argue with, but when you don't know what producer you're drinking, cheap doesn't feel like a win — it just feels anonymous. Order a margarita and save the wine night for somewhere else.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kingston · Wine bar, small plates
Brunette is exactly the kind of neighborhood wine bar that mid-size cities desperately need — small, smart, and staffed by people who can actually talk to you about what's in the glass. The France-and-Germany backbone, the jewel-box intimacy, and the knowledgeable staff make this a genuinely worthwhile stop in Kingston, especially if you're pairing a pour with the baked oysters or working through the charcuterie. We'd send a friend here without hesitation.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kingston · Bottle shop
Kingston Wine Co. is not trying to be everything to everyone — it stocks twenty bottles of stuff its buyers actually believe in, prices them honestly, and trusts you to figure out the rest. If you're in the Hudson Valley and you care about what's in your glass, this is a mandatory stop. Walk in, pick up the Leclair Gamay and the Tenuta Sella, and thank us later.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kingston · American Diner
Boulevard Diner is almost certainly a perfectly fine place to eat a stack of pancakes or a club sandwich. The wine list, however, is an afterthought — six anonymous varietals with no pricing, no producers, and no personality. Order the coffee.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Atlanta · Italian
Il Giallo runs one of the more thoughtful Italian wine programs in Atlanta — 35 by-the-glass options with genuine regional range is rare, and the pricing stays fair across most of the list. If you're willing to skip the comfort picks and lean into the Sardinian whites or the Abruzzo reds, you'll drink very well here. Send a friend who actually likes Italian wine; tell the one who always orders Rombauer to sit down.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Round Rock · Italian
Sortino's punches above its weight class for a suburban Italian chain — fair markup, a genuine Italian backbone, and seventeen by-the-glass options give you room to drink well without a fight. It's not a destination wine list, but if you're already there for the pasta, you won't be stuck ordering soda.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Round Rock · Italian
Frank & Margie's wine list is doing something quietly ambitious for Round Rock — twelve Italian-leaning glasses anchored by real producers like Oddero, Principiano, and Collosorbo at prices that don't sting. If you're the kind of person who gets excited about Grechetto di Todi on a Tuesday night, yes, absolutely send your friends here.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
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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