Screwtop Wine Bar

The menu section headers alone tip you off: 'Bubbles Up!', 'My Mind Is A Total Blanc', 'Brosé All Day', 'Beach Day Vinho Verde'. This is not a stuffy list. Screwtop leans into the fun with intention — the category names are tongue-in-cheek but the bottles behind them are genuinely thoughtful, pulling from corners of the wine world most Arlington spots wouldn't go near.

Fifty-five labels covering Russian sparkling, Greek Vidiano, Cahors Malbec, Saumur Brut, and a whole cluster of Vinho Verde — including a rare red from Encostas Do Lima — tells you someone here is actually paying attention. The Loire representation is impressive for a neighborhood wine bar: Le Vent Dans Les Saules Chenin De Loire and Le Pas Saint Martin Resonance Saumur Brut signal real curatorial effort, not just a bulk distributor drop. The rosé section is deep enough to qualify as its own list, pulling from Provence, Portugal, South Africa, and beyond. If there's a gap, it's on the red side — Château Du Caillau Cahors Malbec is doing a lot of heavy lifting as one of the few serious reds we can confirm on the list.

Forty-eight by-the-glass pours out of 55 labels is essentially the whole list — and that's the point. Screwtop is built for exploration by the glass, and the price spread from $10 to $26 means you can work your way through a Greek white, a Vinho Verde rosé, and a Loire fizz without blowing your budget. The rotation across that many options does raise questions about freshness on slower nights, but a focused by-the-glass program of this ambition deserves real credit.