Forty-Three Glasses and a Vin Santo From 1992
Newark · Italian tapas / wine bar · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · August 16, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Spuntino Wine Bar & Italian Tapas’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Forty-three by-the-glass options at a wine bar in Newark — we weren't expecting that. The list opens with a $5 house pour and closes with a 1992 Avignonesi Vin Santo at $150, which is a pretty wild range for a single menu. This place clearly has a point of view, and it leans hard into dessert wines, ports, and curated flights.
The bottle list is modest at 51 labels, but the dessert wine and fortified section alone punches well above weight — a staircase of Sandeman Ports from 10-Year to 40-Year, Dow's LBV, Poliziano Vin Santo 1997, and that Avignonesi Vin Santo 1992 that you rarely see by the glass anywhere. The Italian backbone is solid — Greco di Tufo, Barolo, Chianti Classico, Montepulciano d'Abruzzo — and the European Tour flight pulls in Chinon and Côtes du Rhône for good measure. The everyday stuff like the Tiamo Organic Pinot Grigio and Terrazas Malbec keeps things accessible without being lazy. What's missing is any serious red depth outside of Italy, and the overall bottle count keeps this firmly in 'thoughtful neighborhood spot' territory rather than destination list.
Forty-three by-the-glass pours is an absurd number for a 51-bottle list — basically everything is available by the glass, which is either a flex or a logistical nightmare depending on how they're storing open bottles. The three curated flights are a genuine highlight: the Tour of Italy at $24 gets you Barolo and Chianti Classico alongside a Greco di Tufo, which is a serious deal. The Terrazas Malbec at $8/glass is a reliable everyday anchor.
Tour of Italy Flight (Terredora Greco di Tufo / Zenato Valpolicella / Cantina Terre del Barolo / Castello di Bossi Chianti Classico) — $24
Four pours — including a proper Barolo — for $24 is remarkable. This flight covers the full Italian peninsula and gives you something to actually learn from. Anywhere else, Barolo by the glass alone would cost you this.
Château Coutet Barsac 1985
A 1985 Sauternes-adjacent Barsac at $50 is the kind of thing that gets listed and ignored by everyone ordering Pinot Grigio. Coutet is one of the top estates in Barsac, and a wine this old with this much complexity on a tapas bar list is genuinely surprising. Order it with anything rich or salty.
Vigneti Del Sole Montepulciano d'Abruzzo 2019
At $47 for a bottle from a generic producer in a workhorse region, this is the list's clearest value gap. Montepulciano d'Abruzzo is meant to be the affordable Italian red — you can find better bottles at retail for under $15. Save that $47 and put it toward the Vin Santo.
Poliziano Vin Santo 1997 + Italian charcuterie or cheese board
A Vin Santo from a top Vino Nobile producer with nearly three decades of age needs something salty and fatty to play against its oxidative sweetness. A board of aged Parmigiano, prosciutto, and hard salumi creates that contrast — sweet against salt, richness against richness — in the best possible way.
The Bottom Line
Spuntino earns its Wild Card badge by building a genuinely interesting dessert wine and port program inside what looks like a casual Italian tapas spot — that Vin Santo lineup alone is worth the trip. If you're bringing someone who wants to explore wine without committing to a full bottle, the flights make this one of the better low-stakes wine education stops in the area.
Newark · Newark · Spanish
Spanish Tavern is a Newark institution worth visiting for the atmosphere and the paella, but the wine program doesn't quite match the room's ambitions. Drink something Spanish, keep it simple, and let the food carry the night.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Newark · Newark · Wine Bar / Small Plates
Consigliere is one of Newark's most interesting wine rooms precisely because it's not trying to be a conventional wine bar — the African diaspora focus and soundtrack-first atmosphere make it a genuine Wild Card worth the trip. If you can handle some ambiguity on the list and lean into the experience, it punches well above its weight.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
Newark Liberty International Airport · Newark · Wine Bar / Light Bites
Oeno is a legitimately surprising wine program stranded inside one of America's least glamorous airports — the Champagne depth is real, the grower selections are credible, and it earns its Wild Card badge just by existing here. Markups are steep and the setting undercuts the wine, but if you've got a long layover and a taste for grower Champagne, this is where you should be.
Surprising Depth
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Newark · Portuguese / Steakhouse
Fernandes Steakhouse II isn't a wine destination, but the Portuguese section of the list gives it a genuine identity that most neighborhood steakhouses completely lack. Come for the grilled meat, order something from Portugal, and leave the Dom Pérignon for someone else's table.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Ironbound · Newark · Portuguese / Seafood
Sol Mar isn't a destination wine list, but it's an honest one — Portuguese-focused, reasonably priced, and built to serve food that actually needs wine alongside it. Send a friend here for the whole experience; just tell them to order a bottle of something white and cold from the Douro.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Newark · European Bistro
Satis Bistro is doing more with 22 bottles than most restaurants do with 60 — it's a focused, honest list with fair prices and a few genuine finds. If you're eating in Newark and care about what's in your glass, this is your spot.
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.
List Variety
Markup
Glassware
Staff
Specials & Deals
Storage & Temp
