Tavolo Wine Bar & Tuscan Grille

You don't expect to walk into Warwick, Rhode Island and find Sassicaia and Ornellaia on the same list — but here we are. Tavolo earns its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence badge honestly, with a 200-plus bottle list that leans hard into Tuscany and California and doesn't apologize for it. The vibe is casual-elegant Italian, the kind of place where the owner is probably in the room, and the wine program reflects that personal investment.

The Italian side of this list is the main event — Tignanello, Brunello di Montalcino from Banfi and Biondi-Santi, Barolo from Marchesi di Barolo and Prunotto, and enough Chianti Classico Riserva to make a Florentine nod approvingly. California gets equal billing with the crowd-pleaser holy trinity of Caymus, Jordan, and Silver Oak Cabernet, plus Far Niente Chardonnay for the Napa faithful. It's not a list that's going to surprise you with obscure natural pours or left-field picks from Slovenia, but it does what it sets out to do — anchor serious Italian food with serious Italian wine — and does it well. The gaps are in the adventurous middle: if you want something off the beaten Tuscan path, you may have to ask.

Twenty to thirty-five options by the glass is genuinely impressive for a restaurant at this level, and it means you can explore the list without committing to a bottle on the first visit. We'd expect the pours to track closely with the bottle list's Italian and California strengths, so expect Chiantis and Cabs to dominate the rotation. No evidence of an active glass program rotation or special pours, which is a missed opportunity given the depth sitting on the shelves.