Tavern Meets Wine Shop, Surprisingly Well
Clarendon · Arlington · Retail Wine & Takeout · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 27, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Liberty Tavern – Liberty To-Go Wine’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Walking into Liberty To-Go, you're not expecting much — it's a tavern annex with a retail wine angle, the kind of setup that usually screams 'afterthought.' But the list stops you: Vin Santo, Tawny Port in two ages, three Gonzalez Byass Sherries, and a Finger Lakes Cab Franc sitting next to a Mirafiore Barolo. Someone here is paying attention.
Fourteen labels sounds thin, but this list earns its compact footprint. The fortified wine section alone — Blandy's Bual Madeira, Portal 10 and 20 Year Tawnies, Gonzalez Byass Alfonso Oloroso, Nectar Pedro Ximenez, and Solera Cream — is more serious than most full-sized restaurant lists bother with. Italy and Spain anchor the program, Argentina sneaks in with Domingo Molina's Torrontés from Salta, and there's real regional curiosity in the Castellio di Poppiano Vin Santo 2008 and Di Lenardo's 'Pass the Cookies' Verduzzo from Friuli. The gaps are real — no Rhône, no Burgundy to speak of, slim on the reds — but the intentionality is impossible to miss.
The data shows 108 by-the-glass options listed, which almost certainly reflects the full retail catalog available for purchase by the bottle to-go rather than a true rotating glass pour program. In practice, glass pours like the Beatrice Pinot Grigio at $12 and Valravn Cab Sauv at $16 keep things approachable, and the $8 sparkling mimosa is a low-commitment way in. Don't walk in expecting 108 open bottles — read the room.
Mirafiore Barolo 2021 — $20
Barolo — from a Fontanafredda-connected house with serious Piedmont roots — at $20 is the kind of price that makes you check the label twice. Whether that's a glass pour or a to-go bottle price, you grab it without thinking.
Di Lenardo 'Pass the Cookies' Verduzzo 2019
A semi-sweet indigenous Friulian white that most people walk right past because it sounds like a dessert novelty. It's not — Verduzzo has real texture and complexity, and the 2019 has had time to settle into something genuinely interesting. At $48 for a 375mL it's not cheap, but it's the kind of wine you remember.
Domingo Molina Hermanos Torrontés 2017
Forty dollars for a 375mL of a seven-year-old Torrontés from Salta is a hard sell. Torrontés is a drink-young varietal — floral and aromatic on release, but that's not where 2017 is sitting anymore. The math doesn't work and neither does the vintage logic.
Roederer Estate Brut NV + Wood-fired pizza
Roederer Estate is California sparkling wine punching at a Champagne weight, and bubbles plus char-blistered crust is one of those combinations that just works every time. At $20, you're not crying when the pizza grease hits the glass.
The Bottom Line
Liberty To-Go is a genuine wild card — a tavern wine shop hybrid with a fortified wine section that would embarrass most dedicated wine bars, all priced without the usual Arlington markup. Come for the Barolo, stay for the Sherry flight you didn't know you needed.
Crystal City · Arlington · Wine Shop / Tasting Bar
Crystal City Wine Shop is the kind of low-key, staff-driven wine spot that most neighborhoods desperately want and rarely get — especially one with the nerve to stock Ukrainian bottles in the shadow of the Pentagon. We'd send a curious friend here without hesitation; just don't come in expecting a full restaurant experience.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
Clarendon · Arlington · New American
CIRCA Clarendon isn't trying to be a wine destination and doesn't pretend otherwise — but the all-BTG format, fair prices, and a few genuinely interesting whites make it a solid call when you want wine that works without overthinking it. Send a friend here, just steer them away from the Unshackled.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Arlington · Wine Bar / Bottle Shop
Flight Wine Shop is doing something genuinely rare in the DC suburbs: a tightly curated, fairly priced bottle shop that treats obscure regions and natural producers as the main event, not a novelty section. If you're tired of the same ten wines and want a shop that will actually teach you something, this is your spot.
Deep & Eclectic
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
· Arlington · Wine Bar / Café
Oby Lee is not a destination for serious wine drinkers, but it is a genuinely fun, low-pressure spot where the prices are fair and the vibe is unapologetically playful. Send your friends who think they don't like wine — they'll order a mango slushy and have a great time.
Plays It Safe
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Ballston · Arlington · Neapolitan Pizza
Pupatella isn't trying to be a destination wine program, and it doesn't need to be — it's a pizza place with a focused, fairly priced, Italian-centric list that actually makes sense with the food. Send a friend here for the pizza and tell them to order the Lambrusco.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Arlington · Arlington · Wine Bar
Screwtop is doing something genuinely unusual in the DC suburbs: a deep, eclectic by-the-glass list priced fairly and organized with actual personality. If you want to drink something you've never tried before in a low-pressure setting, this is exactly the place to send a friend.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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