All-estate, all-in, surprisingly deep Kirkland
· Kirkland · Wine bar & small plates · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 4, 2026
RagingWine reviewed The Melody Lynne Vineyard Wine Bar’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
The list is exactly 16 wines long and every single one of them is from The Melody Lynne Vineyard itself — no outside bottles, no guest producers, no filler. That's either a bold statement or a red flag, and in this case it reads more like conviction. Prices top out at $59 and bottom out at $19, which in 2024 Washington wine bar terms is practically charitable.
What's genuinely surprising here is the range they've managed within a fully estate-only format. You've got Dolcetto and Sangiovese sitting next to Gewurztraminer and a Pommard clone Pinot Noir — varietals that don't typically share a menu in Eastern Washington. The Acacia Barreled Sauvignon Blanc and the 2022 Arancia Dolce (almost certainly an orange wine given the name) hint at a winemaker who's actually having fun rather than chasing easy sales. The gaps are real — no sparkling, no dessert wine listed, and the oldest vintage on the list is 2019 — but within a focused single-producer model, this is a legitimate and considered lineup.
By-the-glass specifics aren't confirmed on the research data, but given the size of the list and the wine bar format, it's reasonable to expect pours across the range. We'd push staff to confirm what's open on any given night before committing to a bottle — vintage-specific inventory at a small estate can be unpredictable.
The Melody Lynne Vineyard 2020 Sangiovese — $29
Washington Sangiovese for under thirty bucks is almost unheard of, and this is a 2020 — not a rush job. If it delivers even half of what the varietal is capable of, this is the smartest spend on the list.
The Melody Lynne Vineyard 2022 Arancia Dolce
The name translates to 'sweet orange' in Italian and this almost certainly skews toward orange wine territory — skin-contact, textured, probably polarizing. Most guests will walk right past it. Don't be most guests.
The Melody Lynne Vineyard 2019 Studio Cabernet Sauvignon
At $59 it's the priciest bottle on the list by a meaningful margin. We have no issue with Cab at that price when it earns it, but on a list where equally interesting bottles are sitting at $29-$39, the Studio Cab needs to be extraordinary to justify the jump — and without tasting notes or independent reviews to back it up, it's a harder sell.
The Melody Lynne Vineyard 2020 Dolcetto + Charcuterie board
Dolcetto is built for cured meats — low tannin, good acidity, a little bitter finish that cuts through fat. On a small plates wine bar menu, a charcuterie spread is almost certainly available, and this is exactly the wine to take it through.
The Bottom Line
The Melody Lynne Vineyard is doing something genuinely unusual — a fully estate-only wine bar with real varietal ambition and prices that don't punish curiosity. It's not the deepest list in Washington, but it might be the most specific, and specific is underrated.
· Kirkland · Italian lakeside
Como isn't trying to be a wine bar, but it's wine list punches well above its weight for a lakeside Italian in the suburbs — fair pricing, genuine Italian depth, and a few local picks that earn their spot. Yes, send a friend here for wine.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kirkland · American café & wine bar
Mia is a neighborhood wine bar that earns its stripes by championing a hyperlocal producer alongside an accessible, well-priced lineup — the 425 Cellars section alone makes it worth a stop if you're in Kirkland. The Wild Card badge is there for a reason: on paper this list looks ordinary, but the local angle and nearly unlimited by-the-glass flexibility make it quietly one of the better casual wine spots on the Eastside.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Kirkland · French Brasserie
Le Grand is doing something genuinely thoughtful inside a tight 21-bottle format — the bubbly selection alone beats most full-sized lists in the area, and the pricing stays honest throughout. Send a friend here, tell them to skip the Rombauer, and work their way through the glass pours.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Kirkland · French brasserie with Pacific Northwest influences
Feast is a reliable, well-intentioned wine list that serves the room without embarrassing itself — just don't come expecting discovery. Send a friend here for a solid French brasserie night out; tell them to ask about the Riesling.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Waterfront / Downtown-adjacent · Kirkland · French-American Bistro
Le Grand Bistro Americain is a genuinely lovely spot to watch the sun drop over Lake Washington — but the wine list is coasting hard on that view. Until the markups come down or someone builds a list that actually reflects the French-American ambition of the kitchen, we'd say order a cocktail and save the wine budget for somewhere that earns it.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Kirkland · American
The Heathman isn't going to make you rethink your relationship with wine, but it's a genuinely decent hotel list anchored by wines worth drinking — and the Monday/Wednesday half-price bottle deal turns a steep markup into something actually worth your time. Show up on a deal night, order the Col Solare, and you'll leave happy.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
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