Walla Walla's Quietly Brilliant Bubble-and-Beyond Shop
· Walla Walla · Wine bar with light bites · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed September 17, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed The Thief Fine Art & Wine’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
Twenty-four labels sounds like nothing — until you actually read the list. The Thief isn't trying to overwhelm you with a 200-bottle tome; it's curated like someone actually thought hard about every single slot. The price ceiling of $62/bottle tells you immediately that this place isn't here to squeeze you.
The list leans heavily toward whites and bubbles, and that's not a complaint — it's a perspective. You've got Champagne represented by Gaston Chiquet Brut Tradition 1er Cru and Laurent Perrier La Cuvée alongside Crémant options from Loire and proper Spanish Cava, which means the fizz category alone offers a legitimate tour of the format. Whites run from the zippy and saline (Ameztoi Txakolina 2024, Broadbent Vinho Verde) to the more contemplative (Jean-Paul & Benoit Droin Chablis 2022, Domaine Pichot Vouvray 2024). There's also real local pride in the Devison Vintners and Abeja selections, which keep Walla Walla on the card without making it a regional vanity project. Red wine fans may feel underserved — Devium Wines Trousseau 2025 appears to be holding down the left-bank-of-weird side of the spectrum mostly alone.
By-the-glass options aren't confirmed in our data, so we can't tell you what's pouring right now. Given the shop-style format and modest bottle prices across the board, it wouldn't surprise us if the list functions largely as a retail-to-table situation — worth asking when you walk in.
The Bottom Line
The Thief is punching well above its weight for a 24-bottle list in a wine bar format — the pricing is genuinely fair, the curation shows real taste, and the presence of Txakolina, Trousseau, and 1er Cru Champagne on the same short list earns serious respect. If you're in Walla Walla and want to drink well without a PhD in wine or a big wallet, this is the stop.
Downtown · Walla Walla · Italian/New American
T. Maccarone's is a solid choice for wine in Walla Walla — a sommelier on staff, a regional focus that makes geographic sense, and a room that's polished without being precious. We'd send a friend here without hesitation, especially if they asked the staff for guidance instead of defaulting to whatever's familiar.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
· Walla Walla · New American / Steakhouse
Whitehouse-Crawford is a reliable choice for wine in Walla Walla if you're happy drinking where you are — local producers, regional pride, and a program that doesn't try to be something it's not. We'd send a friend here for a special occasion dinner, especially one who wants to taste the valley rather than just visit it. Just know that the wine list won't be the main event — the room, the food, and the setting will carry most of the weight.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Walla Walla · Hotel Lounge / New American
For a hotel lounge in wine country, the Vineyard Lounge clears a bar that many similar spots don't even attempt to approach. The pricing is honest, the Riesling and sparkling sections are genuinely well-curated, and the presence of a 2007 Bollinger R.D. suggests someone with a real point of view built this list. If you're passing through Walla Walla and need a pre-dinner glass in a comfortable seat, this is a better bet than it has any right to be.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Walla Walla · Market/Wine Bar
Runway is a one-trick pony that actually knows its trick cold. If you want still wine, go somewhere else — but if you want to work through four different expressions of sparkling wine in one sitting with a focused, purposeful list, this is a legitimately fun stop in Walla Walla. The prices run steep for the producers involved, but the concept earns some goodwill for sheer commitment.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Walla Walla · Wine bar/tasting room
L'atitude 47 is a single-producer tasting room, and the wine list reflects exactly that — eight labels, all in-house, all fairly priced for Walla Walla. If you're looking for a broad regional survey, look elsewhere. But if you want to get inside one producer's head at prices that won't require a conversation with your accountant, this is a genuinely low-stakes, high-curiosity stop. We'd send a wine-curious friend here without hesitation.
Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Walla Walla · Walla Walla · Winery Wine Bar with Bites
Heritage Wine Bar is the right answer if you're in Walla Walla and want to understand why Washington wine is having its moment — knowledgeable staff, a focused list from a producer with serious credentials, and a room that rewards slow drinking. We'd send a friend here without hesitation, especially someone who thinks Washington wine is just grocery-store Riesling. It will change their mind.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Belmont Shore/Belmont Park · Long Beach · Wine bar with light bites
Wine on 2nd is the kind of place that surprises you — a neighborhood wine bar with a list that has no business being this thoughtful. Wednesday's half-price bottle specials are reason enough to make it a weekly habit.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Bixby Knolls · Long Beach · Wine bar with light bites
The Vintage LBC is doing something real in a city that doesn't have nearly enough serious wine bars — a focused, boutique-driven list with fair prices and staff that can actually talk to you about what's in the glass. Send your wine-curious friends here; they'll leave with a new appreciation for California small producers and probably a standing reservation.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
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