Great Whiskey, Wine List Phoning It In
Thames Street · Newport · Southern American and comfort food · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed July 24, 2026 · How we review
RagingWine reviewed The Wharf Southern Kitchen & Whiskey Bar’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list here reads like the shelf at a mid-tier grocery store — Josh Cellars, Kendall-Jackson, Kim Crawford, Meiomi. Nothing wrong with any of those wines in their natural habitat, but at these prices, in a restaurant setting, it's hard to get excited. The whiskey program is clearly where the love lives.
We're looking at 20-35 bottles anchored almost entirely in commercial California and New Zealand staples. There's no regional exploration, no small producers, nothing to suggest anyone spent more than an afternoon building this list. The South has a growing wine culture — Virginia, Texas, Georgia — and none of it shows up here. If you came hoping for something to discover, keep walking.
Six to ten options by the glass, which sounds reasonable until you realize the rotation is essentially the same heavy-hitter brands cycling through. At $10–$15 a pour for bottles that retail under $20, the math isn't flattering. There's no evidence the glass list rotates with any intention.
Meiomi Pinot Noir — $42
It's still a 110% markup on a $20 retail bottle, which isn't good — but it's the least egregious option on the list. At least Meiomi delivers consistent, crowd-pleasing fruit that holds up next to the richer Southern dishes. If you're ordering wine here, this is where we'd land.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc
Not exactly a hidden gem in any traditional sense — Kim Crawford is everywhere — but it's the wine on this list most likely to actually work with the food. The citrus and acidity cut through fried chicken and shrimp and grits in a way that heavier reds simply won't. Underutilized at a Southern kitchen.
Josh Cellars Cabernet Sauvignon
A $12 retail bottle priced at $36 is a 200% markup, and that's before we note that a big tannic Cab is probably the worst possible match for the menu here. You're paying three times retail for a wine that actively fights the food. Hard pass.
Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc + Shrimp and Grits
The zippy Marlborough acidity and bright citrus in the Kim Crawford slice right through the richness of the shrimp and grits without overwhelming the dish's savory depth. It's not a revelatory pairing, but it's the most coherent one this list offers.
The Bottom Line
Come to The Wharf for the whiskey and the fried chicken — that's clearly the move. The wine list is an afterthought built for brand recognition, not drinking pleasure, and the markups make ordering a bottle a hard sell. If wine matters to you tonight, this isn't your spot.
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Castle Hill's wine list is a quiet overachiever in a setting that could easily get away with doing far less. The by-the-glass depth is real, the format variety is a genuine bonus, and the Lustau Fino alone justifies scanning the list carefully. Prices trend steep as you'd expect from a waterfront inn, but the curation earns some goodwill — just don't autopilot to the Cabernet.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Newport · Seafood / Clam Shack
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Grocery Store
Gouge
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Small but Thoughtful
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Outskirts / North End · Newport · Farm-to-Table / Winery Restaurant
Brix isn't trying to be a destination wine list — it's trying to be a great ambassador for one vineyard's work, and it mostly succeeds. Send your curious friends here; send your Burgundy obsessives somewhere else.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
Lower Thames · Newport · Farm-to-Table / New American
TSK is quietly one of the better wine lists in Newport, which is a town that doesn't exactly set a high bar — but this one would hold its own in most cities. If you're eating farm-to-table food and want a bottle that actually matches the kitchen's ethos, 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.
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