Great Whiskey, Wine List Phoning It In
Thames Street · Newport · Southern American and comfort food · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 24, 2026
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 →
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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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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
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Acceptable
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Solid Range
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Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
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Acceptable
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
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Acceptable
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
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Acceptable
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Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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