Tre Scalini Ristorante

Four hundred and twenty-five bottles at a neighborhood Italian joint on Wooster Street — that's not an accident. Someone here cares, and the list makes that obvious from the first scroll. The range spans humble weeknight pours to serious cellar showstoppers, which is exactly the kind of ambition you want backing a plate of linguine with clams.

The Italian backbone is strong — Barbaresco from Produttori del Barbaresco, Amarone from Masi, Brunello from Biondi-Santi, and the Guidalberto from Tenuta San Guido all show up, which tells you the Italian program is built by someone who knows their stuff, not just someone who grabbed the usual suspects. There's also a serious California contingent: Cakebread, Jordan, Caymus, Opus One, Lokoya, and even some serious aged bottles like a '92 Caymus Special Selection and a '97 Chateau Mouton Rothschild. The old-vintage depth — Gaja Sori Tildin 1996, Opus One going back to '98 — hints at real cellar investment. Gaps are minor: Burgundy and the Northern Rhône don't get much love, and Champagne leans heavy on the big trophy names (Cristal, Dom) without much grower representation.

Nineteen pours by the glass at $12–$24 is a respectable program for a neighborhood Italian spot. We don't have the full by-the-glass list itemized, but with a sommelier on staff and a 425-bottle cellar behind it, the pours likely reflect the same Italian-and-California tilt as the bottle list. That $24 ceiling keeps things accessible without dipping into the bargain-bin territory that plagues so many by-the-glass programs.