Utah's Italian Wine Room Done Right
Salt Lake City · Salt Lake City · Northern Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 9, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Veneto Ristorante Italiano’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Veneto lands like a serious love letter to the Italian peninsula — not a postcard. Two hundred-plus bottles anchored by Piedmont and Tuscany, with a Best of Award of Excellence from Wine Spectator that they've held since 2019, tells you immediately this isn't a restaurant that bolted a wine list onto an Italian menu as an afterthought. Someone here genuinely cares.
The backbone of this list is exactly where it should be: Barolo and Barbaresco from Piedmont, Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany, and Amarone from the Veneto — the holy trinity of Italian reds for anyone who means business. Producers like Gaja, Antinori, and Allegrini aren't filler names dropped to impress; they're the real operators, and Sassicaia and Tignanello make appearances for those who want a Super Tuscan moment. The list doesn't try to cover the globe, which is honestly refreshing — it knows what it is and commits fully. A nod to Soave Classico on the white side shows they're not totally ignoring northern Italy's quieter, food-friendly wines.
Twenty to thirty-five options by the glass is genuinely generous for a room this size, and at $12–$25 a pour the range covers both the casual Tuesday diner and the person who wants to open with something serious. The pours skew Italian throughout, which keeps things coherent rather than scattered across six continents.
Soave Classico — $12–$18 by the glass
Soave Classico is chronically underordered at Italian restaurants while people chase Pinot Grigio, but it's a far more interesting wine — mineral, textured, genuinely food-friendly — and at this price point inside a list this caliber, it's the quiet overachiever of the pour program.
Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella
Everyone at Veneto is looking left toward Barolo and Brunello, and Allegrini's Amarone is sitting right there being quietly spectacular. It's a fuller, richer style that Allegrini does extremely well, and most tables walk right past it chasing the more recognizable Piedmont names.
Sassicaia
Sassicaia is a genuinely great wine, but it's also one of the most recognized and therefore most marked-up labels in any Italian wine program. You're paying a premium for the name recognition here — the Tignanello or an Antinori Brunello will give you a comparable experience with less brand tax on the bill.
Barolo (Piedmont) + Osso Buco
Osso Buco's braised veal shank — rich, gelatinous, deeply savory — needs a wine with serious structure and enough tannin to cut through the fat. Barolo is essentially built for this moment. The high acidity keeps the dish from feeling heavy, and the wine's dried cherry and tar character threads right through the gremolata without fighting it.
The Bottom Line
Veneto is quietly one of the best Italian wine lists in the mountain west — focused, deep where it counts, and priced with enough fairness that you won't wince at the bill. Send your friends here, and tell them to order the Barolo.
· Salt Lake City · Steakhouse
STK Salt Lake City has the bones of a wine program but none of the follow-through — three by-the-glass options and a bottle list built around brand recognition rather than quality. Order a cocktail, or spring for the Veuve if you want to feel good about what's in your glass.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Sugar House · Salt Lake City · Steakhouse and Seafood with Scandinavian/European Influences
Kimi's earns its reputation as one of Salt Lake City's better nights out, and the wine program has real bones — a sommelier, a thoughtful Italian-leaning list, and proper glassware. Just go in knowing the markups are aggressive on the bubbles, anchor yourself to the Riesling if you're watching the spend, and let the room do the rest of the work.
Solid Range
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Proper
9th & 9th · Salt Lake City · Middle Eastern
Mazza isn't a wine destination, but it's doing something genuinely interesting by building a list around Lebanese producers that actually belong on the table with this food. If you're in Salt Lake City and want to drink something you won't find anywhere else in town, this is worth a detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Salt Lake City · Japanese and Sushi
Takashi is a great restaurant with a wine list that's just along for the ride — functional, safe, and a little overpriced relative to what you get. Go for the sushi, order the Cloudy Bay or the Oregon Pinot, and don't expect the wine program to keep pace with the kitchen.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Salt Lake City · Seafood and Raw Bar
Market Street Oyster Bar is a reliable spot for wine if you calibrate your expectations accordingly — this is a crowd-pleaser list built for a crowd-pleaser room, and it mostly delivers. Send a friend here for oysters and a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, not for a wine education.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Cottonwood Heights · Salt Lake City · Seafood and Steakhouse
Market Street Grill Cottonwood is a dependable neighborhood anchor with a wine list that does exactly what it needs to — nothing more. Send a friend here for the oysters and the Sonoma-Cutrer; just don't send them expecting to discover anything new.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Paso Robles · Paso Robles · Northern Italian
Buona Tavola is a genuinely good restaurant wine list in a town surrounded by great wine — it respects the local terroir, prices fairly, and makes smart Italian connections on the menu. Send your friends here and tell them to skip the Justin.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown Newberg · Newberg · Northern Italian
Rosmarino is doing something quietly ambitious: building an all-Italian wine list in the middle of Pinot Noir country and making it feel completely natural. It's not a deep list, but it's an honest one — and that Yamhill-Carlton Dolcetto alone is worth the detour.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Bay Harbor Islands · Bay Harbor Islands · Northern Italian
The Palm Miami earns its Wine Spectator Award of Excellence on the strength of a reliable, well-stored California-focused list that does exactly what it's supposed to do in a steakhouse setting. It won't surprise you, but it won't embarrass you either — just budget accordingly, because the markups here are real.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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