Utah's Most Serious Italian Wine Cellar
Downtown · Salt Lake City · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · April 5, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Veneto’s wine list and gave it The Rager — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You open the wine list at Veneto and immediately realize you're not in a typical Salt Lake City Italian spot. This is a serious cellar — 300 to 500 labels spanning all 20 Italian regions, from Aosta Valley to Sicily, with a stated goal of representing every one. It's the kind of list that rewards time spent with it.
The anchors are where you'd expect them: Brunello di Montalcino, Barolo, and Amarone carry real weight here, and not just the easy-to-find labels. The ambition to cover all 20 Italian regions is genuinely rare — most Italian restaurants in the US lean heavily on Tuscany and Piedmont and call it a day. The breadth means you can find obscure southern Italian bottles alongside the classics, which is exactly the kind of list that keeps wine nerds coming back. The price ceiling of $23,000-plus tells you there's some serious trophy wine sitting in that cellar too.
With 15 to 25 options by the glass, there's enough range to do real exploring without committing to a bottle — a genuine advantage in a city where Utah's liquor laws can make wine feel like an afterthought. We'd love to see more aggressive rotation on the pours, but the sheer number of options makes this one of the stronger by-the-glass programs in the city.
Amarone della Valpolicella — N/A
Amarone is the move here — it's a wine Veneto clearly knows and stocks well, and ordering it in a room built for Italian reds is about as in-context as it gets. Ask your server which producer they're currently pouring and let the staff's knowledge do the work.
Regional Italian selections from lesser-known regions
The whole point of a list built to cover all 20 Italian regions is that there are bottles here from places most people have never heard of. Skip the Barolo on autopilot and ask your server what's coming in from Calabria, Friuli, or Sardinia — that's where the real discovery happens on a list like this.
Trophy-tier Brunello di Montalcino
The top-end Brunellos and the bottles pushing toward that $23,000 ceiling are a flex for the cellar, but the markup on prestige Italian labels at fine dining restaurants rarely makes them worth it versus drinking them at home. Unless it's a special occasion, let someone else order the vanity bottle.
Barolo + Osso buco
Barolo and osso buco is a Piedmontese love story — the wine's tannin and tar cut right through the braised veal shank, and the earthy depth of a good Nebbiolo locks in with the gremolata and marrow in a way that makes both better.
The Bottom Line
Veneto is the best Italian wine list in Utah and it's not particularly close — the ambition, depth, and staff knowledge earn that title. The markups are real, but if you're going to spend money on Italian wine in Salt Lake City, this is where to do it.
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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
· Atlanta · Italian
Bici's wine list won't knock you sideways, but it's honest, Italian-focused, and fairly priced — a reliable partner to the food. We'd send a friend here and tell them to skip the Sauvignon Blanc and go straight for the Greco.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Parkway / Elks Plaza · Gatlinburg · Italian
The Best Italian's wine list does exactly what it needs to do: keep casual diners happy, not drain wallets, and get out of the way of the garlic knots. We wouldn't drive to Gatlinburg for the wine, but if you're already there and want something decent with dinner, you'll be fine.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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La Nonna brings a legitimately serious Italian cellar to a town where most restaurants are content to coast on their ski-town captive audience — and that deserves real credit. The markups are steep across the board, but the bones of the list are strong enough that the right bottle makes the whole evening.
Solid Range
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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