Albany's Italian Soul with Serious Wine Bones
Lark Street · Albany · Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed April 19, 2026
Wingman Metrics
Walk into Villa Di Como and the wine list signals that someone here actually cares — Tignanello and Gaja on a Lark Street menu isn't nothing. It's a focused, Italian-only program that leans hard into the peninsula's heavyweights, which is exactly what you want from a place this intimate.
The list runs 40-80 bottles, all Italian, all business — Tuscany and Piedmont do the heavy lifting while Sicily and the Veneto round out the edges. Brunello di Montalcino selections add genuine cellar credibility, and the Super Tuscan presence means you're not just looking at a menu assembled from a distributor's top sheet. The gaps show up in northern Italy beyond Piedmont — don't expect Friuli or Alto Adige — but within its lane, the list is coherent and considered. For a 50-seat neighborhood spot in Albany, this is punching above its weight class.
Eight to fourteen pours by the glass gives you real options without the decision fatigue of a wine bar. The program skews toward crowd-pleasing Italian staples in the glass format, which makes sense for a reservation-only dinner spot where the bottle list is the real story. We'd like to see the glass program rotate more aggressively, but what's here is serviceable.
Brunello di Montalcino — null
Pricing data wasn't available to confirm exact bottle cost, but Brunello in a setting like this typically represents the best ratio of prestige to experience — it's the wine that makes the room feel like it earns its ambiance.
Sicilian selections
Most tables are going straight for the Tuscany and Piedmont anchors, which means the Sicilian bottles sit underordered. Sicily's been quietly producing some of Italy's most interesting reds for years — if the staff can point you toward one, take it.
Antinori Tignanello
Tignanello is a genuinely great wine, but it's also one of the most marked-up bottles in Italian restaurants everywhere. At a steep-markup establishment without a dedicated sommelier, you're almost certainly paying a significant premium over retail for a wine you can find at any decent shop. Save it for a restaurant that earns the price through service and cellar care.
Gaja Barbaresco + Frutti di Mare
Barbaresco's acidity and iron-tinged fruit cut through briny, rich seafood in a way that feels like the pairing was designed in a Piedmontese kitchen. It's a slightly unexpected call — most people reach for white wine with frutti di mare — but Gaja's structure handles it.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Villa Di Como is the kind of neighborhood Italian spot that takes its wine seriously enough to stock Gaja and Brunello, even if the pricing and lack of a dedicated wine person keep it from true destination status. Send a friend here for dinner — just tell them to avoid the trophy bottles and dig into the list's mid-tier.
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Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Solid Range
Steal
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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677 Prime Lounge is the wine list equivalent of a perfectly cooked strip steak — nothing surprising, nothing wrong, everything exactly where you expect it to be. If you're in Albany and someone else is buying, order the Silver Oak and enjoy the room; if you're watching your tab, lean on Jordan and don't let them upsell you to Caymus.
Plays It Safe
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Athos isn't trying to build the most ambitious wine program in New York State — it's trying to give you an honest Greek wine experience to go with honest Greek food, and it largely delivers. If you're eating moussaka and lamb in Albany, this is where your glass should be.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Yono's is the best wine program in Albany and it's not particularly close — a thousand-label cellar, a sommelier who knows it, and a room built for the occasion. The markups are real and the by-the-glass list plays it safer than the cellar deserves, but if you're willing to lean on the staff and spend a little, this is one of the more serious wine experiences in upstate New York.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Varietal Specific
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Set & Forget
Proper
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La Dolce Vita earns its stripes as a dependable neighborhood Italian with a wine list that actually respects the cuisine it's serving. It's not a destination wine program, but in Provo, it's one of the better options on the table — and that house pour at $4 a glass is almost disarmingly honest.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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The wine list at Olive Garden Odessa does exactly what Olive Garden's wine list is supposed to do — it's inoffensive, familiar, and gets out of the way of the breadsticks. If you're here for a serious glass of wine, you're in the wrong zip code.
Crowd Pleasers
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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Carrabba's isn't where you go to discover wine, but it's where you go to drink something decent without getting ripped off. Send a friend here if they want a familiar Italian night with a glass that makes sense — just steer them toward the Italian side of the list.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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