Tucson's Italian anchor, bottle-deep in the boot
Foothills / Skyline · Tucson · Upscale Northern Italian · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 19, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Vivace Restaurant’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Vivace arrives looking exactly like the room feels — white tablecloths, candlelight, occasion energy. It's a focused Italian program, built for the crowd that's celebrating something and already knows what Barolo is. Nothing here is trying to surprise you, and that's mostly fine.
The list leans hard into Northern Italy's greatest hits: Barolo, Barbaresco, Brunello di Montalcino, Amarone, and a respectable Super Tuscan section anchored by names like Sassicaia and Tignanello. If you want to drink well within that lane, you absolutely can. The whites are predictable — Gavi di Gavi and Alto Adige Pinot Grigio show up doing exactly what guests expect them to do — but there's almost no exploration outside Italy and very little love for obscure producers or emerging regions. The 150-250 bottle count sounds impressive until you realize it's largely variations on the same theme.
With 12-20 options by the glass, there's a reasonable spread for a white-tablecloth Italian spot, though the rotation doesn't appear to change much or often. Expect the usual suspects — a Pinot Grigio, something Tuscan in red — without much adventure. It's functional, not inspired.
Gavi di Gavi — $12–$16/glass
Sharp, clean, food-friendly Italian white that punches above what most people expect at this price point. Works hard with the lighter pasta preparations and doesn't ask much of you.
Pinot Grigio from Alto Adige
Most people skip Italian whites entirely here and go straight for the big reds, but Alto Adige Pinot Grigio is a completely different animal from the grocery-store stuff — alpine, minerally, and structured enough to carry a whole meal. Worth ordering a bottle.
Sassicaia
Look, Sassicaia is great wine. But at a restaurant with steep markups, you're paying two to three times what you'd pay at retail for a bottle you could easily find elsewhere. Save the Sassicaia for a wine shop and put that money toward something you can't easily source on your own.
Barbaresco + Veal scaloppine
Barbaresco's Nebbiolo grape has the structure and savory depth to stand up to veal without bullying it. The earthy, rose-petal character of a good Barbaresco flatters the delicate protein in a way Barolo — which is bigger and more tannic — sometimes can't.
The Bottom Line
Vivace is the wine list you'd expect at a reliable, decades-old Italian special-occasion spot — safe, Italy-focused, and priced for the occasion rather than the drinker. Go for the Barbaresco, skip the trophy bottles, and enjoy the mountain view.
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Commoner & Co. is a dependable neighborhood wine list in a city that doesn't always prioritize the bottle program — fair pricing, reasonable range, and a Monday half-off special that makes it genuinely worth planning around. Not a destination for wine geeks, but a solid place to drink well without thinking too hard about it.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
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Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Tucson · Bar with Wine
Good Oak is exactly the kind of place that surprises you — a casual Congress Street bar that happens to have a sommelier and a wine list that leans into Italy and Portugal instead of defaulting to the usual suspects. If you're in Tucson and want a glass of something interesting without the pretense, this is the move.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Occasional
Acceptable
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Maynards Kitchen is a charming spot inside a genuinely iconic Tucson hotel, which makes the wine list feel like an especially lazy afterthought. Skip the wine, order a cocktail, and hope whoever curates this program eventually decides to care.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
East Tucson · Tucson · Italian/New American
Zio Peppe is a solid neighborhood spot where the wine list won't blow your mind but won't let you down either — stick to something California and light, order the Sausage and Mushroom pizza, and enjoy the patio. Send your friend here for dinner, not for the wine.
Plays It Safe
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Downtown · Tucson · Wine Bar
Sunshine Wine is doing something genuinely uncommon for Tucson — leaning hard into the borderlands wine identity and making it feel cool instead of gimmicky. If you're curious about what Arizona and Sonora actually taste like in a glass, this bungalow on Santa Rita is the place to find out.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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