Chowder's Great, Wine's an Afterthought
Cannery Row / Lighthouse Area · Monterey · Seafood, Chowder · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · July 23, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Vivolo's Chowder House’s wine list and gave it The Lazy List — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Vivolo's is exactly what you'd expect from a casual chowder house that's more focused on bread bowls than bottle selections. Eleven wines, all available by the glass, priced between $7 and $10 — this is a list built for convenience, not conversation. Nobody came here to talk about terroir.
The list leans almost entirely California, with a couple of mild detours — the Astrolabe Pinot Gris from New Zealand being the lone international flag. Beyond that, you're looking at recognizable, grocery-store-adjacent names: J. Lohr, William Hill, La Marca, Rabbles. There's nothing offensive here, but nothing that'll make you put down your chowder spoon in surprise either. The white-heavy lineup at least shows some self-awareness — you're eating seafood, after all — but the reds are a puzzler in this context, with a Cabernet from Rabbles that has no real business being on a seafood list.
Everything on the list is by the glass, which is genuinely the right move for a casual spot like this. At $7–$10 a pour, the pricing is accessible and honest — you're not getting gouged, you're just not getting inspired. Rotation appears nonexistent; this feels like a list that was set and forgotten.
La Marca Prosecco — $8
Eight bucks for a glass of Prosecco at a seafood spot on Cannery Row is a reasonable deal. It's crisp, lightly fizzy, and cuts right through a bowl of clam chowder in a way that half the wines on this list can't claim.
Astrolabe Pinot Gris
It's the only wine on the list that didn't come from California, and it earns its spot. New Zealand Pinot Gris tends to run leaner and more aromatic than its Alsatian cousins — a solid match for fried seafood that most people will walk right past in favor of the Chardonnay.
Rabbles Wine Cabernet
A big, tannic Cabernet at a chowder house is a choice. Not a good one. Rabbles is a value-tier Central Coast Cab that doesn't have the structure to stand up to much of anything on this menu — it just sits there, awkward, like someone who showed up to the beach in a suit.
Talbott Vineyards Chardonnay + Clam chowder
Talbott is a Monterey County producer that knows how to make Chardonnay with enough acidity to cut through cream. Against the rich, briny base of Vivolo's clam chowder, it's the most natural match on the list — local wine, local seafood, no overthinking required.
The Bottom Line
Come to Vivolo's for the chowder — seriously, come for the chowder — but don't expect the wine list to be part of the experience. Order the Prosecco or the Chardonnay, stay in your lane, and let the bread bowl do the heavy lifting.
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