White Burgundy and Raw Bars, Done Right
Downtown Los Angeles · Los Angeles · Seafood · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · June 21, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Water Grill’s wine list and gave it The Reliable — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Water Grill arrives feeling serious — 400 to 600 bottles deep, clearly built with a point of view. That point of view is white wine, full stop. Burgundy and California Chardonnay dominate, and when you're looking at a tower of oysters and a bowl of Dungeness, that's exactly what you want.
White Burgundy and California Chardonnay anchor this list, with names like Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé and Kistler Les Noisetiers sitting alongside crowd-pleasers like Rombauer and Cakebread. Alsace gets a respectful nod — the Trimbach Clos Sainte Hune is one of the finest dry Rieslings on earth, and the fact that it's here says something about whoever built this list. Champagne shows up the way it should at a serious seafood house. Red wine exists on this list, but it's clearly not why you're here.
Twenty pours by the glass is a healthy number for a restaurant of this focus. We'd expect the Chardonnay-heavy selections to do the heavy lifting on the glass program, and at a downtown power-lunch destination that makes total sense. Rotation and freshness are the question marks — a sommelier on staff helps, but we'd ask when each bottle was opened before committing.
Domaine Leflaive Mâcon-Verzé — Unknown
Leflaive's village-level Mâcon is one of the best overachievers in white Burgundy. You're getting the house's winemaking DNA at a fraction of the Puligny price. At a restaurant where Kistler and Cakebread are the gravitational center, this one tends to get overlooked — and that's your opening.
Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune
Most tables at Water Grill will order Chardonnay on autopilot, and that's a shame when this bottle is on the list. Clos Sainte Hune is a single-vineyard grand cru-level Riesling from Alsace with the kind of precision and mineral tension that makes a plate of oysters taste like a revelation. It's underordered, almost certainly, and that's a missed opportunity every single night.
Rombauer Chardonnay Carneros
Rombauer is a perfectly fine wine that's become a restaurant markup machine. You're paying a significant premium for a label that's easy to find at retail, and the butter-and-vanilla profile, while crowd-pleasing, doesn't do the delicate seafood on your plate any favors. Pick the Leflaive or spend up to the Kistler — either direction beats this middle ground.
Trimbach Riesling Clos Sainte Hune + Oysters on the Half Shell
Clos Sainte Hune's razor-sharp acidity and saline mineral character are essentially built for raw oysters. The wine cuts through the brine, amplifies the ocean flavor, and leaves your palate completely clean. It's one of those pairings that makes both the wine and the food taste better than they do alone.
The Bottom Line
Water Grill is a reliable choice for serious wine with serious seafood — the list is deep enough to reward exploration, and the sommelier presence means you can actually ask for help. The markups sting, but this is Downtown LA and you knew that walking in.
Los Angeles · Los Angeles · Wine Bar / Butcher Shop
Butchr Bar is doing something genuinely different: a tight, weird, well-priced wine list in a space where you'd expect a refrigerator of craft beer. Go for the Arneis, stay for the field blends, and don't overthink it.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
West Adams · Los Angeles · Wine shop & bar
Adams is doing something genuinely rare in LA: a community-anchored wine bar with actual conviction behind the list and staff who can back it up. Send your friends here, especially the ones who think they don't like wine.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Knowledgeable & Friendly
Seasonal Rotation
Proper
· Los Angeles · Wine Bar
Augustine is doing the work: a genuinely eclectic 66-bottle list, half of it available by the glass, with pricing that respects what it's selling. If you like exploring wine without having to commit to a full bottle, this is exactly where you want to be.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
· Los Angeles · Wine Bar
Buvons is for people who already know what natural wine is and want nine well-chosen pours without a 50-page list getting in the way. If that's you, you'll feel right at home.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Los Angeles · Los Angeles · French Bistro / Wine Bar
Bar Etoile is doing exactly one thing, and it is doing it with conviction — if you want grower Champagne from serious small producers in a French bistro setting, this is your room. If you want options, look elsewhere.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Los Feliz · Los Angeles · Wine Bar
Tabula Rasa is the kind of wine bar that rewards regulars — the list rotates, the prices are fair, and the room alone is worth the visit. We'd send friends here on a Tuesday without hesitation.
Small but Thoughtful
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Occasional
Acceptable
· Sonoma · Seafood
Willi's is a wild card in the best sense — a casual Sonoma seafood bar running a wine list that belongs in a much more serious room. The by-the-glass depth alone is worth showing up for, and the pricing is honest by the region's standards. If you're anywhere near Healdsburg, order the Assyrtiko and thank us later.
Deep & Eclectic
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Seafood
The Marshall Store earns its reputation as a low-key, scenic spot for fresh West Coast oysters and smoked salmon — and if that's your mission, it delivers. But the wine program is effectively an afterthought: undocumented, uncurated, and not a reason to visit. Bring a bottle from one of the Healdsburg producers down the road, check the corkage policy at the door, and spend your energy on the food.
Grocery Store
Steep
Basic Stemmed
MIA
Set & Forget
Acceptable
· Healdsburg · Seafood
Nick's Cove earns a Wild Card badge because it's doing something specific and doing it with conviction: a seafood restaurant on the Sonoma Coast that built its list around sparkling wine and Chardonnay is a confident, logical bet. The markups get steep as you climb the ladder — Cristal at $750 and Dom Pérignon at $650 are priced for occasion, not for value — but there are real finds at the $80-$155 range if you know where to look. Come for the Failla, stay for the Radio-Coteau.
Small but Thoughtful
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
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