Youngstown's Italian Enoteca Nobody Saw Coming
· Youngstown · Italian enoteca-style · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed by the RagingWine Tasting Desk · September 12, 2026
RagingWine reviewed Yosteria’s wine list and gave it The Wild Card — RagingWine’s Vibe-Check rating. How RagingWine reviews wine lists →
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Wingman Metrics
You're in Youngstown, Ohio, and the wine list opens with Timorasso, Schioppettino, and Ribolla Gialla — grapes that most people in major wine cities couldn't pick out of a lineup. This is not what you expect, and that surprise is entirely the point. Yosteria is playing a different game than every other restaurant in this zip code.
Sixty labels deep with a serious Italian regional focus — we're talking Campania, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Le Marche, Piemonte, and Alto Adige, with producers like Ronchi Di Cialla, La Colombera, and Rottensteiner anchoring the list with real credibility. The whites are genuinely exciting: two expressions of Timorasso from La Colombera, two Verdicchio bottlings from La Staffa, and Rottensteiner delivering a trio of Alto Adige whites that don't show up on most Italian restaurant lists in Ohio or anywhere else. Reds lean Southern Italian and obscure-in-the-best-way — Gaglioppo from Statti, Aglianico del Vulture from Madonna delle Grazie, and two vintages of Taurasi, including a 2006 Di Prisco that someone actually cellared. The house YO VINO bottles (Barbera, Zin, Rosé) are the crowd-pleaser entry point, and they're priced to move at $36 — smart move to keep the more adventurous picks accessible.
Thirty-one by-the-glass options is a serious number — the kind that suggests genuine commitment to the program, not just an afterthought pour of whatever's open. We don't have the full BTG breakdown but the range implied by 31 pours across a 60-bottle list means most of the list is accessible without committing to a full bottle. That's the right call for a spot built around discovery.
Agriolas Vermentino — $32
Sardinian Vermentino at $32 is practically giving it away — this is a crisp, coastal white that regularly commands more at Italian restaurants with half the ambition. Easy entry point into the list's Italian-regional ethos.
Ronchi Di Cialla Schioppettino Rinera
Schioppettino is one of Friuli's most interesting indigenous reds — spicy, dark-fruited, and structurally unlike anything else on most lists. Most people at Yosteria are going to order the Taurasi and sleep on this. Don't be that person.
La Staffa Verdicchio Selva Di Sotto
At $124, this is the prestige bottling of an already well-represented producer — the standard La Staffa Verdicchio at $42 gets you 80% of the experience at a third of the price. Unless you're specifically hunting single-vineyard Verdicchio, the math doesn't add up here.
Cantine Madanno delle Grazie Aglianico Del Vulture DOC 'Liscone' + Braised or slow-roasted meat dish
Aglianico del Vulture is built for rich, savory meat — high acid, firm tannin, dark fruit that cuts through fat without flinching. At $49 it's one of the stronger value plays on the red side of the list, and it earns its keep next to anything braised.
The Bottom Line
Yosteria is the kind of wine list that makes you recalibrate your assumptions about mid-sized Rust Belt cities — this is serious, specific Italian regional stuff at prices that don't punish you for being curious. If you care about drinking well and off the beaten path, you should be making a trip to Youngstown.
Boardman · Youngstown · Italian
Antone's isn't a wine destination, but it's not trying to be — the list is fair-priced and honest, which is more than you can say for a lot of places charging twice as much for the same bottles. Send a friend here for dinner without hesitation; just tell them to skip the White Zin.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Howland/Greater Youngstown · Youngstown · Italian
Leo's isn't destination wine drinking, but it's doing the honest work of a good neighborhood Italian — fair prices, real producers, and enough Italian depth to make the food and wine feel like they belong together. Send a friend here without hesitation.
Solid Range
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Acceptable
Boardman · Youngstown · American tavern with steakhouse, bar, pizza, seafood, barbecue, and pub fare
Blue Wolf Tavern earns its reputation as a great neighborhood spot, but the wine list is an afterthought and everyone involved seems to know it. Stick to the bar menu — the cocktails and beer selection will serve you far better than two grocery-tier pours ever will.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Occasional
Acceptable
Austintown · Youngstown · Italian
Salvatore's isn't a wine destination, but it's a perfectly functional neighborhood Italian spot where the wine won't embarrass you and Wednesday's half-price bottle deal is genuinely worth planning around. Send your parents here; just steer them away from the Woodbridge.
Crowd Pleasers
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Seasonal Rotation
Acceptable
Liberty/Belmont Corridor · Youngstown · Italian Steakhouse
Station Square Ristorante is the wine list Youngstown doesn't know it has — deep Italian selections, prestige California anchors, and 450+ bottles that would turn heads in any city. The markups are real and there's no dynamic specials program to soften them, but if you're willing to invest in a bottle of Barolo or a Super Tuscan, this place delivers.
Deep & Eclectic
Steep
Basic Stemmed
Willing but Green
Set & Forget
Proper
Boardman · Youngstown · American Grill
StoneBridge is a neighborhood bar and grill that serves food, not a restaurant that takes wine seriously — and two labels confirms that. Order a cocktail or a beer and have a good time; just don't come here expecting anything from the wine list.
Grocery Store
Fair
Basic Stemmed
Rotating Cast
Set & Forget
Acceptable
One wine list review, one adventure pick, one quick tip, and a personal note. Every week. Under 500 words.
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