Best Wine Lists in South Carolina

Kouzina is a counter-service gyro spot with a Greek wine list that would embarrass a lot of full-service restaurants — that's the Wild Card situation right there. If you're anywhere near Greenville and curious about what Greece actually tastes like in a glass, this is a weirdly perfect place to find out.

The Jones Oyster Co. is doing something genuinely thoughtful with wine in a market that doesn't always demand it, and the Loire-forward approach earns real respect. It's not a destination wine list, but if you're eating oysters in downtown Greenville, you're in good hands.

Ruth's Chris Greenville is a reliable machine — the wine list won't challenge you, staff won't geek out with you, and you'll probably pay more than you should. But if you want a well-stored Napa Cab with a perfect ribeye and zero surprises, it delivers every time.

Firebirds is a reliable wine stop if you're already there for dinner and want something familiar done reasonably well — just don't expect the list to challenge or surprise you. Send a friend here for the filet; warn them to skip the Chardonnay markup.

Larkin's on the River is a reliable spot if you want a crowd-pleasing California Cab with your steak and don't mind paying a premium for the Falls Park backdrop. Don't come expecting the wine list to surprise you — come for the river view and order the Jordan.

Soby's has one of the most legitimately impressive wine programs in the entire Southeast, and the fact that it's anchored in Greenville rather than a major metro makes it worth a detour on its own. If you're anywhere near South Carolina and you care about wine, you owe yourself a seat at this table.

Lieu's has a kitchen worth visiting, but the wine list isn't part of the reason to go. Stick to beer, tea, or whatever cocktails they're pouring — the wine program here is two grocery-store bottles on repeat, priced like they're doing you a favor.

Ji-Roz is a Wild Card in the best sense: a casual Greek spot that actually thought about its wine list, prices it fairly, and runs a Wednesday bottle program that makes it worth a mid-week dinner detour. Come in expecting gyros, leave impressed by the Gaia.

Rick Erwin's Eastside is the wine list Greenville's Eastside deserves — serious enough to earn a Wine Spectator nod, programming-forward enough to run Spanish and Italian wine dinners, but still priced like a steakhouse that knows its audience. Come for the steak, drink Faust or Flowers, and skip the temptation to order the trophy bottle.

The Trappe Door is a beer destination that happens to have a wine list worth a second look — just order by the glass and avoid the bottle markups on anything you can find at a wine shop for a third of the price. If you're eating moules frites in Greenville and want something in your glass that isn't a Trappist ale, this is where to do it.

Costa is doing something genuinely unusual — a dessert-only wine program with real depth and no obvious throwaways. We'd send a friend here for an after-dinner glass, especially if they've never been talked into a Brachetto or a Barolo Chinato before.

Aspen Grille is the most credentialed wine destination in Myrtle Beach by a wide margin — a real sommelier, a Wine Spectator award, and white linen service in a beach town that mostly wants frozen cocktails. It's not a deep cellar, but it's the right call when you want wine that was actually chosen by someone who knows what they're doing.