This super wine shop in Faubourg St. John specializes in amazing wines in the $12-$30 range, with a loving emphasis on Italian vintages. Small plates from the delightful 1000 Figs next door are available to accompany your wine selection, best enjoyed at a sidewalk table, great for people-watching. Swirl even plays Saints games, no sports bar required.

This sweet shop on the border of Marigny and Bywater on St. Claude Avenue is a neighborhood favorite for small-production wines and newer labels. Grab an astonishingly well-priced glass of wine — there’s a different red, white, and sparkling to choose from just about every week — to sip while you peruse the large inventory, which includes tinned fish and rare spirits.

This hybrid wine bar/jam shop is a St. Claude Avenue oddity, in the very best way. Bar Pomona is a cool little spot in the former Shank Charcuterie, which was also funky, that punches above its weight in every way — wine, food, and character. Wines are mostly natural and from smaller producers from Oregon, California, Italy, and South America, and always include affordable options by the glass. Did we mention the soft serve, weekend pastries, and savory specialties like focaccia, salads, and lasagna night? It’s got it all.

An ideal spot for date night, girls' night, and all other celebratory nights out is Effervescence, a Rampart Street wine bar that sets an elegant, Parisian-inspired scene. With 200+ wines by the bottle and over 30 wines by the glass, it’s all about bubbles and fun here, with chambongs, Prosecco popsicles, and other sparkling cocktails in addition to more standard wine bar offerings. A charming outdoor patio area is lovely for sipping if the weather is nice. 

Bacchanal might still be on every New Orleans visitor’s list, but it’s actually one of the oldest wine bars on this list, even if it’s evolved into much more. Beloved for its unique and extensive wine selection, knowledgeable wine experts, and uniquely New Orleans courtyard, there is also excellent food and daily live music.

Perhaps the most classic wine bar on the list is Patrick’s Bar Vin, an upscale French Quarter opened by longtime New Orleans figure Patrick Van Hoorebeek (who also serves as the King of the Krewe of Cork). Wine is serious business here, with an emphasis on old world varieties and some of the most celebrated wines available. Patrick’s offers climate-controlled wine lockers for serious customers to rent.

The Independent Caveau is as cool as a wine bar gets, a storage unit-like building off the beaten path in Mid City. Husband and wife team Jim Yonkus and Joanne Close handpick a wide-ranging selection of old world and cutting edge winemakers, offering a collection so vast it requires an old-school library ladder to access. The pair’s use of wallpaper and color helps close in the high ceilings, creating a cozy nook for a bar at the end of the space where customers can enjoy a bottle and specialty meats and cheeses.

This sophisticated Uptown wine bar with some of the best bottles in town is a neighborhood favorite with nearly a hundred bottles and crafty bartenders. Low-key and with live music on the weekends, it’s a good spot if someone in the group isn’t a wine fan — the cocktails are excellent.

A lush, sultry spot tucked away on a dead-end street in the LGD has taken over New Orleans’s wine scene. The Tell Me Bar, the city’s newest natural wine bar, highlights mostly young, small-production labels specializing in low-intervention winemaking — at least 10 wines by the glass, and dozens more by the bottle on an ever-changing menu. There are DJs every Saturday, a menu of tinned fish snacks from brands like Fishwife and Jose Gourmet (as well as Cajun caviar service with Zapp’s potato chips), and food pop-ups Wednesday through Saturday. It’s an undeniably cool spot, but not one to be intimidated by — the staff is friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable.

The  Delachaise wine bar is a longtime locals favorite, with its charcuterie options, terrific house pours, and seating along a tree-draped stretch of St. Charles Avenue. Customers also love that of the 350 or so wines offered, 36 of them are priced at $36 or less.

Now in its new digs on Magazine Street (after closing on Touro Street), Second Vine owner Troy Gant is keeping this gem going Uptown with the help of noted sommelier Roxy Eve Narvaez. The Magazine Street shop offers frequent wine tastings, a reasonably priced selection, and a warm, friendly atmosphere. A private room in the back can be reserved for parties, like at the old shop, and surely offers the same great times.