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19 of the Best Restaurant Wine Lists in New Orleans

Sip your way through these outstanding collections of vin

by Beth D'Addono Updated Jan 17, 2023, 4:30pm CST

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by Beth D'Addono Updated Jan 17, 2023, 4:30pm CST

Randy Schmidt/Eater NOLA

New Orleans is a city known for speakeasy cocktail dens and outstanding dive bars. But the depth and breadth of restaurant wine cellars embraces oenophiles, impressing on levels historic and nouveau. Not to be confused with the best wine bars in New Orleans, these wine lists are overseen by some of the best sommeliers, not just in town, but in the country. Whether your palate is educated or in need of schooling, ask the sommelier to weigh in. They will be pleased to help.

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Saba

At Saba, the team’s goal is to connect guests with the restaurant’s cultural heritage. This happens through the cuisine, and through the wine. A rotating selection might include bottles from France and Italy alongside a Cinsault from Lebanon, a Pinot Grigio from Slovenia, or a Cabernet Sauvignon from Israel. Wine Wednesdays allow staff to sample, ask questions, and understand wine pairings, knowledge they can share with their guests.

Open in Google Maps

5757 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Saba (@eatwithsaba)

Also featured in:

Mister Mao

Mister Mao is a global restaurant, so chef Sophina Uong wanted the wine list to follow suit. There are wines from places like Slovenia and Georgia selected because of how well they pair with food. There are skin contact whites, chilled reds, and unfiltered wines that are interesting and delicious. Figures the wine list is as adventurous as what Uong brings to the table at this Uptown favorite.

Open in Google Maps

4501 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Toups Meatery

Curated by sommelier Chelsea Gober with input from management staff, the Toups Meatery list is organized by flavor profile and body style, with every major wine region of the world represented. Cajun cuisine is rich, requiring a focus on wines with nervy acidity or significant tannin. The wines serve the food at Toups and not the other way around.

845 N Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Commander's Palace

Dan Davis, the sommelier who oversees Commander’s Palace’s impressive 2,600-bottle list, calls himself the “Wine Guy.” Davis is especially adept at translating a guest’s questions into the perfect bottle of wine for any occasion. A 10-time winner of Wine Spectator’s Grand Award, his list is elevated and approachable, served by the glass and by the half glass, allowing both seasoned and novice wine drinkers to experience and explore.

1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Commander’s Palace restaurant on Washington Avenue, a long, shotgun-style building with wood shingles painted in robin egg’s blue with white trim and lined with a blue and white striped awning.

Also featured in:

Velveteen Lounge and Restaurant

Looking to wine and dine on a budget? The 100 percent worker-owned Velveteen Lounge boasts wine options that are unexpected for a neighborhood bar and restaurant — small producers and natural options line the bar, with most glasses priced under $10 and all bottles on the list under $40. It goes hand in hand with the food — salads, tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, a burger, and more are all $13 and under. Co-owner Brendan Gordon says, “Everyone should be able to have nice things in a nice space.”

Open in Google Maps

2565 Bayou Rd, New Orleans, LA 70119

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Copper Vine

An entrancing array of wines are curated by sommelier Emily Walker, all offered as five or eight-ounce pours or by the bottle. Walker's menu delights from French bubbles and fruity reds to interesting whites from Spain, South America, and the Pacific Northwest. During the week, somm’s choice of flights are offered for $8 during happy hour, 2 to 6 p.m.

Open in Google Maps

1001 Poydras St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Commons Club New Orleans

Virgin Hotel’s Commons Club focuses mostly on old world wines from France, Italy, and Spain. F&B director Steven Rogers strives for balance, quality, and classic representation of varietals and a mix of imported and domestic wines. Nothing stuffy here, but there are definitely wines you won’t find at the grocery store on this list.

Open in Google Maps

550 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113

Visit Website

Also featured in:

San Lorenzo at Hotel Saint Vincent

San Lorenzo in the Hotel Saint Vincent serves delectable coastal Italian fare from chef Laura Collins — not the usual Creole Italian that is typical around town. The wine list from sommelier Hugo Miller is equally inspired, with a strong Italian section along with a deep dive into French and American favorites. Even better, all bottles are half off on Mondays, sweet.

Open in Google Maps

1507 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Pluck Wine Bar & Restaurant

With more than 20 years of experience as a working sommelier, including a stint at the now-shuttered Delmonico, Pluck founder Skye LaTorre knows that the best wines connect with the drinker’s curiosity, heart, and soul. Pluck’s carefully curated wine list includes 20-plus wines by the glass divided between bubbles, orange, pink, white, andred, with an encyclopedic list that ranges in price from $32 to $1200, with most vintages in the affordable mid-range category.

Open in Google Maps

722 Girod St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pluck Wine Bar & Restaurant (@pluckwines)

Also featured in:

Le Chat Noir

At Le Chat Noir, chef Seth Temple stuns with upscale, technique-driven preparations of beautiful products: sunchokes, quail, hakurei turnips, and spiny lobster, for example. The wine list is equally curated, affordable but wide-ranging and featuring small, boutique producers from the West Coast and Portugal (as well as France and Italy) and lesser-known grape varietals like Baga, Ribolla Gialli, and Plavac.

Open in Google Maps

715 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Herbsaint

Herbsaint’s award-winning list is inspired by chef Tyler Spreen’s seasonal French-Southern cuisine. The beverage director leans towards wines produced by farmers and winemakers with wines tied to the land and climate from which the grapes are sourced. White drinkers will appreciate the variety and the option for half bottles.

701 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Inside Herbsaint.

Also featured in:

GW Fins

GW Fins has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence every year since it opened and no wonder. More than 55 wines by the glass encourages exploration. The progressive list is organized from light to heavy, with all reds kept at cellar temperatures and all white wines nice and chilly.

Focused on New World Wines, the list also dips into vintages from France, Spain, Italy, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, and others.

808 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

GW Fins, a seafood mecca.

Also featured in:

Emeril's

Winner of Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award” for 20 consecutive years, Emeril’s boasts a fabulous cellar of nearly 2,650 selections and 16,000 bottles collected by sommelier Johnny Slamon. In the Salon, guests can experience a rotating list of specially curated wines by the glass. Celebrate in grand style with private dining for 12 in the restaurant’s wine cellar, with its wine cask ceiling and walls of spectacular wine.

800 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Brennan's

Brennan’s wine director Braithe Tidwell leads a mostly female team that oversees a vast 14,125 bottle-cellar, including an impressive number of options priced at $70 and less. With a depth of choices from Burgundy to salute the city’s French history, the list pairs gorgeously with chef Ryan Hacker’s inventive Creole cuisine. There’s private dining in the cellar, which was originally a carriage house and stables.

417 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Antoine's Restaurant

When Rick Blount’s grandfather Roy debuted his post-Prohibition wine list at Antoine’s, he was one of the first restaurateurs in the country to bring American wines to the table, a move of support for the then-struggling industry. Antoine’s cellars have always had a French accent, and while that is still the case, New World wines reflecting what today’s diners are drinking are well represented.

713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Mamou

Sommelier Molly Wismeier partners with CIA-trained chef Tom Branighan in this new French eatery on the edge of the Quarter, so that’s a clue that MaMou’s wine list is superb. Wismeier, who was wine and spirits director for Restaurant R’evolution, calls it her lifelong dream to have a distinctly curated, precise, and approachable wine list, with an emphasis on biodynamic wines and female winemakers. Besides her wines by the glass and house list, there’s a cellar list of rare and vintage bottles, with a Coravin wine preservation system that allows for glasses of hard-to-find vintage gems.

Open in Google Maps

942 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

The bar at Mamou

Also featured in:

Effervescence

Sure, this swell champagne bar on the edge of the Quarter has boatloads of bubbly and cocktails made with sparklers — more than 200 bottles and 17 by-the-glass pours for your pleasure. But wine is also a focus, with the list curated by owner Crystal Hinds and front-of-house manager Edouard Majoie, who hails from the Champagne region of France. Although Effervescence offers some big-ticket bottles like a 1.5 liter of Inglenook Rubicon cab sav for $700, most bottles are in the $50 to $70 range. Chefs Brenna Sanders and Evan Ingram also cook up enchanting bites and small plates.

1036 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

Effervescence

Also featured in:

Margot’s

At Margot’s, the wine list is visual — a vast array of bottles are lined along the top two levels of the bar, marked with their (mostly reasonable) prices, inviting customers to inquire about options. Folks here are knowledgeable, so the best bet may be to simply describe what you’re looking for and let them run with it. Regardless, expect something fresh and different — after all, the house wines are natural. This spot emphasizes small producers, natural and pet-nat varieties, and skin-contact wines, and you can usually order a glass of any bottle they have.

Open in Google Maps

1243 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

Also featured in:

Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits

Although always big fun, don’t forget that this Bywater outdoor music party is also home to a darn fine wine store and seriously good eats. The Bacchanal team favors Old World-style wines from smaller producers, selections that truly reflect particular regions’ terroirs. The up-front store is organized by region. Select a bottle and some charcuterie to be enjoyed in the backyard picnic area.

Open in Google Maps

600 Poland Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117

Visit Website

Also featured in:

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Saba

5757 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

At Saba, the team’s goal is to connect guests with the restaurant’s cultural heritage. This happens through the cuisine, and through the wine. A rotating selection might include bottles from France and Italy alongside a Cinsault from Lebanon, a Pinot Grigio from Slovenia, or a Cabernet Sauvignon from Israel. Wine Wednesdays allow staff to sample, ask questions, and understand wine pairings, knowledge they can share with their guests.

Open in Google Maps

5757 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Saba (@eatwithsaba)

Mister Mao

4501 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Mister Mao is a global restaurant, so chef Sophina Uong wanted the wine list to follow suit. There are wines from places like Slovenia and Georgia selected because of how well they pair with food. There are skin contact whites, chilled reds, and unfiltered wines that are interesting and delicious. Figures the wine list is as adventurous as what Uong brings to the table at this Uptown favorite.

Open in Google Maps

4501 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70115

Visit Website

Toups Meatery

845 N Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

Curated by sommelier Chelsea Gober with input from management staff, the Toups Meatery list is organized by flavor profile and body style, with every major wine region of the world represented. Cajun cuisine is rich, requiring a focus on wines with nervy acidity or significant tannin. The wines serve the food at Toups and not the other way around.

845 N Carrollton Ave, New Orleans, LA 70119

Visit Website

Commander's Palace

1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Dan Davis, the sommelier who oversees Commander’s Palace’s impressive 2,600-bottle list, calls himself the “Wine Guy.” Davis is especially adept at translating a guest’s questions into the perfect bottle of wine for any occasion. A 10-time winner of Wine Spectator’s Grand Award, his list is elevated and approachable, served by the glass and by the half glass, allowing both seasoned and novice wine drinkers to experience and explore.

1403 Washington Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Commander’s Palace restaurant on Washington Avenue, a long, shotgun-style building with wood shingles painted in robin egg’s blue with white trim and lined with a blue and white striped awning.

Velveteen Lounge and Restaurant

2565 Bayou Rd, New Orleans, LA 70119

Looking to wine and dine on a budget? The 100 percent worker-owned Velveteen Lounge boasts wine options that are unexpected for a neighborhood bar and restaurant — small producers and natural options line the bar, with most glasses priced under $10 and all bottles on the list under $40. It goes hand in hand with the food — salads, tacos, quesadillas, empanadas, a burger, and more are all $13 and under. Co-owner Brendan Gordon says, “Everyone should be able to have nice things in a nice space.”

Open in Google Maps

2565 Bayou Rd, New Orleans, LA 70119

Visit Website

Copper Vine

1001 Poydras St, New Orleans, LA 70112

An entrancing array of wines are curated by sommelier Emily Walker, all offered as five or eight-ounce pours or by the bottle. Walker's menu delights from French bubbles and fruity reds to interesting whites from Spain, South America, and the Pacific Northwest. During the week, somm’s choice of flights are offered for $8 during happy hour, 2 to 6 p.m.

Open in Google Maps

1001 Poydras St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

Commons Club New Orleans

550 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113

Virgin Hotel’s Commons Club focuses mostly on old world wines from France, Italy, and Spain. F&B director Steven Rogers strives for balance, quality, and classic representation of varietals and a mix of imported and domestic wines. Nothing stuffy here, but there are definitely wines you won’t find at the grocery store on this list.

Open in Google Maps

550 Baronne St, New Orleans, LA 70113

Visit Website

San Lorenzo at Hotel Saint Vincent

1507 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130

San Lorenzo in the Hotel Saint Vincent serves delectable coastal Italian fare from chef Laura Collins — not the usual Creole Italian that is typical around town. The wine list from sommelier Hugo Miller is equally inspired, with a strong Italian section along with a deep dive into French and American favorites. Even better, all bottles are half off on Mondays, sweet.

Open in Google Maps

1507 Magazine St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Pluck Wine Bar & Restaurant

722 Girod St, New Orleans, LA 70130

With more than 20 years of experience as a working sommelier, including a stint at the now-shuttered Delmonico, Pluck founder Skye LaTorre knows that the best wines connect with the drinker’s curiosity, heart, and soul. Pluck’s carefully curated wine list includes 20-plus wines by the glass divided between bubbles, orange, pink, white, andred, with an encyclopedic list that ranges in price from $32 to $1200, with most vintages in the affordable mid-range category.

Open in Google Maps

722 Girod St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Pluck Wine Bar & Restaurant (@pluckwines)

Le Chat Noir

715 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

At Le Chat Noir, chef Seth Temple stuns with upscale, technique-driven preparations of beautiful products: sunchokes, quail, hakurei turnips, and spiny lobster, for example. The wine list is equally curated, affordable but wide-ranging and featuring small, boutique producers from the West Coast and Portugal (as well as France and Italy) and lesser-known grape varietals like Baga, Ribolla Gialli, and Plavac.

Open in Google Maps

715 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Herbsaint

701 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Herbsaint’s award-winning list is inspired by chef Tyler Spreen’s seasonal French-Southern cuisine. The beverage director leans towards wines produced by farmers and winemakers with wines tied to the land and climate from which the grapes are sourced. White drinkers will appreciate the variety and the option for half bottles.

701 St Charles Ave, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Inside Herbsaint.

GW Fins

808 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

GW Fins has received the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence every year since it opened and no wonder. More than 55 wines by the glass encourages exploration. The progressive list is organized from light to heavy, with all reds kept at cellar temperatures and all white wines nice and chilly.

Focused on New World Wines, the list also dips into vintages from France, Spain, Italy, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand, and others.

808 Bienville St, New Orleans, LA 70112

Visit Website

GW Fins, a seafood mecca.

Emeril's

800 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Winner of Wine Spectator’s “Grand Award” for 20 consecutive years, Emeril’s boasts a fabulous cellar of nearly 2,650 selections and 16,000 bottles collected by sommelier Johnny Slamon. In the Salon, guests can experience a rotating list of specially curated wines by the glass. Celebrate in grand style with private dining for 12 in the restaurant’s wine cellar, with its wine cask ceiling and walls of spectacular wine.

800 Tchoupitoulas St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Brennan's

417 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Brennan’s wine director Braithe Tidwell leads a mostly female team that oversees a vast 14,125 bottle-cellar, including an impressive number of options priced at $70 and less. With a depth of choices from Burgundy to salute the city’s French history, the list pairs gorgeously with chef Ryan Hacker’s inventive Creole cuisine. There’s private dining in the cellar, which was originally a carriage house and stables.

417 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Antoine's Restaurant

713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130

When Rick Blount’s grandfather Roy debuted his post-Prohibition wine list at Antoine’s, he was one of the first restaurateurs in the country to bring American wines to the table, a move of support for the then-struggling industry. Antoine’s cellars have always had a French accent, and while that is still the case, New World wines reflecting what today’s diners are drinking are well represented.

713 St Louis St, New Orleans, LA 70130

Visit Website

Related Maps

Mamou

942 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Sommelier Molly Wismeier partners with CIA-trained chef Tom Branighan in this new French eatery on the edge of the Quarter, so that’s a clue that MaMou’s wine list is superb. Wismeier, who was wine and spirits director for Restaurant R’evolution, calls it her lifelong dream to have a distinctly curated, precise, and approachable wine list, with an emphasis on biodynamic wines and female winemakers. Besides her wines by the glass and house list, there’s a cellar list of rare and vintage bottles, with a Coravin wine preservation system that allows for glasses of hard-to-find vintage gems.

Open in Google Maps

942 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

The bar at Mamou

Effervescence

1036 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Sure, this swell champagne bar on the edge of the Quarter has boatloads of bubbly and cocktails made with sparklers — more than 200 bottles and 17 by-the-glass pours for your pleasure. But wine is also a focus, with the list curated by owner Crystal Hinds and front-of-house manager Edouard Majoie, who hails from the Champagne region of France. Although Effervescence offers some big-ticket bottles like a 1.5 liter of Inglenook Rubicon cab sav for $700, most bottles are in the $50 to $70 range. Chefs Brenna Sanders and Evan Ingram also cook up enchanting bites and small plates.

1036 N Rampart St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

Effervescence

Margot’s

1243 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116

At Margot’s, the wine list is visual — a vast array of bottles are lined along the top two levels of the bar, marked with their (mostly reasonable) prices, inviting customers to inquire about options. Folks here are knowledgeable, so the best bet may be to simply describe what you’re looking for and let them run with it. Regardless, expect something fresh and different — after all, the house wines are natural. This spot emphasizes small producers, natural and pet-nat varieties, and skin-contact wines, and you can usually order a glass of any bottle they have.

Open in Google Maps

1243 Frenchmen St, New Orleans, LA 70116

Visit Website

Bacchanal Fine Wine & Spirits

600 Poland Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117

Although always big fun, don’t forget that this Bywater outdoor music party is also home to a darn fine wine store and seriously good eats. The Bacchanal team favors Old World-style wines from smaller producers, selections that truly reflect particular regions’ terroirs. The up-front store is organized by region. Select a bottle and some charcuterie to be enjoyed in the backyard picnic area.

Open in Google Maps

600 Poland Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117

Visit Website

Related Maps