OTR's Tapas Scene Has a Wine Surprise
Over-the-Rhine · Cincinnati · Tapas / Mediterranean-inspired small plates · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 5, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Abigail Street hits differently than you'd expect from a buzzy tapas spot in Over-the-Rhine. Sixteen glass pours plus six wines on tap signals genuine ambition, and when you clock names like Bollinger, Cristom, and a Lebanese orange wine from Mersel, you know someone here is paying attention. It's not a perfect list, but it's one worth reading twice.
The geographic spread is legitimately impressive for a mid-size restaurant: France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Lebanon, Australia, Oregon, California, Washington, and Argentina all show up. The prestige anchors are real — Billecart-Salmon Brut Réserve and Bollinger Special Cuvée on the same list as Stolpman 'Love You Bunches' Orange and a Mersel Orange Merwah from Lebanon tells you this wasn't built by someone just scanning a distributor sheet. Cristom 'Mt Jefferson' Pinot Noir and Domaine Fernand Girard Sancerre round out a bottle selection that punches well above the restaurant's casual-plates vibe. The tap wine program is a bit of a weak link — the producers (La Vite, Levee & Loam) are fine for house pours but nothing to seek out.
Twenty-two total pours between the standard list and the tap program is a lot, and the range is genuinely wide — sparkling, orange, whites, reds, and everything in between. The Stolpman 'Love You Bunches' Orange and the Mersel Orange Merwah on the glass list are the standouts and the reason to order by the glass here rather than defaulting to a bottle. Pricing sits at $13–$15 per glass, which is reasonable for the neighborhood and the quality ceiling on offer.
Scarpetta Frico Rosso IGT Toscana — $40
At $40 for a bottle of easy-drinking Tuscan red, it's the most approachable price point on the list and loose enough for a table of small plates. Retail is $12, so yes, the markup is real, but in absolute terms it keeps the bill manageable while still being a real wine.
Mersel Orange Merwah
A Lebanese orange wine made from the indigenous Merwah grape — this is genuinely rare on any American restaurant list, let alone one in Cincinnati. Most tables will walk right past it and order the Sancerre. Don't be that table.
La Vite Pinot Grigio (on tap)
A $46 bottle-equivalent of on-tap Pinot Grigio that retails for $11 is a 318% markup on one of the least exciting wines in the building. With this many interesting glass options available, there is no reason to order this.
Von Schleinitz 'Nitor' Dry Riesling + Hummus
A bone-dry Mosel Riesling with its high-wire acidity and mineral edge cuts through the richness of tahini-heavy hummus and resets the palate between bites. It's the kind of match that makes a simple dish taste more considered.
🎲 The Bottom Line
Abigail Street is a Wild Card because nobody walks into a tapas spot in OTR expecting Lebanese orange wines and Champagne from Bollinger — but here we are. The markup math on the tap program stings, but the top half of this list is doing real work and earns a recommendation.
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