JAYA at The Setai

The wine list at JAYA lands like a quiet flex — no flashy cover, just 350-plus selections that immediately signal this hotel restaurant takes its cellar seriously. Champagne leads the charge, and the French and California sections read like a highlight reel of the last two decades of great vintages. This is not the wine list your average beach resort puts together.

The list earns its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence with depth across all five of its core regions: Champagne, California, France, Bordeaux, and Italy. You'll find trophy bottles like Château Pétrus 2015, Screaming Eagle, and Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blancs sitting alongside more approachable but still serious picks like Gaja Barbaresco and Tignanello. The Bordeaux section leans heavily on the prestige estates — Château Margaux, Château Léoville-Las Cases, Château Pétrus — which is great if you're celebrating, but mid-tier Bordeaux options feel thin. Italy is a genuine strength: Sassicaia and Tignanello anchor a Super Tuscan run that holds its own against anything on Collins Avenue.

Eighteen to twenty-eight options by the glass is a real program, not an afterthought — and on Wednesdays, it becomes genuinely dangerous territory with half-price bottles across the list. Glass pour pricing runs $14 to $28, which is fair for the address and the quality level. Rotation isn't confirmed as aggressive, but with sommeliers Cesar Jovenel and Ilber Garcia running the floor, you're likely to get an honest recommendation rather than a default upsell.