Lago by Julian Serrano
Italian firepower with a fountain view
Las Vegas Strip · Las Vegas · Italian
Reviewed April 8, 2026
Wingman Metrics
First Impression
The wine list at Lago lands with serious weight — 400 to 600 bottles anchored in Italy, France, and California, sitting inside one of the most visually dramatic dining rooms on the Strip. Julian Serrano's lakeside Italian concept gets a wine program that actually matches the ambition of the setting. This isn't a hotel restaurant that phoned in a wine list; someone here genuinely cares.
Selection Deep Dive
Italy is the backbone and it's built right — Barolo from Gaja, Giacomo Conterno, and Bruno Giacosa means you're looking at the full spectrum from modern to traditional Piedmont, and Brunello coverage through Biondi-Santi and Banfi rounds out the Tuscan side with proper pedigree. The Super Tuscan contingent with Sassicaia and Tignanello gives the list some crowd-pleasing horsepower without feeling lazy about it. Burgundy leans on reliable négociants like Louis Jadot and Joseph Drouhin — solid, if not particularly adventurous — and the California bench with Opus One, Caymus, and Stag's Leap checks the expected boxes for a Strip audience. The list earns its Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, held since 2016, without question.
By the Glass
Around 20 to 35 options by the glass ranging from $12 to $30 gives you real range without forcing a bottle commitment. That upper end of $30 a glass suggests they're pouring something worth drinking, not just cycling through commodity pours. No evidence of a meaningful rotation program, which is a missed opportunity given the depth of the cellar.
Allegrini Amarone della Valpolicella — $45–$90 (bottle range estimate)
Amarone on a Las Vegas Strip list is almost always marked up into the stratosphere, but Allegrini is a producer that justifies the entry point — ripe, structured, and genuinely Veronese without the eye-watering price tag of Dal Forno Romano sitting right next to it on the list.
Dal Forno Romano Amarone della Valpolicella
Most tables at Lago walk past Dal Forno and go straight for the Barolos or the Napa Cabs. That's a mistake. Dal Forno makes some of the most intense, cellar-worthy Amarone produced anywhere, and if the vintage is right, this is the kind of bottle that makes a dinner memorable rather than just expensive.
Caymus Cabernet Sauvignon
Caymus is on every wine list in America and marked up accordingly. In a room with Giacomo Conterno Barolo and Biondi-Santi Brunello available, drinking Caymus at Strip prices is just leaving money on the table for worse wine.
Giacomo Conterno Barolo + Osso Buco
Traditional Barolo and braised veal shank is one of the most time-tested combinations in Italian cooking — the wine's tannin structure and dried cherry depth cut through the richness of the braise while the acidity keeps the whole thing from feeling heavy. At Lago, with a fountain view and a proper glass, this is the move.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Lago is as good as a hotel Italian wine program gets on the Strip — deep Italian cellar, credentialed sommeliers, and a setting that makes the steep markups sting a little less. Send your friends here if they want to drink serious Barolo over handmade pasta with the Bellagio fountains going off in the background.
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