800 Bottles Deep and Italy Wins
Naples Island · Long Beach · Italian / Fine Dining · Visit Website ↗
Reviewed June 23, 2026
Wingman Metrics
You open the wine list at Michael's on Naples and it takes a second to register — this is not a restaurant that threw a few Chiantis on a laminated card. Eight hundred bottles, anchored in Italy, curated with obvious purpose. It feels less like a wine list and more like someone's personal obsession made public.
The Italian coverage here is genuinely serious: Piedmont runs deep with Gaja, Bruno Giacosa, Produttori del Barbaresco, and Vietti all accounted for, which means you're getting Barolo and Barbaresco at multiple price points and producers. Tuscany holds its own with the Super Tuscan trifecta — Sassicaia, Tignanello, and Ornellaia — alongside Antinori's broader catalog. What separates this list from a trophy-bottle exercise is the range below the headline names: Passopisciaro from Etna, Feudi di San Gregorio from Campania, Jermann and Livio Felluga flying the Friuli flag, and Pieropan and Zenato representing Veneto with class. There's a California selection too, but it's appropriately supporting cast — this list knows what it is.
The by-the-glass specifics aren't published, which is the one gap in an otherwise airtight program — you'll want to ask your server what's pouring that night. What we do know is there's a sommelier on staff who presumably rotates quality options, and the happy hour program suggests the glass pours are a real part of the experience, not an afterthought. Push your server for something Italian and off the beaten path; they should be able to deliver.
Produttori del Barbaresco Barbaresco — $65–$85
Produttori is a co-op that consistently punches well above its price class in a category (Barbaresco) where the big names can run $200+. If it's on the list near its retail-adjacent price, this is the smartest order in the room.
Passopisciaro Passobianco (Etna Bianco)
Most tables at a Piedmont-and-Tuscany-focused Italian spot never look south of Rome, let alone at Sicily. Passopisciaro's Etna work is volcanic in every sense — mineral, tense, alive — and it almost always gets overlooked in favor of the big red names. That's a mistake worth not making.
Sassicaia
Sassicaia is great wine. It's also wine that gets marked up enthusiastically everywhere it appears, and at a fine-dining restaurant with a premium clientele, you're almost certainly paying for the name recognition as much as what's in the bottle. The same budget spent on a Bruno Giacosa Barolo or Ornellaia's second label buys you more actual pleasure per dollar.
Vietti Barbera d'Asti Tre Vigne + Paccheri alla Bolognese
Barbera's high acidity and lower tannin cut straight through the fat of a slow-cooked Bolognese without fighting the meat. Vietti's Tre Vigne is bright, fruit-forward, and food-smart — it makes the pasta taste better and costs a fraction of the Barolo sitting two lines above it on the list.
Monday–Thursday — Happy hour runs Monday through Thursday, 5:00pm–7:00pm in the main dining room, with wines offered at significantly reduced rates. The exact mechanics aren't published — ask when you call for a reservation.
🔥 The Bottom Line
Michael's on Naples is the rare suburban Italian restaurant that could credibly seat itself next to the best wine programs in Los Angeles. If you're going Monday through Thursday, that happy hour window is not optional — show up for it.
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