Old Vines Naples at Mercato

Old Vines lands in the middle of Mercato's shopping and dining hustle with a wine list that punches above its casual-fine-dining weight class. You open the menu and immediately see the hits — Caymus, Silver Oak, Opus One — and recognize this is a list built for the Naples crowd that knows what it wants and doesn't mind paying for it. It's comfortable, curated, and entirely unsurprising, which is both its strength and its ceiling.

The 200-plus bottle list leans hard into California and France, which tracks perfectly with their Wine Spectator Award of Excellence focus areas — and honestly, it's executed well enough to earn that credential. You've got the full California power roster: Far Niente Chardonnay, Stag's Leap Wine Cellars, Duckhorn Merlot, Jordan and Silver Oak Cabs, and Opus One sitting at the top like a trophy on a shelf. France shows up through Louis Jadot Burgundy and Chateau Margaux, giving the list some old-world credibility without going deep enough to call it a serious Bordeaux or Burgundy program. The gaps are real — natural wine, Rhône, Italy, Spain, and the Southern Hemisphere are largely absent — but what's here is well-chosen for the audience.

Twenty to thirty-five pours by the glass is genuinely impressive range, and the $12–$22 window keeps things approachable by Naples standards. We'd like to see more rotation and adventurous options in the glass program — right now it skews toward crowd-pleasing varietals — but the volume of choices means you're not stuck with a sad Sauvignon Blanc or a mystery Merlot. Ask what's open and fresh; that's always your best bet.