Serafina Osteria

The wine list at Serafina arrives and immediately signals that someone in the building actually cares about Italian wine. It's not sprawling, but it's focused — and in a neighborhood osteria with this much atmosphere, a tight Italian-forward list feels exactly right. The bottle price ceiling of $120 keeps things accessible, though the floor climbs fast.

Serafina leans hard into the Italian classics, and that's a feature, not a bug. You've got Piedmont covered with Produttori del Barbaresco doing serious Nebbiolo work, Tuscany showing up with Antinori's Tignanello — one of the most recognizable Super Tuscans on any list — and Gaja's Ca'Marcanda from Bolgheri adding a prestige anchor. There's a nod to the northeastern corner of Italy too, with Bastianich's Vespa Bianco from Friuli keeping things interesting on the white side. Washington State producers round out the list and give locals something to root for. The gaps are predictable: don't expect deep Campania, Sicilian bottles, or anything too left-of-center.

Ten to sixteen options by the glass at $12–$18 is a respectable spread for a neighborhood osteria, though we'd want to see more rotation to keep regulars on their toes. The range covers enough ground that you can drink Italian from start to finish without opening a bottle, which is the right call for a solo dinner at the bar. We'd like to see Friuli whites or something from Piedmont hit the by-the-glass rotation more consistently.