Serious Italian Bottles, Supermarket Markup Problem
Reno · Reno · Italian
Reviewed April 21, 2026
Wingman Metrics
The wine list at Sharkey's arrives looking like it means business — 80 labels anchored by Piedmont and Tuscany, with Barolo and Super Tuscans sharing real estate on the same page. It's the kind of list that makes you sit up a little straighter. Then you spot the entry-level bottles and the math gets uncomfortable fast.
The Italian focus is sharp and committed: Vietti Barolo, Ceretto Barolo, Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia, and Ornellaia are the headliners, and they're legitimate. If you're here for a Piedmont or Super Tuscan deep dive, Sharkey's can actually deliver. The problem is what's propping up the lower end of the list — grocery-store staples like Josh Cellars and Kendall Jackson priced like they're aged in gold barrels. Those bottles drag down what is otherwise a curated, Italy-first program that deserves better company.
Ten options by the glass with a $11–$20 price window gives you something to work with, but the research doesn't reveal what's actually rotating through those pours. Given the bottle list skews Italian, there's reason to hope the glass program follows suit — but without confirmed BTG selections, order cautiously and ask the sommelier what's open.
Ceretto Barolo — $150
At the top of the price range, yes — but Ceretto is a legitimate Barolo producer with serious pedigree, and if the markup here is in line with the rest of the list rather than inflated beyond reason, this is where your money actually goes somewhere. Order this over anything with a grocery-store label.
Vietti Barolo
Vietti is one of Barolo's most respected names — structured, age-worthy, and still underappreciated by diners who don't know Piedmont. Most tables at Sharkey's will walk right past it for something they recognize. Don't be that table.
La Perlina Moscato
Retails for $10 and shows up here at $36. That's a 260% markup on a bottle you can grab at a gas station. There is no world in which this is the right call when Ornellaia is on the same list.
Tenuta San Guido Sassicaia + Short Rib Ravioli
Sassicaia is Cabernet-dominant, structured, and built for braised red meat. The Short Rib Ravioli is exactly the kind of rich, slow-cooked dish that needs a wine with backbone and enough tannin to stand up to it. This is the splurge pairing that actually earns its price tag.
✔️ The Bottom Line
Sharkey's has the bones of a genuinely good Italian wine list — the top shelf is real, the sommelier knows their stuff, and the regional focus is tight. But the entry-level markup is a tax on anyone who isn't ordering the prestige bottles, and there's no half-price night or rotating specials to soften the blow. Go for the Barolo, skip the bottom third.
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