The Nautilus

You're on Nantucket, eating pan-Asian food, and the wine list opens with Barolo and Burgundy premier crus — it shouldn't work, but somehow it does. The list reads like someone with genuinely good taste built it, then handed it off to a team that doesn't always know how to sell it. That Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence sitting on the back page isn't decorative — this program has real bones.

Italy and France do the heavy lifting here, with Piedmont's Barolo producers and Brunello di Montalcino sharing space with Burgundy village and premier cru bottlings that you rarely see outside a dedicated wine bar. California Napa Cabernet shows up as the crowd-pleaser anchor, and a Spanish Rioja Reserva and Gran Reserva section adds some age-worthy depth without breaking the format. Northern Rhône Syrah is the most interesting corner of the list — it's a genuinely smart inclusion given how well those wines handle umami-forward dishes. The gaps are noticeable: almost no aromatic whites or off-dry options to navigate the spice-forward menu, which is a real miss.

Eighteen to twenty-eight options is a generous pour program for a restaurant of this size, with glass prices running $14–$22. The range tracks the bottle list reasonably well — you can get into something interesting without committing to a full bottle. Rotation appears limited, so don't expect the by-the-glass board to surprise you on a return visit.