5 places helping Las Vegas’ wine scene to branch out

When it comes to the grape or the grain, Las Vegas goes for the grain. Vegas is a booze city, a spirits town. You can’t swing a shaker without hitting a craft cocktail.

As for the grape? Vegas wine culture has never been as extensive or diverse as Vegas cocktail culture, for reasons ranging from the lack of a nearby wine region to casinos tending to focus on cruiserweight reds to distribution and supply challenges for the smaller producers that are essential to a thriving wine scene.

“It was never a wine destination outside of the Strip,” said Eric Prato, owner of Garagiste, considered by many to be the finest wine bar in the city. “It was more beer bars, cocktail bars. But within the past five years, the focus of wine has been more local.”

In that spirit, we’re sharing five spots for a great glass of wine, a great bottle of wine, beyond the usual big-name wineries. Four of the wine bars are independents; one is on the Strip. All are worth a visit to swirl, sip and learn more about the grape.

Garagiste Wine Room & Merchant

197 E. California Ave., Suite 140

In speaking to more than a dozen hospitality professionals about the best wine bars in Vegas, one place was always mentioned first: Garagiste.

The wine bar, which is named after the term (originally in Bordeaux) for a small wine-making outfit, opened in 2019 in the Arts District. For six years before that, owner Eric Prato worked for Thomas Keller at Bouchon in The Venetian. But he’d long wanted a pour of his own.

“The small wine community here, everybody spoke about wanting to open up a wine bar, a wine shop. Hang up the suits and do something for ourselves, a place where we wanted to drink and buy wine and hang out. That’s how Garagiste happened.”

Garagiste is utterly distinctive in Vegas. The expansive wine list changes so frequently, it’s almost a moving target. The list showcases “smaller producers, leaning toward natural wines,” Prato said. “Producers that respect the land. We’re definitely European heavy.” Smaller producers mean smaller supply; when wines are gone, they’re gone. (But that continual refresh is part of the pleasure, Prato said.)

There are about 30 wines by the glass (plus beer and cider), dozens of Champagnes and sparkling wines, and hundreds of rosés, whites and reds drawn from France, Italy, Austria, Germany, Spain, the U.S. and beyond.

You might find yourself sipping a dry sparkling chenin blanc from Domaine de la Taille aux Loups in the Loire Valley. Looking to slip into summer white? Prato gushed about Malat Winery of Austria and its grüner veltliners, rieslings and pinot blancs.

From Jolie Laide, a micro-winery in Sonoma County, there’s Dans le Vide, a red blend of trousseau noir, cabernet pfeffer, valdiguié (ever heard of those varietals?) and gamay (you’ve heard of that one).

Cabernet pfeffer is an “off-the-beaten-path grape grown in California that had been abandoned,” Prato said. “Jolie Laide has been on my radar for a long time. The wines were never in Las Vegas for a long time.” (Prato has been a leader in getting distributors to bring in smaller producers.)

Teaching is essential at Garagiste. For adventurous drinkers, there are vineways branching from (often very far from) the beaten path. For less experienced customers, the staff can suggest alternatives to wines the customers already drink.

“We might not have what they specifically want, but we having something in the style. It’s up to us to get a couple of different tastes in front them,” Prato said.

Garagiste recently received approval for online sales, so the wine bar is working on a website store.

La Cave Wine & Food Hideaway

At Wynn Las Vegas

At La Cave, a glamorously moody wine room leads to the bar area, where a phalanx of wine bottles rises on the back bar.

The wine program encompasses more than 50 wines by the glass and 350 releases by the bottle, with the Old and New Worlds widely represented. There’s even a white from Karas Winery in Armenia, one that mingles chardonnay and kangun, a native Armenian grape.

Erick Ramirez is La Cave’s sommelier. His goal? “Approachable wine drinking for people who want to experiment with new styles,” he said. “A lot of varietals that are not traditional. Getting people drinking wine and exploring wine.”

Among the pours Ramirez is feeling now: San Simeon Paso Robles viognier, cleaner and less floral than many viogniers; a white pecorino from Ciù Ciù winery in central Italy; and Vara y Pulgar red starring the tintilla grape of Spain.

La Cave offers a particularly strong selection of wine flights (currently 16), including Expressions of Chardonnay (toasty Napa to flinty Chablis), Old vs. New (French vs. U.S. reds), and The Fizzys (bubbles from Champagne, Spain and Italy).

“Why have just one glass of Champagne when you can have four sparklers?” Ramirez sagely asked. The 16 flights, each with a quartet of 2-ounce pours, run from $26 to 36.

Ada’s Wine Bar

At Tivoli Village

At Ada’s, the wine goddess rules the pours. That’s what Kat Thomas, who directs the wine program, humorously calls herself. She described her vision for the program: “Try new stuff and get people to try new stuff. Lesser-known regions, lesser-known producers. Big in heart, big in passion.”

The wine list includes more than two dozen wines by the glass. The 3-ounce flights are especially compelling, with an Ada’s version (three wines by the glass), the Somm Select flight (two whites, two reds), and the Nerd Out flight, also known as “You have no idea what’s about to happen” (like omakase for wine).

What might nerding out look like? A dry white from Toreta Winery of Croatia, perhaps, joining with an offbeat Burgundy and a Chilean pais, made from a red grape planted in there.

The wine list, currently at more than 80 releases, is organized by traditional categories like bubbles, whites and reds. But there are also categories like Pinks and Oranges (for rosés and orange wines), and headings like Zesty, Bright & Aromatic to help guide wine selections.

But for all that depth and diversity, Summerlin is not downtown, and customers here tend to be more mainstream in their wine preferences. So much the better, Thomas said.

“I encourage people to be adventurous. I encourage people to tell me what they like, then find a wine maybe unrecognizable but not scary to them. If they want to learn about new wines, they can. If they just want a glass of chardonnay, they get chardonnay — but from cool regions.”

Chef James Trees, a James Beard Award winner, is a partner in Ada’s, and the menu acts as a draw that helps the wine program, Thomas said.

“It allows that extra flow of bodies to come in. It works in that beautiful harmonious balance. People feel they can trust us without pretension.”

Double Helix Wine & Whiskey Lounge

At Town Square

A double helix describes the double strand of molecules that forms DNA, the basic unit of life. Double Helix lounge took these fundamental strands as the inspiration for its name and mission.

“Wine is life. Wine is the DNA for life. A glass of wine is good for you every day,” said Michael Pierotti, managing partner of Double Helix, which opened in 2011.

The wine bar stretches across 2,800 square feet. The wine list covers 50 wines by the glass and a nicely edited selection of domestic and international bottles, including highly regarded KungFu Girl dry riesling from Washington state, and a Penteo primitivo — earthy, peppery, juicy — from Puglia, Italy.

This summer, Pierotti is a fan of the Kris winery rosé of corvina and rondinella, two grapes also used to make amarone, the famously big (as in alcoholic) red wine of the Veneto, in northern Italy. Other picks? A Jean Luc Colombo white blend from the Côtes du Rhône, and a Paul Mas pinot noir from France, one of four wines in the Pinot Palooza wine flight.

“It fits that Burgundian style so nicely: truffles, tobacco, hints of mushroom,” Pierotti said of the Paul Mas. “I like to guide people to that wine. This is what a true pinot noir should taste like.”

Double Helix also offers a host of promotions, including half off small plates and selected wines by the glass during Monday-to-Saturday happy hour, and Sunday brunch with bottomless rosé, red sangria, mimosas or bloody marys. From Monday through July 31, Double Helix is celebrating National Wine and Cheese Day with wine and cheese board specials.

And, of course, there’s the whiskey list with 300 labels. But that’s a pour for another time.

The Local

At The District

One recent evening, The Local uncorked a friendly vibe: couples on date night, groups toasting at tables, singles sipping at the bar, all in a light, airy, intimate (and very Instagrammable) space.

The wine list features the major Old and New World styles and varietals, with some fun detours like a rosé of txakoli from the Spanish Basque Country, and a real lambrusco (not the grocery store plonk) that’s organically produced. The other evening, a visitor settled into a flight of four Old World whites, including a lively Bongiovanni arneis from Piedmont, and a Pouilly-Fuissé from Burgundy, dry and refreshing and slightly rich.

The menu also offers craft cocktails, beer, and wine-friendly charcuterie boards built from manchego, Truffle Tremor goat’s cheese, spicy Calabrian salami, and other meats and cheeses. On the last Monday of the month, The Local presents a tasting of six to seven wines, paired with an appetizer and charcuterie board, for $60.

Contact Johnathan L. Wright at jwright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @ItsJLW on Twitter.