RFK Rankings · Austin
Best Wine Lists in Austin 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Austin · 7 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 14, 2026 · Updated June 14, 2026
Austin's wine reputation has always trailed its food, and for 2026 that gap has closed. The city now keeps a handful of genuinely serious cellars and, more to the point, a bench of sommeliers with a real point of view, the kind who read a budget as a brief and put the right grower bottle in front of you for the money you actually meant to spend. Two of them, Celia Pellegrini and the team behind Jeffrey's, are working at a level that travels. If the wine is why you are booking, here is who to call, who each room suits, and what to ask for when you sit down. Seven, ranked on depth, the by-the-glass program and value, not trophy labels alone.
1.Jeffrey's
Clarksville's grande dame and its deepest French-leaning list, around 490 labels. Book it when the cellar is the occasion.
Jeffrey's has anchored Clarksville since the 1970s, and after McGuire Moorman Hospitality's restoration it pairs a tableside-martini, special-occasion room with one of the deepest lists in the city, roughly 490 selections weighted toward California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and Italy. This is the room to walk into when you want the cellar to do the talking and the evening to feel like an event: the floor is happy to chase an old bottle or build a flight around the dry-aged steak and the duck. Expect main courses in the 40-to-60-dollar range before wine, so it suits a celebration rather than a Tuesday. Book a weekend table two to three weeks out, name a number, and let the list lead.
Book on the Jeffrey's site; tell the floor your budget and let them roam the cellar.
2.Hestia
Kevin Fink's Michelin-starred hearth downtown, a 250-bottle list built for smoke and char. Reserve ahead for the fire.
Hestia is Kevin Fink's downtown live-fire room, built around a twenty-foot hearth and awarded a Michelin star when the guide first reached Texas in 2024. The wine program, more than 250 bottles, is chosen to stand up to smoke and char rather than to chase points, which makes it one of the more thoughtful pairings in the city for a couple who like big reds with their fire-cooked beef. Walk in expecting a polished, occasion-grade evening; the counter seats put you in front of the flames. A multi-course dinner runs roughly 95 to 150 dollars a head before wine. Book two to three weeks ahead, ask whether a counter seat is open, and brief the sommelier on the dishes you are leaning toward.
Book on the Hestia site; ask for a hearth-counter seat and a red built for char.
3.Emmer & Rye
Kevin Fink's grain-and-pasta original, a low-intervention list and a rolling dim-sum cart. Graze and pour your way through.
Emmer & Rye opened on Rainey Street in 2015 and made Kevin Fink's name, a grain-forward kitchen that mills its own flour and sends handmade pastas and snacks around the room on a dim-sum-style cart. The wine list, a Wine Spectator Restaurant Award holder, leans toward small growers and lower-intervention bottles that match the fermented, house-cured cooking, and it is built for grazing: order several small plates, pour by the glass, and let the cart decide your next move. This is the relaxed, exploratory end of serious Austin wine, ideal for a couple or a small group who want to drink curiously without a set-menu commitment. Plates run roughly 15 to 30 dollars. Book ahead for prime evenings, and let the floor steer the by-the-glass.
Book on the Emmer & Rye site; pour by the glass and follow the pasta cart.
4.June's All Day
A South Congress bistro with a smart, glass-first list and a long open day. Go for a glass, stay for the croque.
June's All Day is the easiest door to open on this list, an all-day South Congress bistro built in the spirit of a New York wine bar crossed with an American diner. It made Food & Wine's best-new list back in 2017, and the heart of it is the by-the-glass program, dozens of whites and sparklers chosen to drink well from late morning onward. This is the room for the spontaneous glass, the unhurried lunch that turns into an afternoon, or a low-key first date where you want good wine without ceremony. Bistro plates from a croque madame to a burger keep the bill gentle, glasses landing around 12 to 18 dollars. No need to plan: walk in, take a counter stool, and ask what just got opened.
Walk in to June's All Day; take a stool and ask what is open by the glass.
5.Este
Celia Pellegrini's award-winning list beside coastal-Mexican seafood. Pair it with the oysters and aguachile.
Este is the East Austin seafood room from the Suerte team, and its beverage director, Celia Pellegrini, took the 2025 MICHELIN Guide Texas Sommelier Award for the program she runs here and next door. That recognition is the reason to book when wine is the point: Pellegrini's list is built to drink with coastal-Mexican cooking, bright and saline against the raw bar, the aguachile and the live-fire seafood. Walk in expecting a lively, modern room rather than a hushed cellar, which is exactly its charm for a celebratory dinner with a group. Plan on a mid-range fine-dining spend before wine. Book two to three weeks ahead, sit near the raw bar, and ask Pellegrini's floor to match a few glasses across the seafood courses.
Book on the Este site; ask the sommelier to pour across the raw bar and aguachile.
6.Suerte
Fermín Núñez's masa-driven room and the same award-winning beverage team. Try it once for the suadero and a careful pour.
Suerte is Este's older sibling on the East Side, Fermín Núñez's celebrated room built on house-nixtamalized masa, and it shares Celia Pellegrini's Sommelier-Award beverage program. Mezcal is the headline here, but the wine list is quietly serious and chosen with the same care, which makes Suerte the choice for a couple who want a thoughtful pour alongside genuinely exciting Mexican cooking rather than a formal cellar experience. Expect a warm, busy room and a signature suadero taco that regulars order on sight, with main plates roughly in the 20-to-40-dollar range. Book a couple of weeks ahead for weekends, tell the floor whether you are leaning agave or grape, and let them build the night around the masa.
Book on the Suerte site; ask the floor to pair wine or mezcal to the masa plates.
7.Bufalina
Wood-fired pizza and one of the city's sharpest natural-wine benches. Settle in for the list and a Margherita.
Bufalina, Steven Dilley's wood-fired pizzeria on the East Side, hides what wine people consider one of the most thoughtful lists in Austin behind a deceptively simple menu of Neapolitan pies and a few vegetables. The bench leans natural and Old World, tightly curated rather than encyclopedic, the sort of list where every bottle has been chosen by someone who clearly drinks well. That makes it the value pick here and the most fun: a couple can graze a Margherita and a plate of greens, drink three interesting glasses, and walk out without a fine-dining bill. Expect a small, busy room that does not take the night too seriously. Pizzas land around 18 to 22 dollars. Go early or off-peak, sit at the counter, and ask what is open and a little weird.
Walk in to Bufalina off-peak; take a counter seat and trust the by-the-glass list.
Avoid for a wine night
Name on the door, not on the list
Vino Vino. The longtime Hyde Park wine bar on Guadalupe is still recommended on plenty of old lists, but it has closed, so any 2026 ranking pointing you there is out of date. Cross it off and book one of the rooms above instead.
Loro. The Uchi-and-Franklin smokehouse mash-up is a genuinely great time, but it is built around frozen highballs, beer and the smoker, not a cellar. Go for the brisket and the boozy slushie, and keep it off your wine-night shortlist.
How to drink well in Austin
The single best habit at any of these rooms is to name a number out loud and let the sommelier work inside it. At Jeffrey's, Hestia and Este that conversation routinely turns up a more interesting bottle than the label you would have reached for, and the floors here genuinely enjoy the chase. Book the fine-dining rooms two to three weeks ahead through their own sites, where Jeffrey's and Hestia release their best weekend tables first and they go quickly.
The wine-bar end, June's All Day, Emmer & Rye and Bufalina, is the spontaneous option: most keep counter and bar space for walk-ins, which makes a great glass an easy plan rather than a project. For anything rare at the cellar rooms, email or call a day ahead so the bottle can be pulled, stood up and, if it needs it, decanted before you arrive. And if you are celebrating, say so when you book; an Austin floor will happily make a night of it.
Frequently asked
Which Austin restaurant has the best wine list?
Jeffrey's in Clarksville holds our top spot for depth. After McGuire Moorman Hospitality's restoration, the Austin institution keeps roughly 490 selections weighted toward California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Champagne and Italy, the deepest French-leaning cellar in the city. The room is built for an occasion, with tableside service and a dry-aged steak to anchor a big bottle. Main courses run 40 to 60 dollars before wine. Book a weekend table two to three weeks ahead, name a budget, and let the floor lead you to something off the beaten path.
Which Austin restaurant has the best sommelier?
Celia Pellegrini, beverage director at Este and Suerte on the East Side, won the 2025 MICHELIN Guide Texas Sommelier Award, the clearest current marker of a top Austin wine program. Her lists are built to drink with coastal and interior Mexican cooking, bright against the raw bar at Este and quietly serious alongside the masa at Suerte. Book either room a couple of weeks ahead, sit near the action, and ask her floor to pour a few glasses across the courses rather than committing to one bottle.
Where can I drink natural wine in Austin?
Bufalina on the East Side is the natural-wine pick, a wood-fired pizzeria whose tightly curated, low-intervention list is considered one of the sharpest in town. Emmer & Rye on Rainey Street is the other, a Wine Spectator Award holder leaning toward small growers that match its grain-driven, fermented cooking. Both are built for grazing by the glass rather than for trophy bottles, which makes them the fun, lower-commitment end of serious Austin wine. Go off-peak, take a counter seat, and ask what just got opened.
How much does a good bottle cost at Austin restaurants?
Plan on 60 to 120 dollars for a genuinely good bottle at most of these rooms, with the ceiling far higher at Jeffrey's and Hestia. By the glass, 12 to 18 dollars buys serious wine at June's All Day, Emmer & Rye and Bufalina. The smart move everywhere is to set a number with the floor and let them find the interesting bottle inside it; a good Austin list reads a budget as a brief rather than a ceiling. The wine-bar end keeps the whole evening gentle on the bill.
Do you need a reservation for these Austin wine restaurants?
Yes for the fine-dining rooms, less so for the wine bars. Jeffrey's, Hestia, Este and Suerte release tables weeks ahead and the best evenings go first, so book two to three weeks out. June's All Day, Emmer & Rye and Bufalina keep counter and bar space for walk-ins, which is the back door for a spontaneous glass. For a specific older bottle at the cellar rooms, call a day ahead so it is pulled and standing up before you sit down.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Browse the full Austin dining guide, compare the best wine lists worldwide, see the best tasting menus in Austin, or open the full RFK rankings index.
Restaurants for Kings is reader-supported. Some reservation links are affiliate links with OpenTable, Resy or Tock; we earn a small commission at no cost to you, and a link never buys a place on a ranking. Editorial scores and ranking order are independent of any commercial relationship. See our ranking methodology.