RFK Rankings · Charleston
Best Restaurants for Wine-List in Charleston (2026)
Deep cellars · Charleston · 7 rooms ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published April 25, 2024 · Updated June 9, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Charleston's wine list now splits two ways. The old guard, Peninsula Grill, Circa 1886 and Halls Chophouse, holds Wine Spectator awards and four-hundred-bottle racks; the new Michelin rooms, Vern's and Wild Common, write tighter biodynamic lists built for a tasting menu. These seven are ranked on the cellar and the sommelier, not the steak alone, after the Charleston Grill closed in 2025.
1.Halls Chophouse
Tom Weber's list runs to four hundred-plus bottles of Napa Cabernet; book a banquette for a dry-aged ribeye.
Halls Chophouse, at 434 King Street on Upper King, pairs dry-aged steak with one of the deepest cellars on the peninsula. Tom Weber's list holds more than four hundred bottles across two dedicated racks, weighted toward California Cabernet and Napa, and carries Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence. The 28-day dry-aged ribeye and the she-crab soup anchor a menu where mains run roughly 45 to 120 dollars.
Resy calls it a California Cabernet steakhouse playing that game at the highest level in the city, and the by-the-glass program is built to match. This is the room to book when the table wants a trophy bottle with the beef. Reserve a banquette rather than the bar, and let the floor team open something from the Napa section.
2.Vern's
Bethany Heinze's hundred-bottle list runs entirely organic and biodynamic, organised by weight for the seasonal plates.
Vern's, at 41 Bogard Street in Cannonborough, earned a Michelin star in the 2025 American South guide for the kitchen of chef Daniel Heinze, with his partner Bethany Heinze running the wine. Her list of roughly a hundred bottles is entirely organic and biodynamic, organised by weight from sparkling through orange, white and rose to red, all sustainability-led. The seasonal, Lowcountry-driven plates run mostly 30 to 45 dollars.
Post and Courier wrote that food and wine work in harmony here, and Charleston Magazine singled out the thoughtful list. This is the wine room for a diner who wants a tightly edited, low-intervention cellar rather than a trophy rack. Sit at the counter, let Bethany Heinze guide the by-the-glass, and order the seasonal tasting if it is offered.
3.Peninsula Grill
A benchmark cellar with a Best of Award streak since 2019; close on the twelve-layer coconut cake.
Peninsula Grill, inside the Planters Inn at 112 North Market Street, has held Wine Spectator's Best of Award of Excellence consecutively from 2019 through 2025, one of the longest current streaks in the city. The refined Lowcountry menu is anchored by the twelve-layer Ultimate Coconut Cake, on the carte since 1997, with entrees running roughly 40 to 60 dollars in a AAA Four Diamond room.
This is the special-occasion cellar of the historic Market District, a list deep enough to find a magnum for the table and a sommelier to match it across the menu. Book the dining room rather than the garden bar for the full cellar. Open a bottle from the reserve list, and save room for the coconut cake to finish.
4.Circa 1886
Wines kept in the Wentworth Mansion's original cellar; a Best of Award holder since 2004 behind the carriage house.
Circa 1886 sits in the carriage house of the Wentworth Mansion at 149 Wentworth Street, in Harleston Village, and stores its wine in the mansion's original cellar. The list has carried a Wine Spectator award since 2004 and now holds the Best of Award of Excellence, behind a globally roaming, refined Southern menu where entrees run roughly 40 to 55 dollars.
It is a AAA Four Diamond room, quiet and grown-up, with a sommelier who knows the cellar's older vintages. This is the cellar to book for an anniversary rather than a crowd. Take the tasting menu, ask the floor for a pairing from the reserve section, and let them pull something with age on it.
5.Wild Common
Orlando Pagan's seasonal tasting menu earned a Michelin star; the pairing flight is the way to drink it.
Wild Common, at 103 Spring Street inside Cannon Green, earned a Michelin star in the 2025 American South guide for chef Orlando Pagan's tasting menu, and it is a Wine Spectator restaurant honoree as well. The multi-course seasonal menu runs upward of a hundred dollars a head, with a wine pairing flight built course by course.
Michelin wrote that Pagan's tasting menu is far from common, and the cellar is matched to the kitchen rather than stacked for trophies. This is the room where the wine is best taken as the pairing rather than by the bottle. Book the tasting, add the pairing flight, and let the floor team carry the night.
6.Husk
A deep wine and bourbon list behind an ever-changing Southern menu; one of the country's most-cited rooms.
Husk, in a historic mansion at 76 Queen Street downtown, has run an ever-changing modern Southern menu since 2011 and pairs it with an extensive Wine Spectator-honored list and a deep bourbon program. The hyper-seasonal Lowcountry plates change daily, with entrees running roughly 30 to 50 dollars, and the room sits in the 2025 Michelin American South selection.
Post and Courier named Husk among the best United States restaurants of the century, and the cellar reads broad rather than narrow, strong on Southern spirits as well as wine. This is the list for a diner who wants the bourbon and the bottle on the same table. Take a counter seat, ask what changed on the menu today, and pair from the by-the-glass.
7.The Ordinary
Mike Lata's raw hall keeps full sections of sherry and orange wine built to match the oyster towers.
The Ordinary, Mike Lata and Adam Nemirow's seafood hall at 544 King Street, occupies a 1927 former bank on Upper King and writes one of the most exploratory wine lists in the city. Full sections are given to sherry and to pink and orange wines, built specifically to pair with the raw bar, the oyster towers and the American caviar service. Mains and the raw bar run roughly 30 to 60 dollars.
Lata won James Beard Best Chef Southeast in 2009, and the list here is the place locals go for vinous exploration rather than trophy Bordeaux. This is the cellar for a diner who wants sherry with their oysters. Sit at the marble bar, order a tower and a caviar service, and let the floor pour something from the sherry section.
Not for everyone
Closed, or not a cellar
Charleston Grill. The 36-year benchmark wine room closed permanently on 23 August 2025 for the Belmond Charleston Place renovation. It held a Wine Spectator award to the end, but it is no longer open, so do not plan a cellar dinner around it.
McCrady's. Sean Brock's former fine-dining room, once the peninsula's deepest cellar, has stayed closed since 2020 and never reopened. It belongs in the history of Charleston wine service, not on a list of where to drink now.
167 Raw. The King Street oyster bar is excellent and worth a walk-in, but its short by-the-glass list of rose and white is built for lobster rolls, not for cellar depth. A fine raw-bar stop, but not a wine-list destination.
How to drink well in Charleston
The deep-cellar rooms, Halls Chophouse, Peninsula Grill and Circa 1886, all hold Wine Spectator awards and are the places to book when the table wants a trophy bottle. Reserve the dining room rather than the bar, and let the sommelier pull from the reserve list.
The two Michelin-starred rooms, Vern's and Wild Common, write tighter lists built for a tasting menu, so take the pairing flight rather than ordering by the bottle. The Ordinary is the city's room for sherry and orange wine, best matched to the raw bar.
Frequently asked
Which Charleston restaurant has the best wine list?
Halls Chophouse on Upper King holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence and a four-hundred-bottle Napa-leaning cellar, the deepest classic list on the peninsula. For a tighter, low-intervention list, Vern's runs an all-organic, biodynamic cellar behind its Michelin-starred kitchen.
Did Charleston Grill close?
Yes. The 36-year benchmark wine room inside Belmond Charleston Place closed permanently on 23 August 2025 for a hotel renovation. It held a Wine Spectator award to the end, but it is no longer open.
Which Charleston restaurants have Michelin stars?
Three Charleston rooms earned one star each in the 2025 Michelin Guide American South: Vern's, Wild Common and Malagon. Vern's and Wild Common are also strong wine destinations, with biodynamic and pairing-led lists built for their tasting menus.
Where can I find a serious wine pairing in Charleston?
Wild Common at Cannon Green and Vern's in Cannonborough, both one-Michelin-starred, build pairing flights course by course alongside their tasting menus. Circa 1886 and Peninsula Grill offer reserve-list pairings from deeper classic cellars.
Which Charleston restaurants won Wine Spectator awards in 2025?
Halls Chophouse, Peninsula Grill, Circa 1886 and Husk were among the Charleston-area honorees in Wine Spectator's 2025 restaurant awards, all at the Award of Excellence or Best of Award of Excellence tier. No Charleston room currently holds the Grand Award.
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Browse the full Charleston dining guide, find a counter seat in the Charleston solo dining ranking, book the kitchen pass in the Charleston chef's table ranking, mark a celebration with the Charleston anniversary ranking, take in a high table from the Charleston rooftop ranking, or open the full RFK rankings index.
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