RFK Rankings · Dubai
Best Wine Lists in Dubai 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Dubai · 7 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 3, 2026 · Updated June 3, 2026
More than three thousand bottles sit in a glass cellar at COYA, and the head sommelier got there by abandoning a law career. Dubai is an unlikely wine city: alcohol is licensed only inside hotels and a handful of designated buildings, and restaurant mark-ups still run four to five times retail even after the emirate dropped its 30 percent alcohol tax in 2023. Yet a small group of rooms has built genuine cellars with sommeliers who treat the list as the main event rather than a margin. These seven, ranked on depth, allocation, the by-the-glass program and value rather than trophy labels alone, are where to book in Dubai when the wine is why you came.
1.COYA Dubai
Dubai's deepest restaurant cellar, 3,500 bottles under Volodymyr Gunin with serious South America. Book it when the wine is the plan.
COYA sits in the Restaurant Village at the Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Beach, a Peruvian room better known for its pisco bar than its cellar, which is exactly why the wine list surprises people. Head sommelier Volodymyr Gunin, who came to wine after starting in law, has built the cellar past 3,500 bottles across roughly 650 references in a newly rebuilt store, the deepest restaurant list in the city. The strength is South America, with Chile and Argentina represented in a depth no other Dubai room matches, alongside solid Burgundy and Spain, and the buying leans terroir-driven and lower-intervention. The ceviches, lomo saltado and anticuchos give the wine somewhere to go. Per head runs around AED 400 to 600 before the serious bottles. Book a weekday, name a budget, and let Gunin lead.
Book on the COYA site; ask the sommelier to build around South America.
2.La Dame de Pic Dubai
Two Michelin stars and a list run by Paz Levinson, one of the world's elite sommeliers. Reserve weeks ahead for a wine night.
La Dame de Pic occupies the 25th floor of One&Only One Za'abeel, at the end of the so-called Bridge of Love, and it holds two Michelin stars in the 2026 Dubai guide for Anne-Sophie Pic's contemporary French cooking. The wine direction is its quiet superpower: the list is overseen by Paz Levinson, the Pic group's executive head sommelier and one of the most decorated sommeliers working today, and this is the first Pic restaurant built with its own dedicated bar. The Symphony tasting runs around AED 915, with the Berlingots, Pic's signature filled pasta parcels, the dish to anchor a pairing around. Cellar depth here is not published as a headline number, but the buying and the pairings operate at a level few rooms in the region reach. Reserve weeks out and take the flight.
Reserve on the One&Only site; the pairing is worth taking here.
3.Il Ristorante – Niko Romito
Two stars at Bulgari over 700 Italian-led labels, an award-winning list with the cooking to match. Worth the spend for the cellar.
Il Ristorante sits inside the Bulgari Resort on Jumeira Bay Island and has held two Michelin stars every year since the Dubai guide launched in 2022, Niko Romito's pared-back modern Italian cooking against the marble calm of the property. The list runs more than 700 labels, Italian-led with real international depth, and took the Best Medium-sized List of the Year award for the UAE from Star Wine List in 2024. It is the room to choose when you want the wine and the food pulling in the same direction, an Italian cellar built to follow Romito's restraint rather than overpower it. Expect a spend well above the DIFC rooms; one published account put a dinner for three near AED 8,500 with wine. The by-the-glass and bottle balance is unusually even. Book ahead and let the sommelier read the kitchen for you.
Reserve through the Bulgari Resort; ask for the Italian regional pairings.
4.La Petite Maison (LPM)
DIFC's 470-label list leans Champagne and Provence, an award-winning medium cellar in a loud room. Try it once for a long lunch.
La Petite Maison anchors Gate Village in DIFC, the Dubai outpost of the Niçoise original, and its wine list won the Best Medium-sized List of the Year for the UAE from Star Wine List in 2024 under wine director Andrea Fasan. The cellar is tighter than COYA or the Bulgari at around 470 labels, but it is weighted intelligently toward France, with a standout Champagne and Provence rosé selection that runs deep by the glass, from sparkling to grower bottles. The Mediterranean kitchen, the salt-baked sea bass and warm prawns, is built for a long, wine-led lunch rather than a tasting. It sits at number 27 on MENA's 50 Best 2026. This is the room for a glass of something serious in a loud, alive setting rather than a hushed cellar. Take the long lunch and start by the glass.
Book on the LPM Dubai site; the bar pours a deep Champagne list by the glass.
5.Row on 45
Jason Atherton's two-star room on the 45th floor pairs progressively through lesser-known regions. Pencil it in for a tasting with pairings.
Row on 45 sits on the 45th floor of Grosvenor House in Dubai Marina, the Dubai flagship of Jason Atherton's group, and it won two Michelin stars in the 2024 guide roughly ten months after opening. Its wine program took the Newcomer List of the Year award for the UAE from Star Wine List in 2024, built by head sommelier Lorenzo around tiered, progressive pairings that lead drinkers through lesser-known varietals and regions rather than a parade of the obvious. The 22-seat room runs a 17-course tasting in three acts, around AED 1,145, and the pairing is the right way to take it. This is a list with a point of view rather than a deep archive, which suits a tasting menu where each pour has a single course to serve. Pencil it in when you want the sommelier to surprise you, and take the flight.
Book on the Row on 45 site; take the progressive pairing.
6.Zuma
DIFC's izakaya benchmark balances sake with a sharp by-the-glass wine list. Order the pairing for a wine-and-sake night.
Zuma opened in DIFC's Gate Village in 2008 and remains the city's modern-izakaya benchmark, founded on Rainer Becker's Tokyo template, and it sits at number 34 on MENA's 50 Best 2026. Its drinks program is the unusual one on this list: a dedicated sake sommelier runs an extensive sake selection alongside a sharp, boutique-producer wine list that is stronger by the glass than its size suggests. A wine purist should weigh that honestly, because the cellar is not built for archival depth the way COYA's is. But for a night that pairs miso-marinated black cod and robata across both sake and wine, no other Dubai room balances the two as well. Order by the glass and let the team alternate sake and wine across the meal. The by-the-glass list is where the value sits.
Book on the Zuma site; ask the sake sommelier to pair across both.
7.CUT by Wolfgang Puck
Wolfgang Puck's steakhouse list leans big California reds to match the wagyu, not a sommelier's cellar. Book it for steak and a bold bottle.
CUT by Wolfgang Puck occupies the sixth floor of The Address Downtown, the first Wolfgang Puck restaurant in the Middle East when it opened in 2014, and its wine list is the steakhouse archetype: deep in big California and New World reds chosen to stand up to aged beef rather than to read as a sommelier's archive. With 100 percent Japanese wagyu and aged American and Australian cuts around AED 580 to 680, the list does the one job a steak room asks of it, and it does it well. Judge it honestly: there is no published cellar count or marquee sommelier here, so it sits last among these seven on pure wine-program evidence. But for a Cabernet-and-ribeye night above the Burj Khalifa fountains, it is the right room. Book it for steak and a bold bottle.
Book on the CUT Dubai site; the list rewards a big New World red.
Avoid for a wine night
Name on the door, thin on the list
Cipriani DIFC. Diners reach for it as a glamorous evening, but reviewers consistently flag punishing wine mark-ups, with modest bottles listed at multiples of their retail price, and the value lives in the Bellini and the scene rather than a sommelier-led cellar. Book it for the buzz, not the bottle.
CÉ LA VI. The 54th-floor view is the draw, but this is a sky-bar and club-lounge with a short cocktail-and-wine drinks menu rather than a proper cellar, so it belongs on a rooftop-party list rather than a serious wine ranking. Go for the skyline and a glass of Champagne, nothing more.
Time Out Market Dubai. A lively food hall, but even its own coverage notes the wine remains expensive with no dedicated cellar or sommelier program, which makes it mark-up-driven rather than list-driven. Keep it for the food stalls, not the wine.
How to drink well in Dubai
Dubai's wine value is uneven, so the single best habit is to name a budget out loud and let the sommelier work inside it. A good list reads a number as a brief rather than a ceiling, and at COYA, LPM and Il Ristorante that conversation routinely turns up a more interesting bottle than the label you would have reached for. Mark-ups still run four to five times retail in most rooms even after the 2023 tax cut, so the by-the-glass programs at COYA, LPM and Zuma are often where the real value sits. Book the Michelin rooms two to four weeks ahead through their own channels, where La Dame de Pic, Il Ristorante and Row on 45 release their best evenings first, and for any rare bottle email the sommelier a day ahead so it is pulled, stood up and, if it needs it, decanted before you sit.
Frequently asked
Which Dubai restaurant has the best wine list?
COYA at the Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Beach holds our top spot. Head sommelier Volodymyr Gunin has built the cellar past 3,500 bottles across roughly 650 references, the deepest restaurant list in the city, with unusual strength in South America alongside Burgundy and Spain. The Peruvian kitchen and the pisco bar give the wine somewhere to go. Book a weekday and tell the sommelier a budget; the depth rewards a conversation rather than a trophy bottle.
Which Dubai wine list has the best sommelier?
La Dame de Pic at One&Only One Za'abeel has the most decorated wine direction in Dubai. The list is steered by Paz Levinson, the Pic group's executive head sommelier and one of the most awarded sommeliers working today, behind a two-Michelin-star kitchen run to Anne-Sophie Pic's menus. The Symphony tasting runs around AED 915. Go when you want the pairing led by someone operating at the very top of the profession, and let the team build the flight.
How much does a good bottle cost at Dubai restaurants?
Plan on AED 350 to AED 700 for a genuinely good bottle at most of these rooms, with the ceiling far higher at the Michelin tables. Dubai dropped its 30 percent alcohol tax in 2023, but restaurant mark-ups still commonly run four to five times retail, so value varies sharply by room. By the glass, AED 60 to AED 120 buys serious wine at COYA, LPM and Zuma. The smart move everywhere is to set a number with the sommelier and let them find the interesting bottle inside it.
Which Dubai restaurant has the best wine by the glass?
LPM in DIFC and COYA are the by-the-glass answers. LPM pours an unusually broad Champagne and Provence rosé selection by the glass, from sparkling to grower bottles, suited to a long lunch. COYA's terroir-led, lower-intervention pours lean into South America and are the more adventurous list. Zuma rounds it out with a sharp by-the-glass wine selection alongside its sake program. For a spontaneous glass of something good, any of the three DIFC and Jumeirah rooms delivers.
Do you need to book Dubai wine restaurants in advance?
Yes for the Michelin rooms, less so for the DIFC scene. La Dame de Pic, Il Ristorante and Row on 45 release tables weeks ahead and the best evenings go first, so book two to four weeks out. COYA, LPM and Zuma hold some weekday space closer in. For a specific rare bottle at any of them, email the sommelier first so it is pulled and standing up before you sit down. A weekday booking everywhere buys a sommelier with time to talk.
Which Dubai restaurant has the deepest cellar?
COYA Dubai, with more than 3,500 bottles in a newly built cellar at the Four Seasons Resort Jumeirah Beach. Il Ristorante – Niko Romito at the Bulgari follows with more than 700 Italian-led labels behind two Michelin stars, and LPM runs a tighter but award-winning medium-sized list of around 470 references in DIFC. Depth is not the whole story, mark-up and the by-the-glass program matter as much, but if you simply want the longest list, COYA wins it.
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