RFK Rankings · Kyoto
Best Wine Lists in Kyoto 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Kyoto · 6 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 21, 2026 · Updated June 21, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Vena keeps a walk-in cellar of more than 1,200 bottles behind a counter that seats barely a dozen, which is not how Kyoto is supposed to drink. This is a sake city, and its kaiseki temples pour rice wine, not Burgundy. But a small set of French, Italian and innovative rooms have built genuine wine programs here, with sommeliers who collect, cellars with real depth, and natural-wine lists you would travel for. Here is who runs the best of them, what to drink, and how to book. Six, ranked on cellar depth, the sommelier and the pairing rather than a token list.
1.Vena
A one-star Italian counter with a 1,200-bottle walk-in cellar and a collector sommelier. Book it for the deepest wine night in Kyoto.
Vena is the wine room of the city, a one-star Italian counter near Marutamachi in Nakagyo where chef Daiki Hayakawa cooks a single seasonal tasting and co-founder Yoji Ikemoto runs a walk-in cellar of more than 1,200 bottles. The list leans Italian and deep, with rare vintages Ikemoto has collected since the restaurant opened in 2016, and a pairing built around the menu rather than bolted on. The dinner tasting is ¥20,000 with a ¥12,000 abbinamento pairing, and the move is to let Ikemoto lead. This is the booking for the serious wine night Kyoto is not supposed to have. Reserve two to three weeks ahead and tell him what you want to drink.
Reserve on the Vena site; let Yoji Ikemoto build the pairing from the cellar.
2.Honke Tankuma Honten
A 1928 kaiseki house whose fourth-generation chef is also a credentialed sommelier, pouring one of Kyoto's great wine-and-sake lists. Book it to drink wine with kaiseki.
Honke Tankuma Honten is the rare kaiseki room built to drink wine as well as sake, a one-star house on Nishi-Kiyamachi in Nakagyo founded in 1928 and now run by fourth-generation chef Junichi Kurisu, who holds an ASI Sommelier Diploma and WSET qualifications and looks after the cellar himself. Star Wine List calls it one of the greatest in Kyoto, spanning Old World, New World and rare Japanese bottles alongside the sake you would expect. The seasonal kaiseki, strong on hamo in summer, runs upward of ¥20,000, and Kurisu will pair it across wine and sake on request. This is the booking for classic Kyoto cooking with a wine list to match. Reserve well ahead and ask the chef to lead the pairing.
Reserve well ahead; ask Junichi Kurisu to pair across wine and sake.
3.Motoï
A one-star French machiya with a sommelier-led pairing and a Kyoto-wine streak. Book it for technique and a thoughtful glass progression.
Motoï is Motoi Maeda's one-star French restaurant in a restored Taisho-era machiya at Tominokoji-Nijo in Nakagyo, the chef bringing a decade of Chinese cooking and time at the three-star Hajime to a French menu with Sichuan flickers. Chief sommelier Shoichiro Nakamura runs a French-leaning list with a streak of Kyoto and Japanese wine and a pairing that tracks the menu closely. The signature is foie gras with Pacific saury tartare and a mandarin-orange sauce, on a dinner menu at ¥25,300. This is the booking for diners who want serious wine service in a quiet courtyard room rather than a big trophy cellar. Reserve two to three weeks ahead and take the pairing.
Book on the Motoï site; take Shoichiro Nakamura's pairing.
4.Cenci
Kyoto's standout natural-wine destination, a one-star Italian by Heian Shrine. Book it for low-intervention bottles and house prosciutto.
Cenci is Ken Sakamoto's one-star Italian room in Shogoin near Heian Shrine, where Japanese produce and fermentation meet Italian technique, and where the wine is the reason regulars return. The cellar is built around natural and low-intervention bottles, with sommeliers happy to pour off-list finds alongside sake, the best-known natural-wine program in the city. The signature is the PARSUT Japanese prosciutto, cured Parma-style in Gifu and sliced since the restaurant opened in 2014, on a tasting at around ¥21,780. Cenci also landed on Asia's 50 Best Restaurants in 2025. This is the booking for a wine drinker who wants character over labels. Reserve a few weeks ahead and ask the floor for the off-list pours.
Book on the Cenci site; ask the sommeliers for the off-list natural bottles.
5.LURRA°
An ex-Noma chef's live-fire room with a natural-wine pairing and a serious non-alcoholic option. Book it for the pairing as much as the food.
LURRA° is Jacob Kear's innovative, live-fire restaurant in Higashiyama, the New-Zealand-raised chef cooking over embers after years at Noma, and holding a Michelin star in the 2026 guide. The wine is a natural-wine pairing of French and Italian bottles with sake, matched to a tasting that runs to wood-grilled Kyoto duck and venison, with one of the better non-alcoholic pairings in Japan for anyone skipping the wine. The 12-course menu with pairing is ¥45,500, the most ambitious night on this list. This is the booking for a diner who treats the pairing as the point, not the prop. Reserve well ahead and take the wine flight.
Book on the LURRA° site; take the natural-wine pairing.
6.Gion Vitra
A 12-seat Kyoto-French counter over the Kamo River with a sommelier pouring a course-by-course pairing. Book it for the room and the by-the-glass progression.
Gion Vitra is a 12-seat counter in Gion-machi Minamigawa looking over the Kamo River and Pontocho, run by the century-old Takami group, where chef Akinori Taniguchi cooks a Kyoto-French menu and a sommelier pairs each course with wine and sake from around the world. The signatures are the roasted Wagyu finished with hojicha smoke and the clay-pot Vitra rice, on a dinner of around ¥20,000. The wine here is a sommelier-led, course-by-course pairing and a broad by-the-glass selection rather than a documented deep cellar, so it earns its place on service and the river-view room rather than rarity. This is the booking for a wine-paired dinner with one of the best views in Gion. Reserve ahead and ask for a counter seat by the window.
Reserve on the Gion Vitra site; ask for a river-view counter seat.
Not for a wine list
Great wine, wrong room for this list
Cave de K and Wine Bar Musée. Both pour superbly, Krug by the glass at one and around 200 labels at the other, but they are wine bars, not restaurants, so they sit outside a dining ranking. Go to either for the bottle alone, then eat at one of the six above.
Hyotei and Kikunoi. Kyoto's great kaiseki temples are world-class, but they are built around sake and tea, not a wine list, and asking for a deep wine pairing misreads the room. Book them for the cooking and the ceremony, and keep your wine night for Vena or Cenci.
How to drink wine in Kyoto
Kyoto rewards knowing which rooms actually pour wine. The deepest cellars sit in the French, Italian and innovative restaurants, not the kaiseki temples, so for a real wine night book Vena, Honke Tankuma Honten, Motoï, Cenci or LURRA° two to three weeks ahead through their own sites or reservation lines. Tell the sommelier what you want to spend and let them lead; at Vena and Honke Tankuma Honten that conversation reaches genuinely rare bottles.
If natural wine is the point, Cenci and LURRA° are the city's two specialists, both pouring low-intervention bottles with sake and, at LURRA°, a serious non-alcoholic flight. For a wine-paired dinner with a view, Gion Vitra's riverside counter is the pick. And wherever you go, if you are marking an occasion, say so when you book so the room can plan the pairing around it.
Frequently asked
Which Kyoto restaurant has the best wine list?
Vena, the one-star Italian counter near Marutamachi, holds our top spot for sheer depth: co-founder Yoji Ikemoto keeps a walk-in cellar of more than 1,200 bottles, heavily Italian, with rare vintages collected since 2016 and a dedicated pairing. For a wine-and-sake list inside a kaiseki room, Honke Tankuma Honten is unmatched, run by a chef who is also a credentialed sommelier. Both reward letting the floor lead.
Where can I drink natural wine in Kyoto?
Cenci and LURRA are the city's two natural-wine destinations. Cenci, Ken Sakamoto's one-star Italian by Heian Shrine, runs the best-known low-intervention list in Kyoto and will pour off-list finds alongside sake. LURRA, the ex-Noma chef Jacob Kear's live-fire room in Higashiyama, builds a natural-wine pairing and a strong non-alcoholic alternative. Book either a few weeks ahead and ask the floor to lead.
Do Kyoto kaiseki restaurants have wine lists?
Most do not, in any serious sense; the kaiseki temples are built around sake and tea, and a deep wine pairing misreads the room. The exception is Honke Tankuma Honten, whose fourth-generation chef Junichi Kurisu holds a sommelier diploma and keeps a wine-and-sake list that Star Wine List rates among the greatest in Kyoto. For a wide wine cellar, look to the French and Italian rooms instead.
How much is a wine pairing in Kyoto?
Plan on 12,000 yen or more for a proper pairing at the top rooms, on top of the food. Vena's abbinamento is 12,000 yen against a 20,000-yen tasting, Motoi and Cenci sit in a similar band, and LURRA's 12-course menu with its natural-wine pairing reaches 45,500 yen all in. The smart move everywhere is to set a number with the sommelier and let them build the flight inside it.
Do you need a reservation for these Kyoto wine restaurants?
Yes, for all six, and well ahead for the one-star rooms. Vena, Honke Tankuma Honten, Motoi, Cenci and LURRA release tables in advance and the best nights go first, so book two to three weeks out through their sites or reservation lines. Gion Vitra's 12-seat counter is small enough that it pays to reserve early too. For a rare bottle, mention it when you book so the cellar can have it ready.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Browse the full Kyoto dining guide, find a walk-in table in Kyoto, compare the best wine lists in Tokyo and Osaka, 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.