RFK Rankings · Seattle
Best Wine Lists in Seattle 2026
Restaurant cellars & sommelier programs · Seattle · 6 lists ranked · Updated June 2026
Compiled by the Restaurants for Kings editorial team · Published June 14, 2026 · Updated June 20, 2026 · Reviewed by Fredrik Filipsson, Editor-in-Chief · How we rank · Corrections
Two Wine Spectator Grand Awards sit within a short drive of each other in Seattle, the magazine's highest honour and one only around a hundred restaurants worldwide hold, at Canlis above Lake Union and at the Metropolitan Grill downtown. That is rare company for one city, and it tells you something: Seattle drinks seriously, with a Pacific Northwest cellar's worth of Washington and Oregon bottles sitting beside deep Burgundy and Barolo. Below the two giants is a row of Italian rooms and seasonal kitchens with lists worth the trip in their own right. Here is who each one suits, what to expect walking in, and how to book it. Six, ranked on depth, the by-the-glass program and value rather than trophy labels alone.
1.Canlis
Seattle's Grand Award landmark above Lake Union, a 2,600-label cellar deep in Burgundy and the Northwest. Book it for the cellar.
Canlis is the room that defines fine dining in Seattle, the Canlis family's midcentury landmark on the slope of Queen Anne with a wall of windows over Lake Union, and its cellar holds a Wine Spectator Grand Award, the magazine's top tier. Wine director Ally Lanoue oversees roughly 2,600 labels against a 12,000-bottle inventory, championing Washington and Oregon producers beside deep verticals of Burgundy and the essential French regions. This is the city's grand wine occasion: a couple marking something big should book here, take a window table at dusk, and let the floor build the evening around a bottle. Plan on a top-tier tasting spend before wine. Reserve three to four weeks ahead, ask for a view table, and tell Lanoue's team your budget and your mood.
Book on the Canlis site; request a window table and let the sommelier build the night.
2.Metropolitan Grill
Downtown's other Grand Award, a 2,000-label steakhouse cellar with 14,000 bottles. Reserve weeks ahead for a big red.
The Metropolitan Grill is Seattle's classic power steakhouse downtown, and it is the only other room in the area to hold a Wine Spectator Grand Award alongside Canlis, with a list of around 2,045 selections drawn from a 14,000-bottle cellar strong in Washington, California, Bordeaux, the Rhône, Piedmont and Tuscany. This is the booking for a couple or a group who want a serious, age-worthy red to drink with dry-aged steak in a clubby, occasion-grade room, with a floor deep enough to pull old vintages on request. Walk in expecting white-tablecloth tradition rather than natural-wine adventure. Plan on a top-end steakhouse spend before wine. Book a week or two ahead, tell the sommelier your grape and your number, and ask what is drinking well from the older Washington verticals.
Book on the Metropolitan Grill site; ask the floor for an aged red in your range.
3.Cascina Spinasse
Capitol Hill's Piedmont kitchen and a deep Italian-only list heavy in Nebbiolo. Try it once for tajarin and a Barolo.
Spinasse brings the Piedmont to Capitol Hill, a warm, lace-curtained room built on hand-cut tajarin and a wine list that goes all-in on Italy, around a hundred-plus bottles weighted toward the Nebbiolos of Barolo and Barbaresco that the cooking is made to drink with. This is the room for a couple who want their wine and their plate to come from the same place: order the tajarin with butter and sage, let the floor pour a Langhe red beside it, and the evening makes its own sense. Walk in expecting an intimate, romantic space rather than a grand cellar. Pastas and plates keep the bill moderate for the quality. Book a week or so ahead for prime evenings, sit in the front room, and ask the floor for a Nebbiolo in your range.
Book on the Spinasse site; pair the tajarin with a Langhe Nebbiolo.
4.Altura
Nathan Lockwood's intimate Capitol Hill tasting room with a thoughtful Italian-leaning list. Reserve ahead and take the pairing.
Altura is Nathan Lockwood's intimate Capitol Hill tasting room, where a weekly-changing, multi-course Italian-influenced menu is built on hyper-seasonal Northwest produce, meats and foraged ingredients. The wine here is the quietly serious kind, an Italian-leaning list and a pairing designed to follow the menu rather than to dazzle on paper, which makes it the choice for a couple who want the whole evening curated end to end. Walk in expecting a hushed, special-occasion room and a floor that has already thought about every glass against every course. The tasting is a genuine spend, so it suits a milestone. Book two to three weeks ahead, take the pairing rather than ordering off the list, and tell the team early if there is a region you want them to lean into.
Book on the Altura site; take the wine pairing with the tasting.
5.Lark
John Sundstrom's small-plates room with a graze-friendly, grower-leaning list. Go for several plates and as many glasses.
Lark is John Sundstrom's long-running Capitol Hill room, a seasonal small-plates kitchen working with local farmers, ranchers and foragers, and its wine list is built for exactly that format: grower-leaning, food-friendly bottles and a by-the-glass program made for grazing across cheese, charcuterie and a dozen little plates. This is the relaxed, exploratory booking, the room for a couple or a group who want to drink curiously without committing to one big bottle. Walk in expecting a handsome, unhurried space and a floor happy to pour something interesting by the glass. Small plates keep the spend flexible. Book a few days ahead for weekends, order in waves, and ask the floor to keep the glasses moving with the plates.
Book on the Lark site; graze the plates and let the floor pour by the glass.
6.The Pink Door
Pike Place's beloved Italian room with bay views and an easy, all-day list. Settle in for pasta and a carafe.
The Pink Door has hidden behind an unmarked entrance off Post Alley at Pike Place since 1981, a beloved Italian-American room with an Elliott Bay view, nightly music and the occasional aerialist over the lounge. The wine list is the accessible, joyful end of this ranking: an Italian-leaning, fairly priced book and carafes built for a long, unhurried table rather than a trophy hunt. This is the room for a couple who want the wine to be easy and the night to be fun, with a view of the water and a plate of housemade pasta. Walk in expecting warmth and a little theatre rather than a sommelier's hush. Plates keep the bill gentle. Book ahead for a sunset table or take your chances at the bar, and ask for a carafe of whatever the floor is loving.
Book on the Pink Door site for sunset, or take a bar seat and order a carafe.
Avoid for a wine night
Name on the door, not on the list
RN74. Michael Mina's downtown wine bar still shows up on older Seattle lists, but it has closed, so any 2026 ranking sending you there is out of date. Book Canlis or the Metropolitan Grill for a serious cellar instead.
Bateau. Renee Erickson's dry-aged steak room on East Union closed in 2025 and reopened in March 2026 as Jeffry's, a pared-back concept built around more affordable cuts; its old Old-World cellar is not what it was, so we have held it off this list until the new wine program settles.
Six Seven at The Edgewater. The over-water dining room has one of the best views in the city, and that is the reason to go, not the wine. Book it for a waterfront lunch and the scenery, and keep your wine night for one of the rooms above.
How to drink well in Seattle
Name a number and let the floor work inside it; at Canlis and the Metropolitan Grill that conversation routinely turns up a better, often older bottle than the label you would have reached for, and both cellars are deep enough to pull verticals on request. Book the two Grand Award rooms two to four weeks ahead through their own sites, where Canlis releases its window tables first and they go soonest. For anything rare or aged at either, email or call a day ahead so the bottle is pulled, stood up and decanted before you sit.
The Capitol Hill rooms, Spinasse, Altura and Lark, are the more spontaneous end and keep some counter or bar space for walk-ins, which makes a great glass an easier plan. Altura is the one to book ahead and take the pairing; the rest reward grazing by the glass and trusting the floor. The Pink Door is the easy, all-day option with a view, best booked for a sunset table. Wherever you go, if you are celebrating, say so when you reserve and the room will make a night of it.
Frequently asked
Which Seattle restaurant has the best wine list?
Canlis holds our top spot. The Canlis family's midcentury landmark above Lake Union on Queen Anne carries a Wine Spectator Grand Award, the magazine's highest tier, with wine director Ally Lanoue overseeing roughly 2,600 labels against a 12,000-bottle inventory, deep in Burgundy and championing Washington and Oregon. It is the city's grand wine occasion, with a view to match. Plan on a top-tier tasting spend before wine. Reserve three to four weeks ahead, ask for a window table, and let the floor build the evening around a bottle in your range.
Does Seattle have two Wine Spectator Grand Award restaurants?
Yes. Canlis above Lake Union and the Metropolitan Grill downtown both hold the Grand Award, Wine Spectator's highest honour and one only around a hundred restaurants worldwide carry, which is rare for a single city. Canlis pairs its 2,600-label cellar with Pacific Northwest fine dining and a lake view; the Metropolitan Grill runs around 2,045 selections from a 14,000-bottle cellar for its dry-aged steaks. Either is the booking when you want a deep, age-worthy bottle and a serious occasion. Book two to four weeks ahead and name a budget for the floor.
Where can I drink great Italian wine in Seattle?
Spinasse on Capitol Hill is the Italian specialist, an all-Italian list of a hundred-plus bottles weighted toward the Nebbiolos of Barolo and Barbaresco, made to drink with its hand-cut tajarin. Altura, also on Capitol Hill, runs an Italian-leaning pairing alongside Nathan Lockwood's seasonal tasting, and The Pink Door at Pike Place keeps an accessible, fairly priced Italian-American list with a bay view. For a serious Nebbiolo, book Spinasse, order the tajarin, and ask the floor for a Langhe red in your range.
How much does a good bottle cost at Seattle restaurants?
Plan on 70 to 140 dollars for a genuinely good bottle at most of these rooms, with the ceiling far higher at Canlis and the Metropolitan Grill, where the deep cellars run into rare and aged territory. By the glass, you can drink very well at Lark, Spinasse and The Pink Door for the price of a glass anywhere good. The smart move everywhere is to set a number with the floor and let them find the interesting bottle inside it; a good Seattle list reads a budget as a brief rather than a ceiling.
Do you need a reservation for these Seattle wine restaurants?
Yes for the destination rooms. Canlis, the Metropolitan Grill and Altura release tables ahead and the best evenings and window seats go first, so book two to four weeks out. Spinasse, Lark and The Pink Door keep some counter or bar space for walk-ins, which is the back door for a spontaneous glass, though The Pink Door's sunset tables are worth booking. For an older bottle at Canlis or the Met Grill, call a day ahead so it is pulled and standing up before you sit.
Related rankings
More from RFK
Browse the full Seattle dining guide, compare the best wine lists worldwide, see the best special-occasion restaurants in Seattle, 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.