6 Cities With Underrated Wine Bar Scenes

While visiting a wine region in person can provide stunning views and eye-opening experiences, a wine-focused trip doesn’t always have to revolve around vineyards and wineries. Cities, though miles away from where the grapes are grown, make some of the best wine destinations for drinkers eager to explore a wine variety of bottles.

Paris, Tokyo, New York City, and Copenhagen are renowned for their bar and restaurant scenes, with deep cellars and pairing menus well-worth traveling for. And beyond the high-end restaurants and heavy-hitting bottles, these cities also boast an abundance of wine bars for casual sipping and soaking in the local vibes.

Though these cities — along with other major markets — are widely considered strongholds of the industry, there are a number of smaller destinations with burgeoning wine scenes that deserve the attention of the world’s oenophiles. Read on to discover our list of the best up-and-coming destinations for wine bars in North America — you might be surprised to find some of wine’s most exciting spots are located just in your backyard.

Detroit

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Over the past few years, Detroit has established a small but mighty community of destination-worthy wine bars and shops. Leading the way is the city’s award-winning Ladder 4 Wine Bar, a bar and bottle shop that opened in an abandoned firehouse in 2022. Though it’s technically a wine bar, Ladder 4’s food program, helmed by chef John Yelinek, has also garnered a considerable amount of praise. More recently, Bar Chenin, a small space in The Siren Hotel, has made waves with its menu of natural wines and house made ice cream. (Though, for those looking to take a break from wine, the bar has plenty of Martinis, bottles of Budweiser, and Underberg too.) There’s also Stadt Garten, an “urban wine and beer garden” focused on exploring the diverse wines of Central Europe, and Vesper bookstore and wine bar.

Hudson Valley, N.Y.

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While NYC is undoubtedly one of the world’s top wine bar destinations, the series of quaint towns that stretch along the Hudson River just north of the city are also well-worth a visit. Visitors can embrace local wines at Beacon’s Paul Brady Wine, a bar and shop focusing on domestic selections (specifically shining a light on bottles from the Empire state). Kingston offers casual bars like Brunette and Sonder as well as some incredible wine-focused restaurants like Eliza and the newly opened Mirador, a tapas bar that highlights bottles from Spain’s Andalucia region. Further up the river in Hudson, guests can expect restaurants with a lot of personality including the gloriously queer and colorful Lil’ Deb’s Oasis and the perfectly kitschy all-day café Kitty’s, serving up wines as unique as their spaces.

Mexico City, Mexico

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With its world-renowned cocktail bars and strong association with tequila, Mexico city is broadly considered a spirits town. But the city is also sprinkled with a growing selection of natural wine bars, making it a hidden gem destination for wine drinkers as well. When it opened in 2017, Loup Bar’s impressive collection of cult bottles helped put Mexico City on the map for natural wine enthusiasts around the world. A more recent addition to the scene is NIV bar, which opened in 2023 in the Condesa neighborhood. Visitors can enjoy bottles from a curated selection of thoughtful producers with delicious small plates in its airy outdoor area or head into the hidden back room for a more dark, speakeasy vibe to sip cocktails and listen to vinyl. Other spots to check out include Vigneron, Hugo, and Escorpio wine shop.

Montreal, Canada

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Just north of the U.S.-Canada border is Montreal, a charming, French-speaking city that could easily have any tourist convinced they’re in Paris — especially if they sit down at one of the city’s many wine bars or bistros. And though the city might not be top-of-mind when plotting an international, wine-focused adventure, its vibrant scene of natural wine-focused bars and restaurants make a compelling argument to forgo the expensive cross-Atlantic flight in favor of a quick trip up north. Some stand-out spots include: Mon Lapin, Monopole, VinVinVin, Stem Bar, and the classic Restaurant L’Express.

Philadelphia

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Philly is located in one of the country’s “control states,” and for a long time the harsh restrictions associated with this status limited the city’s beverage programs. As a result, Philly developed a reputation for having lackluster wine lists and became more of a BYOB town. But a number of determined wine professionals (and slightly loosened booze laws) have recently transformed the city into a haven for wine drinkers. In addition to the town’s mainstays like Fishtown Social, Jet, and Vernick, a number of new buzzy spots have opened over the past five years including Bloomsday, Superfolie, Solar Myth, and Picnic. And it’s not only bars and restaurants, the city is even home to an urban winery. Last year, Oregon’s popular Pray Tell moved its headquarters to Philly and opened a tasting room in the Fishtown neighborhood, injecting an extra level of enthusiasm.

San Antonio

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San Antonio’s wine scene has been steadily building for a few years now, but it recently took off with an exponential blast when wine-focused restaurant Petit Coquin opened its doors in February 2025. Max Mackinnon, chef behind NYC favorites Libertine and Plus de Vin, helms the kitchen, serving a heavily French-inspired prix fixe menu, but also curates Petit Coquin’s extensive wine program. Though it is a restaurant, Mackinnon insists the focus is on the wine experience, making food that is meant to go well with great wine, and offering a list that reaches far beyond what people might expect from a small, six table restaurant. Outside of this buzzy new opening, the center of San Antonio’s wine scene is Little Death wine shop and bar. The dynamic space hosts a series of winemaker and importer events, recently highlighting U.S. producers like Scribe, Emme Wines, and Raj Parr. Texas’ prolific restaurant group Emmer & Rye also recently opened a few restaurants with notable wine programs in San Antonio, including Isidore, a restaurant designed to showcase the bounty of Texas, including a monthly Texas winemaker dinner. Another new opening, the Art of Cellaring, acts as a wine storage facility, but also has a retail area and a beautiful space for hosting events or tastings, making it a great addition to the community.

*Image retrieved from Fxquadro via stock.adobe.com

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