Paint the town at the Valspar Championship, March 19-22, 2026
Click on the map for location details
For all its many advantages in weather, recreation, golf and yes, taxes, my own experience is it can sometimes be hard to find great wine in Florida.
Not so in Tampa, boasting three world-class, easily reachable wine destinations if you happen to be teeing it up at Innisbrook or attending the Valspar Championship. We’ve been to all of these places and give them our highest ratings. From north to south they are:
B-21 Fine Wine & Spirits: outstanding retail selection, good prices, would be a go-to store anywhere
Bern’s Steakhouse: haven’t been in years but…good steaks, ridiculous wine list, I dunno, maybe 200 pages? Fair prices, but have crept up over the years (what hasn’t?). Often near retail if you could even find the same bottles. This place is pilgrimage-worthy if you love wine. Assuming it’s still the tradition, the only place I’ve ever been where you re-locate to a different room and table for post-prandial libations with a separate dessert wine list not included above. I’ve heard anecdotally that the program suffered during COVID and a good amount of inventory was sold off. I don’t know if it’s true but you needn’t be concerned. Wish I was going tonight. The Bern’s List as of March 2026
Mazzaro’s Italian Market: Like someone dropped an unpretentious version of Eataly in a residential St. Pete’s neighborhood. Great Italian wine selection though not visible on their website. It’s been two years since our last visit so we can’t swear it’s still got the right stuff.
It’s no easy task competing with these category killers, but here are some contenders if you can’t make it to Bern’s, which everyone who loves wine needs to do at least once in a lifetime.
Does the presence of a handful of exciting wines on a 20-page wine list make a restaurant an automatic destination? Not necessarily unless the prices are great. That’s our quandary if you visit any of the following:
Cipresso and Council Oak Steak at the Hard Rock/Seminole Resort share a list. Lots of great even if a few too many undistinguished bottles. For example, there’s a 6-vintage vertical of Penfold’s Grange and a 6-bottle horizontal of DRC. The California cab, meritage, and pinot sections are stuffed. I’ve complained in previous years about the exorbitant prices, and while I’m sure it had nothing to do with the decision, all prices have been “conveniently” removed from the online list. As I’ve said before, I hope they have generous slots. Wine List
Haven has a big, diverse list with some pockets of strength like Bordeaux. Just check your credit limit if you want to drink anything with a big reputation. But there are plenty of reasonable bottles under $100 too. I’m not really doing them justice because diligent searching can uncover some crazy “bargains,” if you consider that $1959 for 2020 DRC Echezeaux is about half of current retail. Note: on my last trip to the website the link that would have taken you to Bordeaux was not working. Italy has some big names but it’s a token effort IMO. Wine List
The charmingly named wine bar Sommelier Hideaway at one time had a fun, well-curated list that managed a fair amount of varietal diversity in a small package. A bit geeky as the name suggests and not the place to go with a raging cab Jones, but you can drink for free if you can guess wines blind. That’s enough to get our competitive juices flowing. Unfortunately on our recent visit their web presence appears to be completely gone and all references to the venue are through third parties. One-starred Michelin Koya and Lilac do not post wine lists.
