Estro Vino e Cucina in Venice's Dorsoduro is the Spezzamonte brothers' wine-bar and bistro with 700 sustainable wines, a Michelin Guide listing for good cooking.
Food program: Modern Venetian small plates
Tip: Counter cicchetti are walk-in; book the dining room ahead. The wine flight is the move; the staff curate it to what you order.
Address: Calle Crosera, Dorsoduro 3778, 30123 Venezia VE, Venice
Enoteca Mascareta in Venice's Castello is the late-running enoteca run by Mauro Lorenzon, with a daily-changing chalkboard list and one of the city's rare 2am closes.
Signature pour: Mauro Lorenzon's daily chalkboard pours
Wine focus: Organic and northeast Italian wines
Food: Cold plates, cicchetti, cheese boards
Tip: Opens at 19:00 and runs to 02:00; the late-night wine room is a Venice rarity. Ask Mauro for a flight, not a single glass.
Al Timon in Venice's Cannaregio on Fondamenta degli Ormesini is the canal-side wine bar with a wooden barge for outdoor seating, the canonical Misericordia aperitivo strip.
Signature pour: Soave by the carafe on the canal barge
Wine focus: Veneto and Friuli pours
Food: Cicchetti, grilled meat skewers
Tip: The moored barge in the canal is the seat to claim. Grilled meat skewers and the wine carafes run late, beyond bacari hours.
Cantinone Gia Schiavi in Venice's Dorsoduro at the foot of Ponte San Trovaso is the De Rossi family bacaro since 1944, with house-made crostini and the canal view.
Signature pour: Soave Classico and Recioto pours
Wine focus: Veneto whites, traditional ombre
Food: House-made crostini, polpette
Tip: Eat your crostini standing on the bridge; the bar inside is tiny. Closed Sunday afternoons. Family-run since 1944.
Osteria Vinotellica in Venice's San Polo near Campo San Polo is the modern enoteca with cicchetti made from Rialto-market fish and a tight 50-label natural-wine list.
Signature pour: Verduzzo Friulano and natural Soave
Wine focus: Natural wines and lagoon-fish cicchetti
Food: Cicchetti from the Rialto market
Tip: Closed Sundays. The fish-cicchetti board changes daily based on the morning's market; ask for the day's catch.
Bacaro Jazz near the Rialto Bridge in San Marco is the bras-hanging-from-the-ceiling bar with cicchetti, jazz nights and one of the longest late hours in San Marco.
Signature pour: Prosecco di Valdobbiadene and spritz
Wine focus: Italian wines, classic and natural
Food: Cicchetti and tapas, jazz nights
Tip: Touristy but reliable. The 02:00 close means it's one of the few wine rooms open past the Castello close-out.
All'Amarone in Venice's San Polo is the small enoteca specialising in Valpolicella, Amarone and Recioto pours, with a focused 80-label list of Veneto reds.
Signature pour: Allegrini Amarone by the glass
Wine focus: Valpolicella and Amarone DOC
Food: Cold plates, cured meats
Tip: The Amarone flight is the move; runs roughly EUR 25 for three pours. Closed Sundays.
