What's the best wine bar in Charleston?

Depends on what you want. For the classic French Quarter wine-and-cheese format, Bin 152 has been the standard since 2010 — wine list, cheese board, antiques on the wall. For natural and orange wines, Graft Wine Shop on Cannonborough has the deepest peninsula list and a back bar where you can drink anything off the shelf for a $10 corkage. For the funkiest by-the-glass program in the metro, Stems & Skins in Park Circle is the over-the-bridge pick locals drive for.

Where can I find natural wine in Charleston?

Four spots dominate the natural-wine scene: Stems & Skins in Park Circle (the institution, open since 2017, deepest funky list), Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar in Cannonborough (retail + back bar, somm-curated low-intervention selection), Babas on Cannon (European-cafe format, biodynamic by-the-glass, pet-nat program), and Edmund's Oast Exchange in NoMo (bottle shop with a flight bar in back). All four pour pet-nats, skin-contact whites, and small-production producers most peninsula restaurants don't carry.

What's the best wine bar in Mount Pleasant?

Saint Urban's in I'On Square — opened late 2024 next to The Shellmore at 357 N Shelmore Boulevard — is the new standard, with a tightly curated by-the-glass list and a serious cheese-and-charcuterie program. Wine Shop OV at 115 Pitt Street in Old Village is the longer-running neighborhood pick, especially walkable from the Ben Sawyer Bridge. Ardoa Wine Bar on Riviera Drive runs a self-serve dispenser format with global pours. SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar near Towne Center anchors the casual Italian-and-wine end. Langdon's on S Shelmore Boulevard runs a deep restaurant-format list if you want to eat with the wine.

Which Charleston wine bars are also bottle shops?

Five of the best wine bars in town double as retail bottle shops with corkage — pull anything off the shelf and they'll uncork it for $10–$15: Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar (Cannonborough), Edmund's Oast Exchange (NoMo), Wine Shop OV (Old Village), Avondale Wine & Cheese (West Ashley), and Accent on Wine in Park Circle. The retail-meets-bar format is one of the most under-promoted features of Charleston's wine scene — much cheaper than ordering from a wine list, and the staff usually opens whatever you bring up.

Where can I get wine and cheese in Charleston?

Three rooms specialize in the wine-and-cheese pairing format: Bin 152 in the French Quarter (the original, since 2010 — antique-store-meets-wine-bar with a curated cheese case), Saint Urban's in I'On Square (newer, European cave-à-vin format with a serious charcuterie program), and Avondale Wine & Cheese in West Ashley (neighborhood retail counter with seated pours). Babas on Cannon also pours wine alongside small bites, tinned fish, and pâté in a European-cafe format.

Are Charleston wine bars walk-in friendly?

Most of them, yes. Graft Wine Shop, Babas on Cannon, Wine & Company, Philosophers & Fools, and Edmund's Oast Exchange all take walk-ins as the default — sit at the bar or at a counter seat. Bin 152 takes walk-ins for the bar and small high-tops; the booths fill on weekends so reserve those if you want one. Saint Urban's is small enough that walk-ins on Friday and Saturday after 7pm can be tight; reserve via Tock if you want a table. Stems & Skins on weekends almost always has a wait — get there before 6pm or after 9pm to walk in.

Where do Charleston locals drink wine?

The peninsula natural-wine crowd rotates between Graft, Babas, and Edmund's Oast Exchange — all three within a 15-minute walk of each other on the upper peninsula. The classic-wine-bar regulars hold court at Bin 152 in the French Quarter and Wine & Company on Lower King. East Cooper locals park at Saint Urban's in I'On or Wine Shop OV in Old Village. The over-the-bridge pilgrimage is Stems & Skins in Park Circle — the bar program most peninsula somms point to when asked where they drink on a night off.

What's the best wine bar in the French Quarter?

Bin 152 at 152 King Street, on the corner where the French Quarter blurs into Lower King. It's the longest-running serious wine bar downtown — opened 2010, antique-store-meets-bar interior with marble counters and antiques you can buy off the wall. The cheese case is the order; the wine list runs deeper than the room suggests. Walk-in friendly at the bar; reserve a booth for two or four on Resy if you want one.

Itineraries10 places

The Wine Bar Crawl

Ten pours: peninsula on foot, East Cooper by car.

Charleston's quietest deep program. Bottle shops with back-bar pours, French-Quarter classics, a wine bar inside a bookstore. Built as a walkable peninsula progression, then an East Cooper coda for the Old Village–I'On–Mt Pleasant trio, with one worth-the-bridge pick for natural-wine purists.

Cannonborough + NoMo bottle shops

Charleston's natural-wine cluster lives on the upper peninsula — bottle shops with back bars, small kitchens, and somm-curated lists you can drink in or carry out. All three are walkable in a single evening: pull a bottle off the shelf, pay a $10–$15 corkage, and they'll uncork it at the counter.

№01
Bars700b King St, Charleston
Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar
Cannonborough bottle shop with a back bar. Pull anything off the shelf, $10 corkage, somm-curated natural list. Start the night here.

№02

Bars11 Cannon St, Charleston

Babas on Cannon

One block over. European cafe by day, biodynamic by-the-glass at night. Bowl of olives, plate of pâté, glass of pet-nat.

4.876 ratingsRead

№03

Restaurants1081-B, 1079 Morrison Dr, Charleston

Edmund's Oast Exchange

NoMo bottle shop with a flight bar and picnic tables in back. Order the four-pour flight, eat a grain bowl, take a bottle home.

4.926 ratingsRead

Peninsula classics — sit-down wine rooms

The traditional wine-bar format. A French Quarter mainstay opened in 2010, a Lower King hideaway most tourists walk past, and a quiet bookstore that pours by the glass. The places to sit for two hours and let the somm pick.

№04
Bars152 King St, Charleston
Bin 152
The 2010 original. French Quarter wine + cheese + antiques you can buy off the wall. Sit at the marble bar.
4.563 ratingsRead
№05
Bars441 Meeting St Suite B, Charleston
Wine & Company
Lower King hideaway. Chalkboard list, no pretense, owner usually pouring.
4.933 ratingsRead
№06
Bars50 Bogard St Suite A, Charleston
Philosophers & Fools
A wine bar inside a bookstore. Candlelit, quiet, the right last stop on the peninsula.
5.016 ratingsRead

East Cooper + over the Mark Clark

Across the Cooper, Mt Pleasant has quietly built one of the strongest neighborhood wine scenes in the metro — Old Village's retail-counter pours, I'On Square's tiny European wine room, the Towne Center Italian wine room. Then over the Mark Clark, Park Circle's natural-wine institution closes the night.

№07
Shopping115 Pitt St, Mt Pleasant
Wine Shop OV
Old Village retail-counter pours on Pitt Street. Walkable to the Ben Sawyer if the night isn't over.
4.410 ratingsRead
№08
Bars357 N Shelmore Blvd 357 Suite A First Floor, Mt Pleasant
Saint Urban's
I'On Square's tiny European wine room. Cheese, charcuterie, a tightly curated by-the-glass list, no posturing.
BuildingRead
№09
Restaurants1324 Theater Dr, Mt Pleasant
SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar
Mt Pleasant Italian-anchored wine room. Big-glass-pour energy and a kitchen that makes the second bottle easy.
4.5250 ratingsRead
№10
Bars1070 E Montague Ave # B, North Charleston
Stems & Skins
Worth the bridge. Park Circle's natural-wine institution — the funkiest list in the metro and the one to drive for.
4.750 ratingsRead

Frequently asked

Charleston wine bars — common questions

What's the best wine bar in Charleston?: Depends on what you want. For the classic French Quarter wine-and-cheese format, Bin 152 has been the standard since 2010 — wine list, cheese board, antiques on the wall. For natural and orange wines, Graft Wine Shop on Cannonborough has the deepest peninsula list and a back bar where you can drink anything off the shelf for a $10 corkage. For the funkiest by-the-glass program in the metro, Stems & Skins in Park Circle is the over-the-bridge pick locals drive for.
Where can I find natural wine in Charleston?: Four spots dominate the natural-wine scene: Stems & Skins in Park Circle (the institution, open since 2017, deepest funky list), Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar in Cannonborough (retail + back bar, somm-curated low-intervention selection), Babas on Cannon (European-cafe format, biodynamic by-the-glass, pet-nat program), and Edmund's Oast Exchange in NoMo (bottle shop with a flight bar in back). All four pour pet-nats, skin-contact whites, and small-production producers most peninsula restaurants don't carry.
What's the best wine bar in Mount Pleasant?: Saint Urban's in I'On Square — opened late 2024 next to The Shellmore at 357 N Shelmore Boulevard — is the new standard, with a tightly curated by-the-glass list and a serious cheese-and-charcuterie program. Wine Shop OV at 115 Pitt Street in Old Village is the longer-running neighborhood pick, especially walkable from the Ben Sawyer Bridge. Ardoa Wine Bar on Riviera Drive runs a self-serve dispenser format with global pours. SAVI Cucina + Wine Bar near Towne Center anchors the casual Italian-and-wine end. Langdon's on S Shelmore Boulevard runs a deep restaurant-format list if you want to eat with the wine.
Which Charleston wine bars are also bottle shops?: Five of the best wine bars in town double as retail bottle shops with corkage — pull anything off the shelf and they'll uncork it for $10–$15: Graft Wine Shop & Wine Bar (Cannonborough), Edmund's Oast Exchange (NoMo), Wine Shop OV (Old Village), Avondale Wine & Cheese (West Ashley), and Accent on Wine in Park Circle. The retail-meets-bar format is one of the most under-promoted features of Charleston's wine scene — much cheaper than ordering from a wine list, and the staff usually opens whatever you bring up.
Where can I get wine and cheese in Charleston?: Three rooms specialize in the wine-and-cheese pairing format: Bin 152 in the French Quarter (the original, since 2010 — antique-store-meets-wine-bar with a curated cheese case), Saint Urban's in I'On Square (newer, European cave-à-vin format with a serious charcuterie program), and Avondale Wine & Cheese in West Ashley (neighborhood retail counter with seated pours). Babas on Cannon also pours wine alongside small bites, tinned fish, and pâté in a European-cafe format.
Are Charleston wine bars walk-in friendly?: Most of them, yes. Graft Wine Shop, Babas on Cannon, Wine & Company, Philosophers & Fools, and Edmund's Oast Exchange all take walk-ins as the default — sit at the bar or at a counter seat. Bin 152 takes walk-ins for the bar and small high-tops; the booths fill on weekends so reserve those if you want one. Saint Urban's is small enough that walk-ins on Friday and Saturday after 7pm can be tight; reserve via Tock if you want a table. Stems & Skins on weekends almost always has a wait — get there before 6pm or after 9pm to walk in.
Where do Charleston locals drink wine?: The peninsula natural-wine crowd rotates between Graft, Babas, and Edmund's Oast Exchange — all three within a 15-minute walk of each other on the upper peninsula. The classic-wine-bar regulars hold court at Bin 152 in the French Quarter and Wine & Company on Lower King. East Cooper locals park at Saint Urban's in I'On or Wine Shop OV in Old Village. The over-the-bridge pilgrimage is Stems & Skins in Park Circle — the bar program most peninsula somms point to when asked where they drink on a night off.
What's the best wine bar in the French Quarter?: Bin 152 at 152 King Street, on the corner where the French Quarter blurs into Lower King. It's the longest-running serious wine bar downtown — opened 2010, antique-store-meets-bar interior with marble counters and antiques you can buy off the wall. The cheese case is the order; the wine list runs deeper than the room suggests. Walk-in friendly at the bar; reserve a booth for two or four on Resy if you want one.