Ripple Wine Bar

Matt and Kathleen Haws opened the first Ripple Wine Bar in Covington, Kentucky, in 2019 at 4 West Pike Street, building it as a thoughtfully designed American wine bar that is half bar and half dining room. In August 2023 they opened a near-identical second location in Cincinnati's O'Bryonville neighborhood at 2000 Madison Road — same vibe, same hours and, per the owners, the same food menu. Wine director Molly Decker oversees roughly 43 wines by the glass and more than 100 bottles, and in October 2025 Wine Spectator named Ripple to its "Editors' Favorite Wine Bars" list alongside bars in New York, Paris, Florence and Tokyo, on top of the magazine's Award of Excellence.

For guests skipping alcohol, Ripple keeps a small but genuine zero-proof selection. The centerpiece is Leitz non-alcoholic sparkling wine — the German producer's dealcoholized sparkling riesling and rosé — poured so a non-drinker can still toast with something wine-like rather than settling for juice. The bar also stocks alcohol-free beer and non-alcoholic still wines. Two standing house mocktails complete the list: the Ginger Garcia (ginger beer, apple, lime and soda) and the Althea (strawberry, pineapple, lemon and soda), both designed to pair with the kitchen's charcuterie boards, flatbreads and petite entrées.

The O'Bryonville room is warm and intimate, open Monday through Thursday 4pm to 11pm and Friday and Saturday 4pm to midnight, closed Sunday. Reservations run through OpenTable and Resy, and walk-ins fill the bar. Because this is first and foremost a wine bar, the non-alcoholic lineup is compact — two mocktails plus the NA wines and beer — and the food menu shifts with the seasons, so it's worth asking your server what's current. It suits a date, a small group, or anyone who wants an elevated glass-in-hand evening without the alcohol.