Wine Spectator released its latest edition of Restaurant Award winners, a heralded and extensive list that sets the standard for beverage programs across the globe. This year’s list honored 3,592 restaurants from more than 75 countries broken into three categories: Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence, and Grand Award.
Of the thousands that applied, only five received the coveted Grand Award for the first time, bringing the total to 89 restaurants in the world. This year’s winners included: Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steak House in New York, Grill 23 & Bar in Boston, Les Climats in Paris, PM & Vänner in Växjö, Sweden, and Wally’s Beverly Hills in California.
The Award of Excellence, which recognizes “restaurants whose wine lists feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style,” according to Wine Spectator, was handed out to 2,335 restaurants, including 457 first-time recipients.
The Best of Award of Excellence was given to 1,168 restaurants. This award “honors wine programs that take their commitment a step further; it recognizes lists that display excellent breadth across multiple regions and/or significant vertical depth of top wines, along with superior presentation.”
Wine Spectator explains that The Grand Award “is presented to restaurants that show uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine program. These wine lists, which typically have 1,000 or more selections, deliver serious breadth of top producers and outstanding depth in mature vintages, in addition to selections of large-format bottles. Along with superior presentation of the wine list and its excellent harmony with the menu, these restaurants offer the highest level of wine service.”
Check out the entire list here.