“Wine Spectator congratulates each and every one of this year’s Restaurant Award winners,” said Marvin Shanken, editor and publisher, Wine Spectator. “The commitment of this year’s winning restaurateurs to building high-quality wine programs has been extraordinary. There has never been a more exciting time to be a wine lover.”
Wine Spectator began its program to recognize and honor the world’s best wine lists in 1981. This year, the 3,748 award winners span all 50 U.S. states and more than 80 other countries and territories.
A total of 2,791 restaurants earned the program’s entry-level Award of Excellence, which recognizes a wine list offering an interesting and diverse selection of wines that are well-presented and thematically match the restaurant’s cuisine in price and style. Another 883 restaurants earned the Best of Award of Excellence — the program’s middle-tier award — for offering a wine list of typically 350 or more quality selections with significant vintage depth or superior breadth in one or more major wine regions.
The Grand Award represents the program’s top-tier restaurants. Those in this elite group — representing 12 countries and 15 U.S. states — generally offer 1,500 or more selections, with superior breadth and depth in many of the world’s classic wine-producing regions. The editors of Wine Spectator carefully assess each candidate, rigorously inspecting the wine program, cellar, service, ambiance and cuisine of the restaurant.
“As wine consumers’ knowledge and interest continue to expand, wine directors are taking advantage of new opportunities to develop inventive programs that put the world’s most interesting wines on the table,” said Thomas Matthews, executive editor, Wine Spectator. “We’ve been delighted to see the emergence of a growing number of bold, diverse wine lists, both large and small. These excellent wine programs are easily accessible through our 2014 Dining Guide.”
The complete list of award winners is featured in the Aug. 31 issue of Wine Spectator, now available on newsstands.
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