Wine Enthusiast's Annual Restaurant Awards

Presenting the very best of American restaurant wine programs for 2005.

Published on Feb 1, 2006

By Karen Berman and Samara D. Genee

If the applications for Wine Enthusiast Magazine's 2005 Restaurant Awards are any indication, more restaurants are working harder to build great wine programs than ever before. In this, the second year of our annual restaurant awards, it's apparent that the industry (and the consumers who support it) are taking wine very seriously.

It's no exaggeration to say that every application we received revealed a wine program crafted with thought, care, and, yes, love. So we're especially proud to report the results of our awards for 2005.

Three levels of awards are given: the Award of Distinction, the Award of Unique Distinction and the highest, the Award of Ultimate Distinction.

It's worth noting, too, that Wine Enthusiast's Restaurant Awards differ from other such awards because they are based on the quality of the wine program, not just on the size of the list. Selection, service, individuality and value are all taken into consideration by our panel of judges.

Applicants were asked to disclose how many selections appear on their lists and how many bottles they keep in inventory, but they were also rated on their selection of large-format and half bottles, and wines by the glass. An impressive 64 percent of applicants have inventories of 5,000 bottles or more. Sixty-nine percent of applicants have between 101 and 500 different selections on their wine lists. All applicants had to submit their actual wine lists and sample menus.

Two potentially costly, but vital, aspects of any wine program were evaluated: storage and stemware. More and more restaurants are investing in these areas. Some 91 percent reported that they keep their collections in temperature-controlled quarters, while 90 percent use brand-name or custom stemware.

Finally, the restaurants were asked to describe their wine calendars and the opportunities they afford guests to taste and learn about wine. The answers ranged from paired tasting menus each night to special wine dinners and winemaker events, from tasting flights to classes and newsletters.

We received applications from restaurants located all over the U.S. and a few outside it, serving every possible style of food in every possible format—country inns, classic steak houses, funky bistros, grand hotel restaurants, hip urban eateries and everything in between.

Only the top 6 percent of our applicants were judged to have wine programs of such breadth, depth and excellence that they qualified for our Award of Ultimate Distinction. And of course, the unnamed winners are the legions of restaurant patrons who are treated to better wine programs in more restaurants than ever before.

Congratulations to all!

* All of the following restaurants received the Award of Ultimate Distinction. Click on the restaurant's name for the full review.

** Visit our searchable database of all of the Award Winning Restaurants from around the country.

Alain Ducasse at the Essex House New York, New York	Johnny's Bar Cleveland, Ohio
Alex Las Vegas, Nevada	The Kitchen Sacramento, California
Bartolotta Ristorante di Mare Las Vegas, Nevada	The Lark West Bloomfield, Michigan
Bern's Steak House Tampa, Florida	Mix Las Vegas, Nevada
Café Rabelais Houston, Texas	Mr Stox Restaurant Anaheim, California
Cascadia Restaurant Seattle, Washington	Napa Rose Anaheim, California
Charlie Trotter's Chicago, Illinois	NoMI Chicago, Illinois
Columbia Restaurant Tampa, Florida	Pluckemin Inn Bedminster, New Jersey
Crabtree's Kittle House Chappaqua, New York	Smith & Wollensky New York, New York
Commander's Palace New Orleans, Louisiana	Swingos on the Lake Lakewood, Ohio
Dulces Latin Bistro Seattle, Washington	Todd Jurich's Bistro Norfolk, Virginia
Elizabeth's Café and Winery Duck, North Carolina	La Toque Rutherford, California
Excelsior Boston, Massachusetts	Trattoria Nostrani Santa Fe, New Mexico
Grill 23 & Bar Boston, Massachusetts	Vic & Anthony's Steakhouse Houston, Texas
The Herbfarm Woodinville, Washington	Vivere in the Italian Village Chicago, Illinois
Inn at Thorn Hill Jackson, New Hampshire	Wild Ginger Asian Restaurant & Satay Bar Seattle, Washington