Four Restaurants Earn New Grand Awards in 2012

Wine Spectator’s awards program honors 3,795 restaurants, across 50 states and more than 70 countries, for their top-quality wine lists

Nathan Wesley

Jul 6, 2012

Four dining spots—A Voce Columbus in Manhattan, Acquerello in San Francisco, Commander's Palace in New Orleans and Sierra Mar at the Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur, Calif.—have earned Grand Award honors in Wine Spectator’s 2012 Restaurant Wine List Awards. They join 71 other restaurants that have successfully renewed their Grand Awards as the world’s top wine destinations for diners.

Since 1981, Wine Spectator has honored the world’s best wine lists, with the Grand Award representing the program’s top echelon. The Grand Award winners generally offer 1,500 or more selections, with superior breadth and depth in many of the world’s classic wine-producing regions. They have also passed a rigorous inspection that evaluates the overall quality of their wine program, cellars, service, ambiance and cuisine.

This year, 2,842 restaurants earned the program’s entry-level Award of Excellence, which recognizes a wine list of 100 or more quality wine selections that thematically match a restaurant’s cuisine. Another 878 restaurants earned the program’s mid-tier Best of Award of Excellence for offering a wine list of 400 or more selections, with significant vintage depth or superior breadth in one or more major wine regions.

The complete list of 3,795 award winners is featured in the Aug. 31 issue of Wine Spectator, which also features detailed industry analysis and full profiles of this year’s new Grand Award winners. All of the restaurants can be found in WineSpectator.com’s Restaurant Search, along with details about their wine selection, cuisine, prices and key staff.