These restaurants jumped from our Award of Excellence to Best of Award of Excellence in 2026
Despite plenty of headwinds, restaurant wine programs continue to impress. There are over 4,000 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners this year, showing that the demand for wine—and restaurants’ willingness to invest in it—remains strong.
Of this year’s winners, 86 made the jump from our Award of Excellence to Best of Award of Excellence . Best of Award of Excellence winners typically have over 350 selections and notable focus or breadth, providing wine lists that appeal to even the most discerning consumers.
The 11 restaurants below are among the group that made that leap and have cemented their status as serious wine destinations. They include a rustic NYC trattoria where the wood-burning rotisserie turns out whole suckling pigs alongside an extensive Italian cellar; a restaurant in San Francisco that pairs Indian and Sri Lankan spice with a global list of small-production, family-run wineries; and a decades-old New Orleans hideaway that stands out in a city with great wine .
For more great wine-and-dining spots in the U.S. and abroad, explore our more than 1,800 other Best of Award of Excellence winners as well as the 99 Grand Award recipients that hold our highest honor.
Wine Strengths: Burgundy, France, Italy Wine Selections: 375 Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$ Cuisine: Indian/Regional
At Copra on San Francisco’s Fillmore Street, chef Srijith Gopinathan serves a menu inspired by the cuisines of Southern India and Sri Lanka. Designed for sharing, the menu spans from smaller bites like a chutney “palette” and fried lentil fritters to larger plates such as black cod wrapped in banana leaves, a spice-laden Dungeness crab ghee roast and shrimp mango curry. The 375-selection wine list, overseen by wine director Andre Sydnor, includes unconventional, lesser-known producers as well as established classics. A commonality across the wine program is a focus on small-production, family-run operations. High quality producers from France, Italy and the U.S. abound, with especially strong representation from grower Champagne houses such as Jacques Selosse and Egly-Ouriet .
Tip: The wine list is organized not by region or grape but by flavor profile and serving order to encourage guests to think differently about how wine relates to food—placing, for instance, Siclian Nerello Mascalese alongside Lebanese Grenache.
Wine Strengths: California, France, Italy Wine Selections: 1,700 Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$$ Cuisine: Californian/American Known For: Date Night, Focus on Sustainability, Cozy & Intimate, Historic Location, Special Occasions
Enclos is a fine-dining destination from Stone Edge Farm Estate Vineyards & Winery, the Sonoma producer of Bordeaux-style wines whose proprietors, Mac and Leslie McQuown, transformed a restored 1890s Victorian home near Sonoma Plaza into the restaurant. The kitchen is run by chef Brian Limoges, an alumnus of San Francisco fine-dining mainstays Atelier Crenn, Quince and the Grand Award–winning Saison . The intimate, 30-seat dining room offers seasonal tasting menus rooted in produce from Stone Edge Farms’ own 16-acre organic gardens, with dishes like venison tartlets served balanced on deer antlers, spiny lobster croustade and a clam chowder custard with caviar and white asparagus. Wine director Jason Chin’s list features verticals of Stone Edge Farm ’s Cabernet Sauvignon , Sauvignon Blanc and Surround Bordeaux blend, as well as a strong selection of Burgundy from producers like Domaine Leflaive and Pierre-Yves Colin-Morey . Add a celebratory accent to your night with the Champagne cart that serves rare and vintage pours tableside.
New Orleans gautreausrestaurant.com
Wine Strengths: France, Burgundy Wine Selections: 375 Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$ Cuisine: French Known For: Private Event Space, Cozy & Intimate, Historic Location, Special Occasions
At Gautreau’s , executive chef Rob Mistry—who previously worked at Grand Award winner Commander’s Palace —draws on his Parsi heritage and Parisian upbringing alongside Creole tradition. The seafood-forward menu features dishes like paneer gnudi with Gulf shrimp and smoked tikka masala, New Bedford scallops with boiled peanuts and confited pork belly, and a Wagyu eye of ribeye served with a braised beef doughnut. Wine director Ross Barrilleaux has grown the program to more than 375 labels, building a list that is, as he put it, “French in soul and eccentric in character.” Burgundy is the backbone, with producers like Étienne Sauzet , Joseph Drouhin , William Fèvre and more. Other standouts include the 2005 and 2007 vintages of Château de Beaucastel ’s Hommage à Jacques Perrin Châteauneuf-du-Pape and a vertical of Silver Oak going back to 2007.
Tip: The restaurant occupies a converted drugstore and has no exterior sign—look for the understated building with a terra-cotta tile awning at 1728 Soniat St. in the Uptown neighborhood of New Olreans.
Wine Strengths: Italy, California Wine Selections: 350 Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$ Cuisine: Italian Known For: Date Night, Cozy & Intimate, Family Friendly, Special Occasions, Natural Setting
In Park City, Utah, La Stellina draws its inspiration from traditional Italian and Italian-American influences. The menu offers pasta sourced from Borgatti’s of Arthur Avenue in the Bronx, including cavatelli all’Amatriciana, cacio e pepe and mushroom agnolotti with shaved truffle. Some Italian-American staples include white clam pizza, cioppino and chicken scarpariello. Wine director Mackenzie Wallace has built a 350-selection list that complements the cuisine with an Italian focus. The list draws from established producers like Vietti , Dal Forno and Castello Banfi , in addition to a collection of low-intervention, organic and biodynamic wines from Italy and beyond. California and Spain are also well-represented.
Wine Strengths: France Wine Selections: 355 Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $ Cuisine: French
L’Express is a Lyonnaise bouchon in the Flatiron District of Manhattan open from breakfast till late. The restaurant is operated by Chef Driven Hospitality, the restaurant group that also runs Nice Matin , a Grand Award winner. Chef Amitzur Mor’s kitchen leans into the classics with dishes like escargots de Bourgogne in garlic butter, frisée aux lardons with a poached egg, moules-frites and duck cassoulet. Wine director Aviram Turgeman assembled a 345-selection list organized around France, with particular depth in Champagne, including Dom Pérignon vintages back to 2002 and a 1997 Salon Le Mesnil Blanc de Blanc . Other notable producers include Gérard Boulay of Sancerre, Roger Sabon & Fils of the Southern Rhône Valley and Château Pontet-Canet from Bordeaux. Eighteen by-the-glass selections are rotated regularly.
Tampa, Fla. lilacrestauranttampa.com
Wine Strengths: France, Italy, Greece Wine Selections: 700 Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$$ Cuisine: Mediterranean/French Known For: Wine Tastings/Events, Date Night, Cozy & Intimate, Special Occasions
Chef and restaurateur John Fraser’s Lilac offers dishes like squab and foie gras with butternut squash and honeycrisp apple, lemon risotto with shrimp and Dover sole with blue crab brandade. Wine director Amy Racine and sommelier Ryan McSwiggin have grown the list to more than 500 selections, with vertical depth in Bordeaux, Burgundy and Tuscany—including multiple vintages from Château Figeac , Jean Grivot and Ornellaia —alongside bottles from California, Spain, Portugal and Greece. Champagne is also a focal point, with producers such as Krug and Pol Roger anchoring the bubbly cart.
Tip: Guests can opt for a hybrid pairing experience that blends wine and nonalcoholic selections.
Wine Strengths: Italy Wine Selections: 570 Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$$ Cuisine: Italian
Peasant has been a fixture of New York’s Nolita neighborhood since 1999 and is now stewarded by partners chef Marc Forgione and Master Sommelier Dustin Wilson. The kitchen’s open wood-burning ovens and glowing candlelit atmosphere set the stage for dishes like bucatini carbonara, rosette pasta with short rib and spaghetti with lobster fra diavolo. Wine director Michael Laudenslager’s program covers Italian varieties and regions, with particular depth in Nebbiolo from Piedmont. Barolo selections include bottles from producers like Bartolo Mascarello , Massolino , Francesco Rinaldi and Aldo Conterno , while Barbaresco representation includes Produttori del Barbaresco , Gaja and others. A downstairs wine bar hosts tastings and producer dinners throughout the year.
Tip: Groups of six or more can pre-order a whole suckling pig dinner—a multi-course family-style feast centered on the wood-burning rotisserie.
Wine Strengths: France, Italy, California Wine Selections: 400 Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$ Cuisine: European/Italian Known For: Wine Tastings/Events, Date Night, Happy Hour, Focus on Sustainability, Family Friendly
Rosie Cannonball serves self-described “European comfort food” in Houston’s Montrose neighborhood. The restaurant is part of Goodnight Hospitality group, which is helmed by Master Sommelier June Rodil and also operates March and The Marigold Club . Chef Felipe Riccio’s menu offers dishes like grilled shrimp with shrimp butter, pork chop cassoulet, gnocchi al polpo and a roster of wood-fired pizzas. Wine director Jordan Raabe’s list contains diverse selections from across France, Italy and California. Magnums from Veneto’s Quintarelli , Napa’s Dunn , Beaujolais’ Guy Breton and others are also on offer. A nightly “Reverse Happy Hour”—all alcohol at half price from 9:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.—has made Rosie Cannonball a particularly welcoming entry point for budding wine lovers.
Wine Strengths: Piedmont, Tuscany, Italy Wine Selections: 560 Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$ Cuisine: Italian
Opened in December 2024 inside the Four Seasons Vail Resort and Residences, Tavernetta Vail is the second location of the Denver restaurant, a member of Frasca Hospitality Group, from Lachlan Mackinnon-Patterson and Bobby Stuckey. The restaurant calls its cuisine “a contemporary twist on traditional Italian Alpine fare,” with dishes like a whole quail with sausage, Alaskan halibut with sunchoke and a 14-day dry-aged ribeye. The wine list, helmed by wine director Carlin Karr, is Italian plus some Champagne. Standouts include multiple vintages from Giacomo Conterno , Oddero and Valdicava , as well as a signature collaboration Barolo made with G.D. Vajra and Frasca.
Tip: Order a cocktail at the restaurant’s Spritz Window, modeled on the historic wine windows of Florence, while waiting for your table.
Wine Strengths: Italy, France, Spain Wine Selections: 420 Wine Pricing: $$ | Food Pricing: $$ Cuisine: Mediterranean
The Lazy Goat in Greenville, South Carolina, has a Mediterranean-focused wine list of more than 350 selections spanning Italy, France, Spain, Lebanon, Israel, Morocco and beyond. The menu shares that geographic scope, running from cold mezze like whipped feta, toum (a Levantine garlic sauce) and pumpkin hummus, to Turkish pide (flatbread) and handmade pasta. Larger plates include whole branzino with green tahini and farro bianco, grilled swordfish with pomegranate and Calabrian chili butter, and a Moroccan lamb shank tagine with saffron rice. Wine director Joe Crossan’s 420-selection list offers an extensive by-the-glass program, half bottles and flights. Top producers include Château Fuissé and Hugel for whites, Domaine de Terrebrune in Bandol for rosé, Castello di Volpaia and Ca’ Marcanda for Italian reds and Dominio de Pingus for Spanish reds.
Wine Strengths: France, California Wine Selections: 355 Wine Pricing: $$$ | Food Pricing: $$$ Cuisine: Mexican/Steak house
Toca Madera , with locations in Los Angeles and West Hollywood, has brought its upscale fusion experience to Scottsdale, Arizona, with a menu that blends modern Mexican cuisine and a Japanese-inflected raw bar. Guests can expect crispy wonton tacos filled with A5 Wagyu or tuna with caviar and truffle ponzu, a seafood tower with optional caviar upgrade, tostaditas with chicken tinga or short rib and a quesadilla with fresh black truffle. Wine director Juan Carlos Santana’s list is anchored by a deep selection of Champagne—including Bollinger La Grande Année , Laurent-Perrier Grand Siècle and Louis Roederer Cristal —alongside a California-forward program featuring Chimney Rock , Opus One , Etude and others. Broader international representation comes from Argiano in Tuscany, CVNE in Rioja, Familia Zuccardi in Mendoza and Mexican wines from Parvada and Drosophila.
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