After years of canceled travel plans and missed trips, are you feeling the tug of wine wanderlust? These 10 Wine Spectator Restaurant Award–winning destinations span exotic locales from the beaches of Bali to a wine hotel in Porto to a resort with 1,500 acres of private vineyards in Mendoza. They’ll have you daydreaming of your next big getaway and the wines you’ll drink upon arrival.
This is just a small sampling of standout wine spots. For more wine-and-food destinations around the world, search all of Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Award–winning restaurants, including our choices for 9 iconic hotels and resorts with great wine lists in North America and all our Grand Award recipients.
Do you have a favorite you’d like to see on this list? Send your recommendations to restaurantawards@mshanken.com. We want to hear from you!
Note: Opening hours and menus are subject to change as the industry continues to adjust to evolving regulations.
Casa Don Alfonso
Grand Lisboa Hotel, Avenida de Lisboa, Macau, China
Telephone (853) 8803-7722
Website www.grandlisboahotel.com
Grand Award
Very few restaurants in Asia offer the kind of fine-dining experience found at Casa Don Alfonso, where refined Italian food joins a selection of 17,800 wines. Wine director Paul Lo’s program has earned a Grand Award since 2005, and draws from one of the most expansive lists and inventories among Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners. Located on the third floor of the Grand Lisboa Hotel, the restaurant shares the hotel and cellar of more than half a million bottles with fellow Grand Award winner Robuchon Au Dôme. Regions around the world are abundantly represented on Casa Don Alfonso’s 640-page list, particularly Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, Australia, Germany, California, Tuscany, Piedmont, Spain, Champagne and Portugal. More than two dozen vintages of DRC Romanée-Conti grace the list, with the vertical dating back to 1959. These wines join a menu that celebrates Italian cuisine with dishes like cannelloni stuffed with beef and pork; risotto with pigeon and wild mushrooms; and veal ossobuco with saffron risotto. Michele Martino is set to take over as executive chef later this year.
Epicure
Le Bristol Paris, 112 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, Paris, France
Telephone (33) 1-53-43-43-40
Website www.oetkercollection.com
Grand Award
On Paris’ picturesque Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, you’ll find Epicure at Le Bristol Paris, which earned its first Grand Award in 2016. Head chef Eric Fréchon’s cuisine is steeped in French tradition while offering unique twists: His macaroni, for example, is stuffed with black truffle, duck foie gras and artichoke, and gratinéed with aged Parmesan. Head sommelier Bernard Neveu’s 5,000-selection wine list, backed by nearly 110,000 bottles in the cellar, is overwhelmingly French. There’s a heavy emphasis on Burgundy, with many grand cru reds, as well as Champagne, the Rhône Valley and Bordeaux, including first-growths, of course.
JM
Hotel Jörg Müller, Süderstrasse 8, Sylt-Westerland, Germany
Telephone (49) 4651-2778-8
Website www.jmsylt.de
Grand Award
On the northern German island of Sylt, Hotel Jörg Müller is a charming refuge for relaxation. Guests can take an afternoon stroll on the beach or unwind in the Finnish sauna before finishing the day with a delicious meal at the hotel’s restaurant, JM, a Grand Award winner since 1993. Wine is “the heart of the Müller house,” and that commitment shines here, where elegant and rustic regional classics (especially fish and lamb dishes) complement a world-class wine list. Chef, owner and wine director Jörg Müller and sommelier Ben Birkholz oversee the 1,595-label list, distilled from the massive 42,000-bottle cellar. The program spotlights German and Austrian gems while boasting additional depth in Italy and France, particularly Burgundy, the Rhône and Bordeaux. Indeed, there are verticals from all five first-growths. Once dinner is over, the hotel’s Bistro Bar offers a terrific atmosphere for a nightcap.
Acanto
Hotel Principe di Savoia, Piazza della Repubblica 17, Milan, Italy
Telephone (39) 0-26-230-2026
Website www.dorchestercollection.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Located in the city’s center, the historic, neoclassical Hotel Principe di Savoia embodies all that Milan is: effortlessly chic, constantly innovating and raising the bar on luxury. The same can be said for the hotel’s restaurant, Acanto, which has held a Best of Award of Excellence since 2008. Set against Principe di Savoia’s gardens, the restaurant boasts high ceilings with stunning Murano glass chandeliers, the perfect setting for a one-of-a-kind Milanese dining experience. Under executive chef Alessandro Buffolino, the frequently changing à-la-carte and tasting menus marry Italian classics and local ingredients with modern techniques. The results are dishes like stuffed anchovies with Amalfi lemon gel, ravioli filled with Primosale cheese, risotto with Mazara prawns and a beef filet with red wine jus and onion rings. Buffolino also creates special menus for Acanto’s monthly dining events, organized alongside wine director Mara Vicelli and sommelier Giuseppe Montemurros. With 700 selections, the wine program offers more than 40 verticals of iconic Italian labels, as well as an impressive lineup of biodynamic and organic wines. Bordeaux and Burgundy also have a major presence on the list.
Focus Atelier
Park Hotel Vitznau, Seestrasse 18, Vitznau, Switzerland
Telephone (41) 41-399-60-60
Website www. parkhotel-vitznau.ch
Best of Award of Excellence
For more than a century, Park Hotel Vitznau has offered world-class luxury on the shores of Switzerland’s breathtakingly beautiful Lake Lucerne. At the heart of the institution is Focus Atelier, a Best of Award of Excellence–winning restaurant with a gargantuan 33,000-bottle cellar at its disposal. Wine director Sven Uzat taps this collection for Focus’ 4,800-label list, which spotlights Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, Champagne, California, Germany, Austria, Italy and, of course, Switzerland. These selections accompany executive chef Patrick Mahler’s menu of seasonal, European dishes, such as Norway lobster with mushrooms, rainbow trout with tomato, pike perch with caviar and the restaurant’s signature duck liver ice cream. Guests can enhance their meal with select wine pairings, including rarer picks from acclaimed wineries like Pingus, Château d’Yquem and Château Margaux.
Kayuputi
The St. Regis Bali Resort, Kawasan Pariwisata, Nusa Dua, Lot S6, Bali, Indonesia
Telephone (62) 361-300-6786
Website www.marriott.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Overlooking the ocean, the St. Regis Bali Resort is steps from the beach and only a short drive from the Bali National Golf Club, making it a prime destination for vacationers of all types. At its fine-dining restaurant, Kayuputi, guests enjoy both stunning views and East-meets-West–inspired haute cuisine from chef Agung Gede. This includes an artful eight-course tasting menu (à-la-carte options are also available), featuring the likes of lightly smoked tuna tartare, lobster dumplings, yellowfin tuna cheek, Wagyu beef striploin and tempeh-tofu satay. In the dining room, the two-story wine cellar houses the restaurant’s Best of Award of Excellence–winning, 360-label collection with strengths in Australia, France and Italy, overseen by sommeliers Edy Dwantanto and Made Winarsa. The program’s main strengths are Australia, France and Italy, but there also are standout selections from California, Chile, Argentina, South Africa, New Zealand and beyond.
Siete Fuegos by Francis Mallmann
The Vines Resort and Spa, Ruta Prov. 94, KM 11, Mendoza, Argentina
Telephone (54) 926-168-25802
Website www.vinesresortandspa.com
Best of Award of Excellence
At the base of the Andes mountains in Mendoza’s Uco Valley, the Vines Resort and Spa offers the ultimate Argentine wine getaway. Guests can create their own wine via the resort’s private vineyards or enjoy an abundance of local bottlings alongside authentic regional cuisine at Siete Fuegos by Francis Mallmann. Famed for his open-flame cooking (the restaurant’s name translates to “Seven Fires”), chef Mallman creates specialties such as nine-hour slow-grilled rib eye; cast iron–baked, salt-encrusted salmon; and grilled seasonal fruits. The wine list, overseen by Mariana Onofri, holds a Best of Award of Excellence for its strong local picks; several flights are available, with accompanying artisan cheeses.
The George V Room
Ashford Castle, Cong, Mayo, Ireland
Telephone (353) 94-954-6003
Website www.ashfordcastle.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Once home to the prominent Guinness family of brewing fame, Ireland’s 800-year-old Ashford Castle sits on a 350-acre estate with stunning views of the Connemara district. Over its storied history, Ashford has housed many well-known guests, including the future King George V (then Prince of Wales) in 1905 and the stars of the 1952 John Wayne film The Quiet Man, after the castle became a hotel. Today, George V’s visit lends its name to Ashford’s celebrated restaurant, The George V Room, where chef Philippe Farineau offers a distinctive culinary philosophy: “French heart, Irish produce.” Signature dishes include the dry-aged Angus côte de boeuf, served tableside from a carving trolley, and wild turbot sourced from Irish waters. An 8-course tasting menu is available, along with vegetarian and vegan options. Head sommelier Paul Fogerty oversees the Best of Award of Excellence–winning wine program, which has strengths in Burgundy, Italy and South Africa. The list features many intriguing pairing opportunities, as well as “wine geese” selections—wines produced around the world by families with Irish ancestry, including bottles from Château Léoville Barton in Bordeaux and Chateau Montelena in Napa Valley. In 2015, Ashford’s 17th-century coal bunker was converted into a new wine cellar, where guests can now enjoy private tastings and dinners.
The Yeatman
The Yeatman, Rua do Choupelo, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal
Telephone (351) 22-013-3100
Website www.the-yeatman-hotel.com
Best of Award of Excellence
The Yeatman resort’s opening in 2010 raised Porto’s wine tourism experience to new heights, changing the landscape of Gaia hill in the city's historic wine district, where the facility is spread over ten terraced levels. Today, it attracts guests from around the globe for its tastings, events, wine dinners and expansive, 30,000-bottle cellar of Portuguese wines. At its contemporary Portuguese restaurant, guests enjoy a seasonal, prix-fixe menu of distinctive, regional favorites from chef Ricardo Costa, including dishes such as cardinal prawns, cuttlefish with smoked eel and red sea bream with oysters. (Many vegetarian options are also available.) Meanwhile, wine director Elisabete Fernandes oversees a 1,400-selection, Best of Award of Excellence–winning list, which is sure to please any fan of Port, Madeira, Douro’s dry reds or the many other wines Portugal offers from its diverse and celebrated wine regions.
Tudor Hall Restaurant
King George Hotel, Vas. Georgiou A3, Athens, Greece
Telephone (30) 210-3330748
Website www.tudorhall.gr
Best of Award of Excellence
Set on the seventh floor of the King George Hotel in Athens, Tudor Hall Restaurant offers spectacular views of the ancient city and the Mediterranean Sea, making the restaurant an unforgettable destination. Executive chef Asterios Koustoudis and chef du cuisine Nikos Livadias source local ingredients from the Attica region for Tudor Hall’s highly seasonal à-la-carte and tasting menus. Expect dishes such as smoked eel salad with potatoes, grilled lamb with couscous, sea bass with artichokes and sorbet with basil cream. For the tasting-menu option, wine director Evangelos Psofidis provides enticing pairings, the pièce de résistance for a unique dining experience. Psofidis’ Best of Award of Excellence–winning wine list covers 635 selections from Greece and across the world, from Crete’s Dafni region to Argentina’s Mendoza Valley. Thanks to the use of the Coravin wine-preservation system, diners can taste many wines not typically available by the glass at restaurants. They can also enjoy glasses of the sommelier team’s unique “Magnum of the Day” picks.
—Edited by Collin Dreizen, Emma Grant and Kenny Martin
