It can be challenging to find a middle-ground between intimidating fine wine shops and retailers with mundane, mass-produced labels. These destinations hold Restaurant Awards for outstanding wine experiences in the dining room, but they also stand out for expertly selected retail shops. Discover 11 eateries with adjoining wine stores offering exciting picks and familiar favorites for dining out or taking home.
For more wine-and-food destinations around the world, search all of Wine Spectator’s Restaurant Award–winning restaurants, including 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.
Wally’s Beverly Hills
447 Canon Drive, Beverly Hills , Calif.
Telephone (310) 475-3540
Website www.wallywine.com
Grand Award
While it’s known to host prominent regulars like business leaders and movie stars, Wally's is far from pretentious. The dining room is a modern and welcoming space to enjoy the Grand Award–winning wine list, which offers all the bottles available at retail (at a $40 upcharge). Wine director Matthew Turner’s vast 3,500-label collection shines with bottles from California, Bordeaux, Burgundy, the Rhône, Champagne, Italy and farther abroad, with plenty of insider labels to please avid collectors. For food, chef Ryan Kluver offers a regional menu with influences from French cuisine. He also takes advantage of Wally’s high-end food products, offering several variations of caviar service and shaving fresh truffles over dishes like roasted whole chicken. If you’re sitting at the buzzy bar, starters such as tenderloin steak tartare and grilled octopus are terrific for snacking.
Bottle Stop Wine Bar
311 Mill St., Occoquan , Va.
Telephone (703) 494-1622
Website www.bottlestopva.com
Best of Award of Excellence
If you find yourself exploring the Occoquan Historic District in Virginia, make sure to spend some time at Best of Award of Excellence winner Bottle Stop Wine Bar. Not only will you be able to browse its vast retail selection, but you can sit down with any of the 350 bottles on its wine list, overseen by co-owner and wine director Emil Wigonde. The primary focuses are on California and France, with many options for fans of Bordeaux or Napa Cabernet. (Syrah and Zinfandel lovers won’t be disappointed either.) Whether guests are in the dining room or on Bottle Stop’s patio, they’ll be able to enjoy their wine with diverse dishes like bacon-wrapped meatloaf, lamb ragù with pappardelle, spicy deviled eggs, baked ratatouille, a Greek lamb burger and much more.
Cellar 59 Wine Bar & Wine Shop
3984 Kent Road, Stow, Ohio
Telephone (330) 688-2684
Website www.cellar59wine.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Cellar 59 fully embraces the small-town charm of Stow, in northern Ohio. It’s owned by husband-and-wife locals Vincenzo and Carrie Pezzaniti and set in a renovated 19th-century farmhouse with a wraparound porch for outdoor dining. Vincenzo and brother Maurizio, the restaurant’s wine director, grew up making wine with their Italian grandfather. Today, Maurizio oversees a Best of Award of Excellence–winning wine program packed with bottles from California, though it also excels in France and Italy. There’s plenty from Bordeaux, Champagne, Oregon and Washington as well, with value throughout. For food, guests can pick from a range of wine-friendly small plates and pizzas, which draw heavily on the owners’ Italian heritage.
CuVino Trattoria.Pizza.Enoteca
31 A E. Padonia Road, Timonium, Md.
Telephone (410) 853-7484
Website www.tastecuvino.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Italy comes to Maryland at CuVino, where co-owner and wine director Ralphi Di Biasi has assembled a 410-label list that has earned a Best of Award of Excellence since 2020. The list is, of course, focused heavily on Italy, with many offerings from Piedmont and Tuscany. And there’s no shortage of values to pick from. Diners can pair their wine choice with chef Angelo Di Biasi’s menu of Italian classics like chicken Marsala, house-made lasagna and littleneck clams with linguine, plus a range of other pasta, pizza and antipasti choices.
Domacin
102 Second St. South, Stillwater, Minn.
Telephone (651) 439-1352
Website www.domacinwinebar.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Just a short walk from the St. Croix River, diners will find Domacin, a welcoming wine shop and Best of Award of Excellence–winning restaurant in Stillwater, Minn., about 20 miles outside of St. Paul. Overseen by wine director Ethan Gilmore, the 800-label wine program is strongest in California and Italy, with additional selections from Argentina, Spain, Oregon, Washington and farther abroad. Generally, the wine list caters to a range of customers; you’ll find options across all budgets, including value bottlings and prized verticals from producers like Gaja. Chef Chris Kohtz’s menu joins locally grown produce with Mediterranean influences—mostly French and Italian—for dishes such as barbecue pork flatbread, beef tenderloin with oyster mushrooms and braised leeks, shrimp and grits and risotto with truffle oil.
FLG Terroir Wine Bar & Bistro
17 N. San Francisco St., Flagstaff, Ariz.
Telephone (928) 773-9463
Website www.flgterroir.com
Best of Award of Excellence
Offering a Best of Award of Excellence–winning experience in Flagstaff, Ariz., FLG Terroir Wine Bar & Bistro keeps small producers at the core of its wine program. Wine director Frederic Andrew Wojtkielewicz has assembled 525 labels for the list, covering appellations in France, California, Italy, Spain and Arizona. Along with smaller wineries, celebrated names like Château Mouton-Rothschild and Tollot-Beaut also make an appearance. Chef Kristen Barnett complements the wine selection with a small-plate, American menu of dishes like oysters on the half shell, winter squash tamales, fisherman’s pie and marinated butter beans.
Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café
2879 Grand Ave., Los Olivos, Calif.
Telephone (805) 688-7265
Website www.winemerchantcafe.com/
Best of Award of Excellence
Wine fans might know Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café from its appearance in the Academy Award–winning movie Sideways. The Best of Award of Excellence winner has been a mainstay in Los Olivos, Calif., since opening in 1995, and offers several ongoing programs, including wine clubs and overnight retreats in its on-site vineyard. With 650 selections, the inexpensively priced wine list focuses on California’s Central Coast. Wine director Jamie Cohen showcases some of the region’s top labels across a range of budgets and rounds out the selection with international picks. There are plenty of 5-ounce pours on the by-the-glass list, where most options are under $15, as well as additional flights of 7.5-ounce glasses. Chef Chris Joslyn complements these with a regional, farm-to-table menu of plates like vegan capellini, braised short ribs and a grilled little gem salad, as well as several pizzas.
The String Bean
106 N. Main St., Belmont, N.C.
Telephone (704) 825-3636
Website www.thestringbeanmarket.com/
Best of Award of Excellence
The String Bean name is a nod to owner Chad Hutcheson’s childhood on a farm in northern Georgia, where his family canned their own vegetables from the garden. This upbringing instilled a love of food in Hutcheson that led to him open this wine shop and restaurant with his wife in 2008. Earning a Best of Award of Excellence since 2015, the 650-label list, now overseen by wine director Morgan Pressley, is focused on California, representing lesser-known producers as well as big names. Alongside these bottles, chef Ricky Butler serves an eclectic mix of wine-friendly dishes, from small plates like duck-fat fries to pizzas and burgers to entrées like gnocchi with smoked meatballs.
The Wine Gallery at Villa Macri
225 Toscana Blvd., Granger, Ind.
Telephone (574) 968-0471
Website www.thewinegalleryatvillamacri.com/
Best of Award of Excellence
Restaurateurs Jerry and Margy Macri ran a neighborhood deli for 10 years before relocating it and adding a retail shop and Italian restaurant. Now known as the Wine Gallery at Villa Macri, the restaurant offers a refined, Best of Award of Excellence–winning experience. Chef Gerard Macri serves a diverse assortment of dishes that makes for exciting pairings, including lobster mac and cheese, butternut squash ravioli and pepperoni bread. Guests can match these with any of the 665 wines on wine director Jason Forbes’ list, which is heavily focused on California, Italy and France, with plenty more from Germany, Spain, Australia and beyond. Diners will find lots of value options throughout the list, plus well-known names like Duckhorn and Mollydooker.
The WineSellar & Brasserie
9550 Waples St., San Diego, Calif.
Telephone (858) 450-9557
Website www.winesellar.com/
Best of Award of Excellence
True to its name, the Winesellar & Brasserie is a Best of Award of Excellence–winning hub for wine fans in San Diego, offering wine clubs, bottle storage, region tours and a series of tasting events. There’s also the adjoining wine shop, of course. Owner and wine director Gary Parker has built an impressively vast and diverse list of 1,345 labels, many from California, Bordeaux, Burgundy and Italy, and there’s plenty to catch the eye of a collector. These bottles are paired with chef David Gallardo’s contemporary French menu, which uses California ingredients for dishes like seared diver scallops, venison, chicken picatta, a dry-aged ribeye and golden apple salad. (Many dishes on the menu are gluten-free.)
Disco Ranch
14025 Highway 128, Boonville, Calif.
Telephone (707) 901-5002
Website www.discoranch.com/
Award of Excellence
With an Award of Excellence and plenty of wines on its store shelves, Disco Ranch—in Mendocino County’s Anderson Valley—embodies the experiences of owner and wine director Wendy Lamer, who has worked with specialty food and wine for more than three decades. This is on display with her 275-label wine list, which celebrates producers in France and California, especially local Mendocino wineries. The program extends to appellations in Italy, Spain and farther abroad, offering a full scope that’s sure to help guests expand their wine knowledge as they enjoy any of the tapas and small plates on the menu. This includes snacks like peppers stuffed with goat cheese and truffle potato chips, as well as meat and cheese boards and various sliders.
