The winners of Wine Spectator's annual Restaurant Wine List Awards were revealed yesterday, and 27 restaurants throughout the Bay area made the cut.
From all 50 states and more than 80 countries, 3,748 eateries took home one of three awards for their lust-worthy wine lists, which needed to contain interesting offerings, mesh well with the cuisine being served and tantalize a variety of wine enthusiasts' taste buds.
The Grand Award (the magazine's highest honor) had 74 winners, the Best of Award of Excellence had 883 and the Award of Excellence (its third highest honor) had 2,791.
Seventeen Tampa Bay restaurants, including Donatello, Caretta On The Gulf and Tapping The Vine, walked away with the Award of Excellence, while Rococo Steak and Massimo's were among the nine nosheries that won the Best of Award of Excellence.
Providing diners with more than 6,800 wines to choose from, Bern's Steak House was the region's only restaurant to receive the Grand Award.
Here are the local winners, divided by award level, and a breakdown of their wine strengths and pricing as determined by Wine Spectator:
GRAND AWARD
Bern's Steak House (Tampa) - California, France - Moderate
BEST OF AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
Alfano's Restaurant (Clearwater) - California, Italy - Inexpensive
Beaune's Wine Bar (Tampa) - Bordeaux, Burgundy, Italy - Inexpensive
Bob Heilman's Beachcomber Restaurant (Clearwater Beach) - California, Burgundy - Moderate
Charley's Steak House (Tampa) - California, Bordeaux - Expensive
Columbia Restaurant (Tampa) - Spain - Moderate
Forlini's Restaurant (Clearwater Beach) - California, Italy - Moderate
Massimo's Eclectic Fine Dining (Palm Harbor) - Tuscany, California - Moderate
Rococo Steak (St. Pete) - France, California - Moderate
SideBern's (Tampa) - California, France - Moderate
AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
The Capital Grille (Tampa) - California - Moderate
Caretta On The Gulf (Clearwater Beach) - California - Moderate
Clearwater Wine Bar & Bistro (Clearwater Beach) - California - Inexpensive
Council Oak (Tampa) - California - Moderate
Donatello (Tampa) - Italy, France, California - Moderate
Eddie V's Prime Seafood (Tampa) - International, California - Moderate
Fetishes Dining & Wine Bar (St. Pete Beach) - California - Moderate
Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar (Tampa) - California - Expensive
Jackson's Bistro Bar & Sushi (Tampa) - California - Inexpensive
Marchand's Bar & Grill (St. Pete) - California, Italy - Moderate
The Maritana Grille (St. Pete Beach) - California - Moderate
Ocean Prime (Tampa) - California - Moderate
Parkshore Grill (St. Pete) - California - Moderate
Ruth's Chris Steak House (Tampa) - California - Moderate
Salt Rock Grill (Indian Shores) - California - Moderate
Shula's Steak House (Tampa) - California - Moderate
Tapping The Vine (Safety Harbor) - United States - Inexpensive