Best Restaurants For Wine 2018: Phoenix Has 31 Award Winners

PHOENIX, AZ — Cheers, Phoenix! Wine Spectator, one of the world’s leading authorities on wine, has assembled its 2018 list of the Best Restaurants for Wine, based not only on the breadth of vintages in their cellars but also how well wine is paired with entrees. In Phoenix, 31 restaurants made the prestigious list of 3,759 restaurants worldwide with outstanding wine selections in their cellars.

The lifestyle magazine on wine and wine culture gave awards across three categories — Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award, which went to only 91 restaurants around the world. Wine Spectator experts inspect all candidates for the Grand Award to evaluate both quality of the dining experience and the cellar.

This award is given to restaurants with world-class cellars and wine lists that typically feature 1,000 or more selections, a breadth of top producers, and outstanding depth in mature vintages and selection of large-format bottles. Restaurants in this category are also evaluated on the presentation of the wine list and the harmony with the menu.

In Phoenix, no restaurants won the Grand Award, but nine received the Best of Award of Excellence. (For more news like this, get Phoenix Patch's real-time news alerts and free morning news letters. Like us on Facebook. Also, download the free Patch iPhone app or free Patch Android app.)

Here are all Wine Spectator listings for Phoenix and the surrounding area:

BEST OF AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
(1,215 restaurants nationwide)

Tarbell's, 3213 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix
Gordie's Steak, The Wrigley Mansion, 2501 E. Telawa Trail, Phoenix
Wright's at the Biltmore, Arizona Biltmore, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, 2400 E. Missouri Ave., Phoenix
Vincent Guerithault On Camelback, 3930 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix
Lon's At The Hermosa, The Hermosa Inn, 5532 N. Palo Cristi Road, Paradise Valley
J&G Steakhouse, The Phoenician Resort, 6000 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale
Mastro's City Hall Steakhouse, 6991 E. Camelback Road, Scottsdale
Orange Sky, Talking Stick Resort, 9800 E. Indian Bend Road, Scottsdale
Mastro's Ocean Club, 15045 N. Kierland Blvd., Scottsdale
The Capital Grille, 16489 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale

AWARD OF EXCELLENCE
(2,453 restaurants nationwide)

Durant’s, 2611 N. Central Ave., Phoenix
The Capital Grille, 2502 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix
Seasons 52, 2502 E. Camelback Road, Phoenix
Beckett’s Table, 3717 E. Indian School Road, Phoenix
Quiessence at The Farm, The Farm at South Mountain, 6106 S. 32nd St., Phoenix
Elements, Sanctuary Camelback Mountain Resort and Spa, 5700 E. McDonald Drive, Paradise Valley
Cafe Monarch, 6939 E. First Ave., Scottsdale
Uncle Sal’s Italian Restaurant, 3370 N. Hayden Road, Scottsdale
Fogo de Chão, 6300 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, Scottsdale Hilton Resort & Villas, 6333 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, 905 N. 54th St., Chandler
Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar, 9712 W. Northern Ave.,Peoria
Roka Akor, 7299 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Ruth’s Chris Steak House, 7001 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale
Rusconi's American Kitchen, 10637 N. Tatum Blvd., Suite 101-B, Phoenix
Village Tavern, 8787 N. Scottsdale Road, The Shops at Gainey Village - Suite 234, Scottsdale
Shula’s Steak House, Wild Horse Pass Hotel & Casino, 5040 W. Wild Horse Pass Blvd., Chandler
Kai, Sheraton Grand at Wild Horse Pass, 5594 W. Wild Horse Pass Blvd., Chandler
Deseo, The Westin Kierland Resort, Spa & Villas, 6902 E. Greenway Parkway, Scottsdale
Morton’s, The Steakhouse, 15233 Kierland Blvd., Scottsdale
Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, 15323 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale

Wine Spectator’s 2018 Restaurant Award winners range from neighborhood wine bars that serve small plates to opulent palaces with star chefs and elaborate tasting menus. Getting a mention on it is a pretty big deal for the restaurants.

“A Wine Spectator award tells our guests — current and potential — that our program has been vetted by a panel of experts and deemed amongst the best in the world,” Erik Segelbaum, corporate wine director for the Starr Restaurants group, said in a news release.

Segelbaum, whose restaurants won 16 Wine Spectator awards this year, said they tell “wine-loving guests that visiting one of our restaurants is time and money well spent.” The awards are well regarded domestically and internationally, he said.

“There is no doubt that Wine Spectator reviews and awards are held in the highest regard in the domestic and international community,” he said in the release. “Awards of this nature show our wine-loving guests that visiting one of our restaurants is time and money well spent.”

The restaurants recognized by Wine Spectator are in all 50 U.S. states and 75 countries.

Click here see all the Grand Award winners.

Click here to peruse all winners by metropolitan area.

Photo via Shutterstock / media_digital