Wine Spectator - Vol 51 No 6 August 31 2026 - Annual Restaurant Awards & Tasting Report

Aug 7, 2026

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Wine Spectator’s issue highlights the annual Restaurant Awards, covering current trends in wine and dining through reporting on more than 4,000 award-winning restaurants worldwide. It features profiles including Chef Andrew Carmellini’s career story, new grand award winners, and a dining guide for wine lovers. The tasting report focuses on California Zinfandel, offering buying guidance and creative spritz recipes, plus insights from key industry news.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLifestyle

FormatPDF

Pages158

Reading Time4 h 3 min

AccessFree to download

Annual Restaurant Awards

Cover Story - Andrew Carmellini’s Race to the Top

Restaurant Awards

Tasting Report - California’s Heritage Grape Zinfandel

Entertaining - New Takes on the Classic Spritz

People - Teaching the World to Drink Pink

Grapevine - Direct Shipping and Industry Updates

Departments and Buying Guide

Annual Restaurant Awards THE WORLD’S BEST WINE LISTS MORE THAN4, 000 RESTAURANTS FOR WINE LOVERS Chef Andrew Carmellini Creator of New York’s Locanda Verde, Café Carmellini and The Dutch PLUS The Story Behind Whispering Angel California Zinfandel Summer Spritzes CONTENTS Aug. 31, 2026 Vol. 51, No. 6 “I’ve been a musicianfor a long time, and in music and in myfood I’m always looking for the soul of things. ... I like cooking with chicken livers and sauces made with roasted bones. It’s old-school cooking. It’s not precious.”—Andrew Carmellini 38 2026 Restaurant Awards COVER STORY 24 Andrew Carmellini’s Race to the Top Known as a chef’s chef, this second-generation Italian American and Ohio native pursued an arduous path to fulfill his childhood dream of becoming “a really, really good cook.” He started working in kitchens at age 14, and later for chefs Gray Kunz, Daniel Boulud and others, before founding his own New York–based Noho Hospitality Group, anchored by his fine dining flagship, Café Carmellini • Kristen Bieler Features RESTAURANT AWARDS 38 Meeting Guests Where They Are We report on current trends in wining and dining based on input from the more than 4,000 winners in our Restaurant Awards program • Cassia Schifter 46 New Grand Award Winners Kudos to two new members of an elite group of wine-centric restaurants around the world • Cassia Schifter; Aaron Romano 51 The Dining Guide A comprehensive directory of the best restaurants for wine lovers in the U. S. and abroad TASTING REPORT 111 California’s Heritage Grape Zinfandel’s key growing areas have seen diverse weather patterns in recent vintages, yielding a range of wine styles to suit any taste, from bold and ripe to more claretlike • Tim Fish JESSICA SAMPLE CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF DRY CREEK VINEYARD; GABRIELA HERMAN; LIZZIE MUNRO; ADAM ROUSE 109 California Zinfandel: What to buy 24 Chef Andrew Carmellini 16 A jaw-dropping renovation at Mondavi 114 Creative spritz recipes ENTERTAINING 116 New Takes on the Classic Spritz With this refreshing summertime sipper more popular than ever, here are nine innovative variations from leading restaurants across the United States • Cassia Schifter PEOPLE 123 Teaching the World to Drink Pink Sacha Lichine’s vision for a luxury rosé led him from Bordeaux to Provence to found Whispering Angel, which forever changed consumer perspective of what pink wine could be • Kristen Bieler Grapevine 13 Direct Shipping News An Ohio circuit court gives a green light on interstate wine shipping, while an Arizona circuit court holds the three-tier-system line • Mitch Frank 14 World Angelini conglomerate buys into Arnaldo Caprai winery in Umbria; Arborum purchases Napa’s Vineyard 29 • Ron Geraci; MaryAnn Worobiec 16 Design A first look at the newly renovated Robert Mondavi Winery • Mitch Frank 18 Savvy Shopper A quick look at some well-priced wines among this issue’s reviews • Bruce Sanderson Departments 9 This Issue Marvin R. Shanken 20 Mitch Frank Showdown in Paris 152 Unfiltered Masters champion Rory McIlroy serves his fellow green jackets a menu of his favorite foods and wines atthe annual dinner in Augusta • Clark Coffman Cover photograph by Gabriela Herman The Buying Guide 129 New Reviews: 400 Tasting Notes 131 Inside This Issue 132 Spectator Selections 135 International 145 United States OUR TOP-SCORING WINES THIS ISSUE Abreu Las Posadas Howell Mountain 2021 98 points, $675 138 Reviews of wines from the Rhône Royal Tokaji Tokaji Essencia 2017 (375ml) 98 points, $1,415 [Visit](Visit www.winespectator.com/083126 to find)[ www.winespectator.com/083126](Visit www.winespectator.com/083126 to find)[ to find](Visit www.winespectator.com/083126 to find) links to all of the following resources. NEW YORK WINE EXPERIENCE Don’t miss the chance to taste top-scoring bottlings and rare older vintages from the world’s best vintners. This year’s ev

FAQs

这期 Wine Spectator 的核心主题是什么？

本期以“Annual Restaurant Awards（年度餐厅奖）”为主线，并结合品鉴报告、名人专访与娱乐搭配内容，为葡萄酒爱好者提供餐厅与酒款选择指南。

本期的品鉴报告重点关注哪类葡萄酒？

品鉴报告聚焦加州的 Zinfandel（仙粉黛），介绍其核心产区与不同年份的气候影响，并给出可购买建议。

本期有哪些与餐桌体验相关的内容板块？

包括餐厅奖项专题、最佳葡萄酒餐厅的 Dining Guide（餐厅指南），以及 Entertaining 栏目中对经典 Spritz 的创新做法与夏日配方。

Aug 7, 2026

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