This year, the new award winners include eight Wisconsin restaurants, bringing the state's total to 28. The Wine Spectator, a leading trade publication, began the awards program in 1981. The current list honors 2,113 restaurants worldwide. It can be found in the Sept. 30 issue of the Spectator. The Spectator's Restaurant Awards Program honors excellence in wine lists.
Factors considered are breadth, depth and balance.
Also taken into account are pricing, how appropriate the list is for the restaurant's cuisine and storage conditions. With a sense of wounded collective pride, I see that no restaurant in our fair state has moved above the basic Award of Excellence. Michigan has eight in the next higher category and Minnesota five. Estancia's Pinot Noir vineyards are in the western foothills of the Santa Lucia Highlands above both Salinas Valley and the eastern slopes below Pinnacles National Monument. The cool climate in this area is just right for the fussy Pinot Noir grape.