Craftsteak Restaurant Gets Wine Award

Each year the “Restaurant Wine List Awards” are published in Wine Spectator magazine. This year Craftsteak made the “Best of Award of Excellence” list.  This second-tier award gives special recognition to restaurants that exceed “Award of Excellence” requirements with lists that display vintage depth or excellent breadth across several regions.

Craftsteak, located at Foxwoods MGM Grand Casino, was among 833 restaurants nationwide to make the second-tier award list. Other local restaurants receiving awards this year were Michael Jordan’s at Mohegan Sun and Octagon at the Mystic Marriott.

The Restaurant Wine List Awards recognize restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.

To qualify for an award, the list must present complete and accurate wine information. It must include vintages and appellations for all selections, including wines available by the glass. Complete producer names and correct spellings are paramount, while the overall presentation and appearance of the list also is taken into consideration.

After meeting these basic requirements, lists are judged for one of three awards:

Award of Excellence: This basic award is for lists that offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Typically, these lists offer at least 100 selections. This year there were 2,827 winners.

Best of Award of Excellence: This second-tier award was created to give special recognition to restaurants that clearly exceed the requirements of the Award of Excellence. These lists typically offer 400 or more selections, along with superior presentation, including several vertical offerings of top wines. There were 833 winners this year.

Grand Award: This award is given to restaurants that show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine program. These restaurants typically offer 1,500 selections or more, and feature serious breadth of top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages and a selection of large-format bottles. This year the magazine’s highest award was given to 74 restaurants.

http://www.winespectator.com/restaurants/show/source/search/id/11789