—New App and Website Showcase World’s Best Restaurants for Wine Lovers; 3,595 Restaurants in 50 States and 72 Countries Honored—

Great restaurants not only serve delicious food—they are also passionate about wine. Wine Spectator, the world’s leading authority on wine, has released the winners of the 2016 Restaurant Awards, which recognize outstanding wine programs. For this year’s awards, Wine Spectator launched two exciting entities—the official Restaurant Awards app and the newly minted Restaurants.WineSpectator.com—which together provide patrons the best guides to restaurants that deliver exceptional wine experiences.

Wine Spectator began its program to recognize the world’s best wine lists in 1981. There are three levels: the Award of Excellence, the Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award—with 2,414; 1,093; and 88 winners this year in each respective category. Seven of the Grand Award winners are first timers.

“On behalf of Wine Spectator, I’m thrilled to congratulate each and every award-winning restaurant. They should be very proud,” said Marvin R. Shanken, Editor and Publisher, Wine Spectator. “With the debut of the Restaurant Awards app and digital platform, wine lovers now have exciting new resources they can take advantage of and enjoy.”

Available for free in the App Store, the Restaurant Awards app allows iPhone and iPad users to easily find nearby award-winning restaurants, with maps, plus helpful information about cuisine, wine and pricing.

The Award of Excellence recognizes restaurants whose wine lists feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Best of Award of Excellence recipients offer more extensive selections with significant vintage depth and excellent breadth across multiple regions.

The Grand Award is the program’s highest honor. This elite group comprises the world’s best wine programs, which deliver serious breadth of top producers, outstanding depth in mature vintages, a selection of large-format bottles, excellent harmony with the menu and superior presentation. Wine Spectator carefully assesses each Grand Award candidate, including rigorous independent, on-site inspections of the wine program, cellar, service, ambiance and cuisine of the restaurant.

The complete list of award winners is available in print in Wine Spectator’s August issue, on newsstands July 19; online at Restaurants.WineSpectator.com, where visitors can search and access exclusive content on the more than 3,500 restaurants; and on iOS via the Restaurant Awards app, which allows users to look for dining spots in any location, choosing by wine strengths, cuisine type, pricing and more. Follow the Restaurant Awards on Twitter and Instagram, and join the conversation by using #WSRestaurantAward.

About Wine Spectator

Wine Spectator is the world’s leading authority on wine. Anchored by Wine Spectator magazine, a print publication that reaches more than 3 million readers worldwide, the brand also encompasses the Web’s most comprehensive wine site (WineSpectator.com), mobile platforms and a series of signature events. Wine Spectator examines the world of wine from the vineyard to the table, exploring wine’s role in contemporary culture and delivering expert reviews of more than 18,000 wines each year. Parent company M. Shanken Comm., Inc., also publishes Cigar Aficionado, Whisky Advocate, Market Watch, Shanken News Daily and Shanken’s Impact Newsletter.