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Sommelier Greg Castells (left), wine director Paul Roberts and chef Thomas Keller have built up the French Laundry's wine program over several years.

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Chef Talk: Thomas Keller

Two Restaurants Earn Wine Spectator's Grand Award for First Time

The French Laundry in Napa and Palais Coburg in Vienna join the ranks of world's top restaurant wine programs

Posted: Thursday, July 12, 2007

In the forthcoming issue of Wine Spectator, two restaurants have joined the ranks of the best in the world for wine lovers. Chef Thomas Keller's French Laundry in Yountville, Calif., and Palais Coburg in Vienna, Austria, have both earned Wine Spectator's Grand Award, the highest honor in the magazine's annual dining guide, this year containing listings of nearly 4,000 restaurants around the world with outstanding wine lists. The full listings of restaurants and their awards can be found in the Aug. 31, 2007, issue, shipping to subscribers this week.

The French Laundry and Palais Coburg join 74 other Grand Award winners in 2007, all of which successfully maintained their status from last year. Forty-eight of the 74 restaurants are in the United States, while the remaining 28 represent 13 different countries.

"We're excited, it's really great," said Paul Roberts, wine director for Thomas Keller's group of restaurants. "[The Grand Award] is a culmination of the shared common vision Tom and I had, and the team who helped us achieve it. It's about all the sommeliers who've worked here over 13 years to help us get to this level."

The French Laundry offers a wine list with nearly 1,800 labels backed by an inventory of 12,500 bottles. Bordeaux first-growth verticals focus on only the best vintages, such as 1996, 1995, 1990, 1986, 1982 and 1961. The roster of Burgundies offers several wines, each from top producers such as Raveneau, Coche-Dury, Comtes Lafon, Carillon, Leflaive, Roty, Jayer, Rouget and Domaine de la Romanée-Conti. The California Cabernet section has verticals of Phelps Insignia dating to 1977 ($1,000), Beaulieu Vineyard Georges de Latour to 1968 ($785), Bryant to 1992 ($2,100), Colgin to 1992 (Herb Lamb Vineyard, $2,100) and Shafer Hillside Select to 1987 ($575). But the focus is more on recent vintages from wineries such as Blankiet, Bond, Covenant, Hewitt, Paul Hobbs, Hollywood & Vine, Hundred Acre, Igneous, Kapcsandy, Kobalt, Merus, Ramey, Revana, Sirita, Sloan and Vine Cliff, which you don’t see on many wine lists.

 
Palais Coburg's cellar features a stunning collection of bottles from Château d'Yquem.
Palais Coburg, the restaurant of a 35-suite luxury hotel in the center of Vienna, sits above a series of six wine cellars that house more than 60,000 bottles, encompassing 5,000 different selections. Last year alone more than $21 million of wine was added, doubling the inventory.

"It's a lot of walking around if you are looking for just a bottle or two, but it's good exercise," said wine director Thomas Breitwieser.

Large-format first-growth Bordeaux and grand cru Burgundy stand imposingly in the 30,000 bottle "French cellar" (including magnums of '45 Mouton and '45 Domaine de la Romanée-Conti La Tâche, and an 18-liter bottle of '95 Cheval-Blanc), while another section is dedicated totally to the luscious Sauternes of Château d'Yquem, the hues of the wines cascading from the gold of the young vintages to the amber of an 1811.

Wine Spectator's Restaurant Awards recognize restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers. There are three levels of awards. The Award of Excellence is the magazine's basic award for lists that offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers. The Best of Award of Excellence is the second-tier award, created to give special recognition to restaurants that have lists displaying either vintage depth or excellent breadth spread over several regions. The Grand Award is given to restaurants that show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine programs, typically offering 1,500 selections or more from top producers and outstanding depth in mature vintages, large-format bottles, excellent harmony with the menu and superior organization, presentation and wine service.

The full listings of award winners from all three categories will be updated in Wine Spectator's online Restaurant Search, launching next week.

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