58 VA Restaurants Earn 2022 Wine Spectator Awards

VIRGINIA — While metro areas like New York City and high-profile wine-growing regions like Napa tend to get all the attention, oenophiles should not overlook Virginia fine-dining spots with great wine selections.

Wine Spectator unveiled the 2022 Restaurant Awards winners, which honor the world's best restaurants for wines. This year's awards program recognized 3,169 dining destinations from all 50 states and in more than 70 countries worldwide.

In Virginia, 58 restaurants earned recognition. Since 1981, the Restaurant Awards have had three distinct levels: The "Award of Excellence," the "Best of Award of Excellence" and the "Grand Award."

The annual Restaurant Awards honor excellence in restaurant wine lists, as well as those who have demonstrated passion and devoted extensive resources to creating outstanding wine programs.

One Virginia restaurant won the top honor of Grand Award: The Inn At Little Washington at Middle and Main Streets in Washington. There are a total of 97 restaurants in the country that received this honor.

These Virginia restaurants that earned nods for Best Of Award Of Excellence this year:

• Barcelona Wine Bar, Reston
• Bottle Stop Wine Bar, Occoquan
• Buckhead's Restaurant & Chop House, Henrico
• Byrd & Baldwin Bros. Steakhous, Norfolk
• Crush Pad Wines, Charlottesville
• Eurasia Cafe, Virginia Beach
• Fahrenheit 132, Fredericksburg
• Fleurie Restaurant, Charlottesville
• Houndstooth, Huntly
• L'Auberge Provençale, Boyce
• Lehja, Richmond
• Mermaid Winery, Norfolk
• Mermaid Winery, Virginia Beach
• Pazzo Pomodoro, Vienna
• Pazzo Pomodoro, Ashburn
• Press 626 Wine Bar, Norfolk
• River Stone Chophouse, Suffolk
• Shagbark Restaurant, Richmond
• The Conservatory at Goodstone, Middleburg
• Vintage Tavern, Suffolk

Restaurants that earned the Award of Excellence are:

• 1799 at the Clifton, Charlottesville
• Amiraj, Williamsburg
• BRX American Bistro, Great Falls
• Bizou, Charlottesville
• Bookbinder's Seafood & Steakhouse, Richmond
• Carmello's, Manassas
• Chesapeake Restaurant and Terrace, Irvington
• Chima Steakhouse, Vienna
• Duner's, Charlottesville
• Echelon Wine Bar, Leesburg
• Eddie V's Prime Seafood, McLean
• Field & Main Restaurant, Marshall
• Fogo de Chão, Tysons Corner
• Harriman's Piedmont Grill, Middleburg
• Hondos, Glen Allen
• La Grotta Ristorante, Richmond
• Lemaire, The Jefferson Hotel, Richmond
• Local Chop & Grill House, Harrisonburg
• Local Roots, Roanoke
• Longoven, Richmond
• Masala Bites, Virginia Beach
• Morton's, The Steakhouse, Reston
• Opus 9 Steakhouse, Williamsburg
• Red Pump Kitchen, Charlottesville
• SER Restaurant, Arlington
• Schlesinger's Chophouse, Newport News
• Seasons 52, McLean
• Tautog's, Virginia Beach
• The Capital Grille, McLean
• The Capital Grille, Fairfax
• The Local Restaurant & Catering, Charlottesville
• The Palm Tysons Corner, McLean
• The Red Fox Inn & Tavern, Middleburg
• The Restaurant at Blue Rock, Washington
• Trio Grill, Falls Church
• Tuscarora Mill, Leesburg
• Vintage Restaurant, Orange

Then there's the Award of Excellence, given to restaurants that carefully choose their wine lists to have 100 or more selections, containing both quality and diverse wines, according to the magazine. There were 1,782 Award of Excellence winners this year.

The Best of Award of Excellence is given to restaurants that "go the extra mile," with lists of 350 or more selections from top producers, with a wide variety of regions and vintage depths. These restaurants might also carefully design the presentations of the list, train their staff to assist diners with the list and have curated wine dinners, according to Wine Spectator. Worldwide, 1,290 restaurants received the Best of Award of Excellence award.

Find more info on all 2022 Restaurant Award Winners from Wine Spectator.