Indian Accent Delhi had the initial wine List curated by the famous British wine expert Charles Metcalfe who later moved to Portugal but the List has since been evolving, with emphasis on food and wine pairing. Le Cirque has been getting the recognition off and on. The Table in Colaba Mumbai has been the most consistent restaurant in the List. Launched by Gauri Devidayal and Jay Yousuf in October 2011, this restaurant has The Taj Palace Hotel as its neigbour and has opened many eateries and restaurants since then, but The Table is perceived as one of the top stand-alone fine dining restaurants with outstanding wine programs.

This year the Awards list about 3,700 restaurants that have earned Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards in 2024. It includes restaurants that hail from all 50 US states and over 75 countries and territories including India. The awards are given across three categories: Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award.

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This year, 2150 restaurants earned an Award of Excellence for their thoughtfully chosen lists. Generally, these lists average around 100 selections but can be much larger. They offer diners quality and diverse selections that are in line with the restaurant’s cuisine and price point. Each wine is listed with all pertinent information and clear presentation. All the Awards in recent years including this year, are in this category for India and are good for the current government policies and the market size and type.

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The Best of Award of Excellence is given to restaurants that take their love of wine a step further, through staff training to ensure guests have knowledgeable assistance, hosting events such as wine dinners, or carefully designed presentations and more in-depth sourcing. These lists offer approximately 350+ carefully curated selections, offering a vast array of wines from top producers, showing a wide breadth of varying regions and vintage depth. In 2024, 1531 restaurants achieved Best of Award of Excellence; 182 of them are new to the program this year. In the past a few of the top Indian restaurants have won this Award.

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The program’s highest honor is the Grand Award given to restaurants with strategic, thoughtful, impeccable wine programs, which are maintained and even grow year after year with the wine lists, having typically 1000 or more selections. India is not likely to be a claimant for this Grand Award in the coming decades due to a restricted market and government policies. Four restaurants/hotels including The Yeatman in Porto, Portugal have joined the exclusive club this year.

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For details of Awards, click

Subhash Arora