15 Denver Restaurants Earn 2021 Wine Spectator Awards

DENVER, CO — Coronavirus has brought unique and unprecedented challenges to restaurants in Denver. Despite the hardships, many businesses were still able to shine over the past year, and more than a dozen earned a 2021 Restaurant Award from Wine Spectator magazine.

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. This year’s awards are featured in the Aug. 31 issue of Wine Spectator.

The list typically gives us a generous glimpse at the best spots in Denver. This year, 15 restaurants in our city earned a nod from Wine Spectator.

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More than 2,900 restaurants in 50 states and 72 countries and territories earned awards this year. The awards are given across three categories: Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence and Grand Award.

The Grand Award is Wine Spectator’s most prestigious honor, given to the world’s most elite wine programs. Read profiles of all 100 current Grand Award winners.

There were three Grand Award winners in Colorado:

• Barolo Grill, Denver
• Flagstaff House Restaurant, Boulder
• Element 47, Aspen

Typically, recipients of the Grand Award offer at least 1,000 or more wine selections, showcasing “immense depth and breadth of regions, producers, vintages and bottle formats.” All Grand Award winners must also pass a rigorous inspection of their restaurants, including the wine cellars.

Three new restaurants won the Grand Award this year: Brennan's in New Orleans, Le Bernardin in New York and SingleThread Farms in Healdsburg, California.

Check out the other restaurants in Denver that earned nods for excellence this year:

Award of Excellence

• Fire, 1201 N. Broadway
• French 75, 717 17th St.
• Coperta, 400 E. 20th Ave.
• Osteria Marco, 1453 Larimer St.
• STK Denver, 1550 Market St.
• Luca, 711 N. Grant St.
• Fogo de Chão, 1513 Wynkoop St.
• Narrative, 222 Milwaukee St.
• Del Frisco's Grille, 100 St. Paul St.

Best of Award of Excellence

• The Capital Grille, 1450 Larimer St.
• Mizuna, 225 E. Seventh Ave.
• Venice Ristorante & Wine Bar, 1700 Wynkoop St.
• Barcelona Wine Bar, 2900 Larimer St.
• Elway's Cherry Creek, 2500 E. First Ave.

See all winners of this year’s Wine Spectator awards.