32 Connecticut Restaurants Rated Among World's Best For Wine: See The Full List Here

CONNECTICUT — There's a lot of "wining" over a plethora of Connecticut restaurants these days, thanks to the prominent publication Wine Spectator.

Wine Spectator recently announced the winners of the 2025 Restaurant Awards. The awards honor the world’s best restaurants for wine.

This year's awards program recognizes 3,811 dining destinations from all 50 states in the U.S. and more than 80 countries internationally. Connecticut had a sizable presence.

"A wine list is a restaurant’s identity in print, and this year's Wine Spectator Restaurant Award winners reflect both deep knowledge and a passion for discovery," Marvin R. Shanken, Editor and Publisher of Wine Spectator, said. "I proudly present the 3,811 restaurants worldwide that earned a Restaurant Award this year — we raise a glass to all our winners."

Winners in the Nutmeg State include:

Hartford County

• 2 Hopewell Bistro, Glastonbury
• Barcelona Wine Bar, West Hartford
• LaForesta, Kensington
• Capital Grille, Hartford
• Crush Wine Bar, West Hartford
• Union Kitchen, West Hartford

New Haven County

• Barcelona Wine Bar, New Haven
• Shell and Bones Oyster Bar and Grill, New Haven
• Viron Rondo Osteria, Cheshire
• Zinc, New Haven

Litchfield County

• Arethusa al tavalo, Bantam
• Fife 'N Drum Restaurant and Inn, Kent
• The Woodland, Lakeville

New London County

• David Burke Prime Steakhouse, Mashantucket
• Kensington's, Norwich
• The Shipwright's Daughter, Mystic

Middlesex County

• Brushmill by the Waterfall, Chester
• The Griswold Inn, Essex

Fairfield County

• Barcelona Wine Bar, Stamford
• Barcelona Wine Bar, Fairfield
• Barcelona Wine Bar, Norwalk
• Hinoki, Greenwich
• Josie & Tony's, Norwalk
• L'Escale, Greenwich
• Moli, Greenwich
• Nouveau Monde, Sandy Hook
• Capital Grille, Stamford
• Restaurant at Rowayton Seafood, Rowayton
• Washington Prime, Norwalk
• Gabriele's Italian Steakhouse, Westport
• Terra Gaucha Brazilian Steakhouse, Stamford
• The Benjamin, Ridgefield

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Launched in 1981, the Restaurant Awards represent the world’s only program focused exclusively on restaurant wine service.

They are assigned on three levels: the Award of Excellence, the Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award, with 2,001; 1,411; and 93 winners this year in each respective category.
Also featured in Wine Spectator’s special Restaurant Awards issue: “What’s Old is New Again,” as restaurants place an emphasis on revisiting and uplifting tried and true classics.

The Restaurant Awards issue, which features a tribute to late Grand Award-winning American chef and restaurateur Charlie Trotter, becomes available to readers July 15.

See the full list of winners online here.

See the Connecticut restaurant descriptions here.