Press Releases
Sardine Factory Restaurant Wins 'best Wine List in America' Award
MONTEREY, Calif. - MAY 8, 2006 - Monterey's most-honored restaurant, the Sardine Factory, was awarded the Best U.S. Wine List prize in Restaurant Hospitality's 17th Annual Best Wine Lists in America Competition. The Sardine Factory is profiled in a feature story in the May issue of Restaurant Hospitality, a premiere hospitality industry trade magazine.
According to Restaurant Hospitality, the Sardine Factory topped the U.S. wine list category due to its "exceptional range of exotic West Coast producers." The judges praised the Sardine Factory's "straightforward, easy-to-read list that gives patrons a winning combination of tremendous selection, value and adventure."
The Sardine Factory has received many honors for its wine list, including Wine Spectator's Grand Award since 1982. The restaurant's 30,000 bottles of wine are stored in optimal conditions, with rare and exceptional wines kept in a wine cellar below the Sardine Factory's elegant dining rooms. The cellar is a subterranean treasure trove filled with private reserve wine lockers, a 25-foot redwood banquet table, and 16th-century antiques.
"The Sardine Factory has been in business for 38 years and as a result we have a wine cellar that is unsurpassed in depth and breadth of wines, including many that are now unavailable to other restaurants at any price," said cellar master Marc Cutino. "We offer our customers access to that incredible selection, but we also enjoy introducing them to new and exciting wines that we discover every day."
Top-tier restaurants nationwide entered Restaurant Hospitality's annual competition in three categories-wine lists with a majority of international wines (winner, Charlie Trotter's, Chicago), wine lists with a majority of U.S. wines (winner, the Sardine Factory, Monterey), and wines lists with fewer than 100 selections (winner, Quinn's Lighthouse, Oakland). Best Wine Lists were chosen in each category by the Beverage Tasting Institute, an unbiased, third-party organization with a state-of-the art tasting lab in Chicago, along with a select panel of restaurant and wine professionals.
The judges favored wine lists that displayed creativity and imagination and encouraged customers to explore new wines. Points were awarded in seven categories: overall wine selection, variety in style and brands, fair pricing and value options, compatibility with the menu, presentation, extras, and overall impression.
To read Restaurant Hospitality's feature story on the Best Wine Lists, please go to www.restaurant-hospitality.com/article/12563/. For more information about the world-renowned Sardine Factory, visit www.sardinefactory.com or call 831.373.3775.
The Sardine Factory, established in 1968, combines fresh seafood, USDA Prime meats, and produce with impeccable service, an award-winning wine cellar, and four distinct dining rooms. Promising guests the dining experience of a lifetime, the restaurant has received the Distinguished Restaurants of North America (DiRoNA) Award and Wine Spectator's Grand Award, among many other honors. The Sardine Factory is located on historic Cannery Row at 701 Wave Street in Monterey. For more information visit www.sardinefactory.com or call 831.373.3775.
About The Sardine Factory
Established in 1968, The Sardine Factory is known for its impeccable service, wonderful décor, extraordinary wine collection, fresh locally grown produce, delicious sustainable seafood, and USDA prime beef. Over the years The Sardine Factory has hosted celebrities, movie stars, sports legends, and public figures from all over the world. The restaurant was also one of the locations for the first film directed by Clint Eastwood, Play Misty for Me. The Sardine Factory has received virtually every culinary, wine list and service award possible in the industry, including the Wine Spectator’s Grand Award, Restaurant Hospitality's Best Wine List in America, voted the Best Restaurant in Monterey by readers of the Monterey County Weekly, Monterey County Herald, and Carmel Pine Cone newspapers, named Top Ten Most Romantic Restaurants on the Central Coast by Open Table, in addition to many other honors and awards. For more information, please visit sardinefactory.com.