Local Restaurants Earn Top 100 Spots on Wine Enthusiast’s 2016 List

Two dishes created on the fly by chefs Tony Maws and Aaron Chambers at Craigie on Main. / Photo by Toan Trinh for “New Chef’s Whim”

Spots in the Theater District, Cambridge, and Brookline represent the New England restaurant scene this year on Wine Enthusiast’s America’s 100 Best Wine Restaurants list. Longstanding Boston wine destination Troquet, Inman Square charcuterie bar Bisq, Brookline tapas spot Taberna de Haro, and Tony Maws’s localvore mecca Craigie on Main were singled out by the magazine as places “where wine, food, service and atmosphere are all integral to the overall experience.”

The editors organized the list by region, then by special features and trends. It is not ranked. Bisq landed in New & Noteworthy, Taberna was picked for an Amazing Laser-Focused Wine List, Craigie on Main, which has earned a place on the list before, is Not to be Missed, and Troquet, also a frequent haunt of Wine Enthusiast editors, got a nod in the Classic category.

“This is a highly subjective list reflecting Wine Enthusiast’s dedication to not only legendary wine establishments but also those that are reflecting or pushing new and exciting trends in the market,” says Wine Enthusiast executive editor Susan Kostrzewa in a statement. “There’s an incredible amount of diversity and experimentation happening with wine in the restaurant space right now and our list reflects this variety.”

Here’s what the magazine says about the local contenders:

Bisq: “The wine list skews organic and biodynamic, while the menu packs in the protein with whole suckling pig 
and N’awlins barbecue shrimp toast.”

Taberna de Haro: “Deborah Hansen’s all-Spanish list, which includes 75 Sherries among its 300-plus bottles, is a dynamic, intimate guide
 to Spain’s vast viticultural landscape.”

Craigie on Main: “The list is heavy on German Riesling, Burgundy and Piedmont, with an impressive selection of affordable aged wines, or, ‘things back 15-plus years that aren’t for finance guys,’ says [Craigie wine director
 Carl] York.”

Troquet: “It also offers more than 500 bottles, many with over a decade of careful cellaring.”

The 100 Best Wine Restaurants feature is part of Wine Enthusiast‘s August restaurants issue, which hits stands next week. Check out the full list online.