A wine list that stands taller than a restaurant menu can be either intimidating or intriguing, depending on your familiarity with the grape. In Southwest Florida, there's no shortage of award-winning wine lists: from Sarasota to Marco Island there are almost 50 which have received recognition from Wine Spectator Magazine. But only a select few receive the magazine’s “Grand Award.” In fact, only two restaurants in the state of Florida achieved that level this year, one of which is in Naples.
Those two Florida restaurants are among just 89 such “Grand Award” winners in the entire world.
The father and son team of Jacques and Clement Cariot from Bleu Provence in Naples received the award this year for the third time. The duo will break down the best way to approach a list with 3,575 selections from little-known regions like Jura, Corsica, and Languedoc-Roussillon
Also featured on Gulf Coast Live is Bern’s Steak House wine director Eric Renaud, who will talk about their famous older-vintage wines. Bern’s has been recognized with a “Grand Award” for many years, owing to its extensive and varied selection of aged wines. Renaud discusses how the increased popularity of wine, and changes in business and distribution models, have made procuring rare vintages more difficult.
