What do you think are the top-selling wines in restaurants? Wine & Spirits magazine ushers in April with its 25th Anniversary Restaurant Poll, an issue they’ve published since 1989. And it’s got some surprises.Editor Joshua Greene asked wine directors at restaurants all over the country to name their 10 best-selling wines in the final quarter of 2013. And from that, the editors compile the Restaurant Top 50 list. Leading the list is Cakebread Cellars with an average price of $86.48 for all of its wines at all of the restaurants. Next is Jordan Vineyard & Winery ($101.57), followed by Duckhorn Vineyards ($90.29), Sonoma-Cutrer ($49.20), Silver Oak Wine Cellars ($134.93), Frank Family ($80.79), La Crema ($48.67), Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars ($94), Decoy ($60) and Franciscan Oakville Estate ($67.10). Though it’s listed as 10th, it got exactly the same score as The Prisoner ($83.30), Caymus Vineyards ($137), and Justin ($80), the sole representative from the Central Coast. I’m not surprised that the labels are so familiar, weighted more toward Napa Valley, and with Sonoma showing in three out of the 10 top wines.

But I never expected that the prices for the top-selling wines would be so high. Only two hover around $50, and the rest leap towards $100 and in some cases sprint right past the mark.sweet red wine kenyaMaybe the less expensive wines are further down the list. wine shops for sale ukBut scrolling through the rest of the  listing of 50, I find only Simi (No. 18) at $50, Chateau St Michelle (No. 20) at $40, Catena from Argentina (No. 26) at $44.29, Kendall-Jackson (No. 34) at $35.86, Banfi from Tuscany (No. 43) at $48.20. best wines to tasteThat means that out of 50 brands only seven have average prices of $50 or less.buy wine cooler bags

I find that astonishing, given the economy and the more casual dining experience that’s the rule these days. I also find it astonishing that there are only 14 non-California brands, three of them from Oregon (Cristom at No. 15, Domaine Serene at No. 23 and Domaine Drouhin at No. 36) on the list. best red wine under 20 canada 2015Just one wine from Washington  (Chateau Ste. Michelle) and nothing from New York state or anywhere else in the country. wine on tap canadaAnd of those non-California wines, two are from Greece, a country that only recently is making inroads onto wine lists.best wine restaurants ukPoor France, the entire country’s output of distinguished wine is represented by two Champagne houses: Veuve Clicquot and Billecart Salmon. best wine recipe book

Italy does just about as badly with four brands clustered at the bottom of the list (Banfi at No. 43 and Ruffino at No. 43 from Tuscany, Zenato from Lombardy at No. 49 and Santa Margherita tied for last place with Schramsberg Vineyards. best wine tours niceSpain merits just one place on the list, No. 28 for La Rioja Alta. Could this  mean that when that extremely knowledgeable and passionate sommelier comes over to a table and talks up that Silvaner, Txakolina or Bourgogne Aligoté, hardly anybody is going for it? Or maybe they’re not asking for a sommelier’s advice at all?Wine lists are more diverse than they’ve ever been, with wine directors seeking out tantalizing wines from small producers and less-known wine regions, ever ready to pour an orange wine or a foot-stomped red or a Georgian wine made in an urn. Or if not that exotic, a juicy Beaujolais cru, a Mt. Etna red from Sicily  or a Grüner Veltliner from Austria?.

Wine & Spirits contends the Top 50 list “provides a clue to contemporary trends. Four of the top five brands have a significant stake in Cabernet, and the sommeliers we talked to indicated that Cabernet’s popularity surged this year. Veuve Clicquot breaking into the top 20? Somms reported that bubbles were more popular than ever.”Much more to be gleaned from this fascinating issue.Garagiste Festival features some hidden treasuresInstacart grocery delivery service rolls out in Los AngelesAnother coup for Alma's Ari Taymor: Food & Wine's best new chefs list(New York, NY, March 2nd, 2016): The results of Wine & Spirits Magazine’s 27th Annual Restaurant Poll are in. And one of the biggest trends noted this year is an increase in the sale of wine via pairings and tastes rather than bottles. “People are more reluctant to throw down for a big bottle, but they’re still buying really good glasses,” says Louis Moskow at 315 Restaurant in Santa Fe, New Mexico. When diners order wine by the glass, they’re hoping to taste something new.

That phenomenon has continued to gain momentum since the economic crash of 2008, when the concentration of well-known brands in poll responses gave way to less-expensive discoveries. This year, US wines dropped to 42.6 percent of the most popular wines in restaurants, reflecting the strength of the dollar at the close of 2015. Today, what’s new is often something from the Old World. Cabernet, the variety of choice in recent years, has given some ground to rich reds from Europe. Italy raced to 19.7 percent of the most popular wines in restaurants, its highest level in the history of the poll. And, as Ryan Fletter of Barolo Grill points out, Tuscan wines continue to dominate diners’ choices. “A lot of Italian reds offer structure but not richness, and that’s where Super Tuscans come in. If people usually drink American reds, that’s where you can bridge the gap with something Italian.” Spanish wine also reached its highest level in the 27 years of the poll, doubling in one year to a 7.5 percent share of the most popular wines in restaurants.

Arthur Hon at Sepia in Chicago told us, “I love Spain for the American palate. With riper fruit, more showy and supple, it’s a good transition to drinking something with an Old World perspective.” La Rioja Alta came in at an astonishing fourth place on the Restaurant Top 50—the list of the brands that received the most mentions from participating restaurants—the highest placement any Spanish wine has achieved. In fact, the top of the Top 50 is more diverse than ever, with some longtime residents holding their place as many newcomers arrive to these heights. At the top of that list, the Top Ten Most Popular Restaurant Wine List Brands of 2015 are: 2. Jordan Vineyard & Winery 4. La Rioja Alta 10. Silver Oak Wine Cellars The 27th Annual Restaurant Poll Report appears in the April 2016 issue of Wine & Spirits. That issue also features the W&S NYC 50, the best places to eat and drink in New York City right now. Both the results of the Poll and the W&S NYC 50 will be fêted at Wine & Spirits’ Eighth Annual Top of the List event in NYC on April 21.