Craving superb wine? These Columbia restaurants have won wine excellence awards

Columbia has plenty of great places to eat, but if you want an amazing glass of wine to go with your meal, a few restaurants in the area offer wine selections that outshine the rest.

Wine Spectator, a lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine culture, recognizes thousands of restaurants across the country each year for their wine lists that offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.

They offer three different tiers of awards to restaurants that have met specific requirements — the Award of Excellence, Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award.

Two restaurants in Columbia made it on this year’s list of winners and have won different awards from each other.

Here are the Columbia restaurants that were recognized for their wine selections:

Columbia restaurants with wine excellence awards

Da Vino Rosso at 807 Gervais St.

Lying in the heart of the Vista, Da Vino Rosso is a popular Italian restaurant known for its delicious food, classy atmosphere and amazing Californian/Italian wines.

Wine Spectator recognized Da Vino Rosso for its wide selection of wines (395), wine tastings and private wine events. In 2025, the restaurant first received the Best of Award of Excellence, and has won it again this year.

The Best of Award of Excellence is given to restaurants that have wine lists that “display excellent breadth across multiple wine-growing regions and/or significant vertical depth of top producers, along with superior presentation.”

With this award, Da Vino Rosso has made itself a serious destination for wine lovers and has demonstrated a deep commitment to the art of wine.

Halls Chophouse at 1221 Main St #150

You might only be interested in Halls Chophouse for its signature steaks, but its wine selection is nothing to joke about.

According to Wine Spectator, the restaurant has 315 different wines to choose from, and specializes in California wines. Due to its impressive collection of wines and their bar scene, Halls Chophouse was awarded the Award of Excellence, a recognition it has received since 2019.

The Award of Excellence is given to restaurants that have wine lists that “offer at least 75 selections, feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style.”

Next time you go to Halls Chophouse, don’t forget that the wines thre are part of what makes the restaurant shine.

SC restaurant that won Grand Award

Soby’s at 207 S. Main St., Greenville

Soby’s in Greenville is the only restaurant in SC that has won the Grand Award, a recognition reserved for restaurants that show an “uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine programs.”

Only 99 restaurants in the world have received this award.

Soby’s boast a selection of 4,000 unique wines, and it specialize in California, Champagne, Burgundy, Bordeaux, France, Piedmont, Italy, Oregon and Port wines.

If you’re a wine lover and ever find yourself in Greenville, check out Soby’s and experience the wines that put it on the map.