The Primrose has earned a “Best of Award of Excellence” from Wine Spectator and is among three iconic Steamboat Springs restaurants mentioned in the publication’s August edition.

“We were upgraded to the second tier of the award, which is a big deal,” said Collin Kelley, who owns Primrose. “We’re one of only 30 in Colorado that have that designation, and we’re the only one in Steamboat that has that designation.”

Each year Wine Spectator magazine announces the awards in its August edition. Winners are arranged in three tiers based on selection, quality and presentation. The top tier, the Grand Award tier, includes 97 winners. The Best of Award of Excellence tier, with 1,704 winners, this year includes Primrose. The Award of Excellence tier features 2,010 restaurants, this year including both Harwigs and Cafe Diva.

“It’s the culmination of three years of hard work, and dedication to the wine program to get into this group,” Kelley said of reaching the second tier. “It puts us in a league of our own in terms of wine service and wine culture and the offerings that that we bring to Steamboat Springs.”

Currently Primrose has more than 600 wine selections from around the world, has a dedicated sommelier each day of the week and meets the standards set forth by the contest.

“We’re offering 600 selections from around the world, but we have an additional 100 wines that are not yet offered for sale because we don’t think they’re ready to drink,” Kelley said. “We’re not only building for the program right now, but we’re looking out into the future.”

To be considered in this category, the Primrose demonstrated a deep commitment to wine, offering more than 350 selections — the minimum to be considered in this group. The Wine Spectator award honors the restaurant for excellent breadth across multiple regions and a significant vertical depth of top producers.

Harwigs and Cafe Diva were also honored by Wine Spectator with Awards of Excellence, which lists restaurants that feature a well-chosen assortment of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style. Whether compact or extensive, focused or diverse, these lists deliver sufficient choice to satisfy discerning wine lovers.

“We have between 600 and 800 selections,” said JJ Jenny, the executive chef whose father, Jamie, started and owns the restaurant. “Obviously, volumes are going to vary and there’s those unique ones that have been sitting and gathering dust for years, waiting for the right person to find the haystack or needle in the haystack.”

Jenny said the wine tradition dates to when his father started L’Apogee in 1979 and continued when it moved across the street in 1985 and was renamed in Harwigs/L’Apogee. The restaurant is located at 911 Lincoln Ave.

“We’ve been collecting my whole life,” Jenny said. “I was building forts out of wine boxes when I was a kid down in the wine cellar, and we’ve been buying wine since the ’80s, and in great volumes, at least for us.”

The restaurant has earned the Award of Excellence for 38 years, dating back to 1987.

“Our wine is definitely one of the things we’re known for — the wine list, the wine cellar and the table in the wine cellar,” Jenny said.

Cafe Diva joins the other two Steamboat Springs restaurants on this year’s list of winners earning an Award of Excellence for its restaurant located in the shadow of the Steamboat Resort at 1855 Ski Time Square Drive. Owner Scott Buchler said Cafe Diva offers north of 300 selections, well over the 90 selections needed to qualify for the Award of Excellence.

“I give credit to my team that has developed such a such a great list of different wines, making sure it’s varied and seasonal and they are able to pair it with the amazing things that Chef Kate (Rench) does,” said Buchler. “The fact that we were able to do that makes me proud.”