Libation

🏅🏅 DOUBLE GOLD. BEST IN CLASS.

Congratulations to the 2026 American Heritage W**e Competition’s Double Gold Best in Class winners: 18 winning w**es from 16 w**eries!

* Willow Creek W**ery — 2025 Wilde C**k Niagara
* Wild Sun W**ery — 2023 Norton and Dry Rosé
* Lakeridge W**ery and Vineyards — Southern Red
* Layton’s Chance W**ery — Lazy Day White and 2023 Oaked Chambourcin
* The Peachfork — 2023 Traminette
* Adams County W**ery — Revere’d Red
* Converse W**e Co. — Brianna
* Mistie Hill Vineyard — 2022 St. Croix
* San Sebastian W**ery — Rosa
* Davesté Vineyards — 2025 Dry Rosé of Chambourcin
* Stuck Lizard Vineyards and W**ery — 2025 Chambourcin Rosé
* Nokesville W**ery — 2025 Lily
* TerraVox W**ery — 2022 Wetumka Report
* Messina Hof — Tawny Port
* Abacela W**ery — 2022 Angelica
* Domaine Helena — 2024 Petite Vine

From Niagara and Norton to heritage rosés, sparkling w**es and dessert w**es, these winners celebrate the breadth of America’s w**emaking traditions.

Raise a glass to the w**emakers behind every bottle! 🥂 Explore the full results on our website.

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🏆🍷 Meet our W**ery of the Year!

The American Heritage W**e Competition is proud to announce Thirsty Owl W**e Company of Ovid, NY, as our W**ery of the Year!

Congratulations to the entire Thirsty Owl team. Join us in raising a glass to their achievement! 🥂

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The results are in! 🍷🏆

We’re proud to announce the winners of the American Heritage W**e Competition, celebrating exceptional w**es crafted from America’s native, hybrid, and heritage grape varieties.

Congratulations to all of this year’s medalists and award winners, and thank you to every w**ery that participated in this inaugural competition. The quality, creativity, and diversity represented in the judging showcased just how exciting the future of American heritage w**e can be.

🥇 Congratulations to our winners!

https://libationawards.com/heritage-2026-results

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🔥 Hell’s Kitchen Las Vegas 🔥

Hell’s Kitchen absolutely lived up to the hype. From start to finish, the meal delivered the bold flavors, polished presentation, and sense of occasion you’d expect from Gordon Ramsay’s flagship Vegas experience.

We started with the steak tartare and decadent bone marrow, followed by an incredibly rich and creamy baked macaroni & cheese.

For the main event, the iconic Beef Wellington was everything it should be—perfectly cooked beef wrapped in mushroom duxelles and crisp, golden pastry. The grilled lamb chops were equally impressive: tender, flavorful, and beautifully prepared.

And dessert? The legendary sticky toffee pudding was the perfect finale—warm, rich, indulgent, and easily one of the highlights of the evening.

Hell’s Kitchen isn’t simply a famous name attached to a Vegas restaurant. The food genuinely delivers. An outstanding dinner and a must for any Gordon Ramsay fan visiting Las Vegas. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Dinner AND a show at The Mayfair Supper Club! ✨🥂

Mayfair is one of those rare Las Vegas experiences where the entertainment isn’t simply happening around dinner—the entire evening feels like one continuous production. With the Bellagio fountains just beyond the windows, the room comes alive throughout the night with singers, dancers, aerialists, and wonderfully over-the-top performances. One minute you’re enjoying dinner, the next there’s an aerialist soaring overhead. It’s glamorous, energetic, and unmistakably Vegas.

And thankfully, the food absolutely holds its own against the show.

We started with the Wagyu Hand Roll, rich and indulgent, followed by the Oyster with Yuzu-Apple Gelée, a bright, refreshing little bite that was a great contrast to the richness of the Wagyu.

For the main course, the Filet Mignon was beautifully cooked and exactly what you want from a classic steakhouse centerpiece—tender, flavorful, and decadent. The accompanying Forest Mushrooms were earthy and savory, while the silky Potato Purée was pure comfort food and practically demanded that every last bite disappear.

Then came the Black Forest Cake. Chocolate, cherries, richness—an appropriately dramatic ending to a meal in a room where subtlety really isn’t the point.

But what makes The Mayfair Supper Club special is the complete experience. The acts unfold throughout dinner, transforming the restaurant from an elegant dining room into a full-fledged supper club as the evening progresses. Singers, dancers, aerial performances, incredible costumes, theatrical lighting—it feels like a modern interpretation of classic Vegas nightlife rather than simply another restaurant with entertainment.

Great food. Fantastic performers. A gorgeous room. And that uniquely Las Vegas feeling that something unexpected might happen at any moment.

The Mayfair Supper Club delivers exactly what you come to Vegas hoping to find: dinner AND a show—and a memorable night in the process. ✨🍸🎭

There are restaurants in Las Vegas built around white tablecloths, hushed dining rooms and elaborate tasting menus. Best Friend isn’t one of them—and it’s all the better for it.

Roy Choi’s restaurant at Park MGM feels like a collision of Los Angeles street culture, Korean comfort food and the particular kind of energy that only seems to make sense in Vegas. Enter through what looks like a neon-lit Koreatown convenience store and the restaurant opens into something louder, darker and decidedly more playful. This is dinner with a soundtrack.

The food follows the same philosophy: bold, familiar flavors without much interest in formality. The lumpia arrived crisp and deeply savory, while the bread was an unexpectedly satisfying start to the meal. Fried rice proved why the simplest dishes can sometimes be the most memorable—rich, smoky and layered with enough flavor to make it far more than a side dish.

The spare ribs were the centerpiece: tender, sticky and unapologetically messy, with the kind of sweet-savory intensity that makes reaching for another almost automatic.

But save room for dessert. The date cake was the surprise of the evening—warm, rich and indulgent without losing the sense of fun that runs through the entire meal.

Best Friend isn’t fine dining, and it doesn’t pretend to be. It’s something Vegas arguably does even better: a restaurant with a distinct personality, excellent food and an atmosphere that turns dinner into part of the night out.

Best Friend | Park MGM, Las Vegas

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Stubborn Seed Las Vegas was one of those dining experiences where every course felt thoughtful, creative, and genuinely exciting. From the Kalamata olive ciabatta and beautifully balanced kanpachi carpaccio to the oyster and gnocchi, madai, and incredible dry-aged lacquered duck, the tasting menu unfolded perfectly. The Elevated Experience additions—caviar macaron, foie gras tart, and yellowtail kueh pie tee—were absolutely worth it, and the strawberry meringue was a fantastic finish.

But as impressive as the food was, Cole made the evening. He was everything you hope for in a waiter at a restaurant like this: warm, knowledgeable, attentive without hovering, and genuinely enthusiastic about what was coming out of the kitchen. He explained each course in a way that added to the experience without ever making dinner feel overly formal or rehearsed. Great service can elevate an excellent meal into a memorable one, and Cole absolutely did that for us.

Chef Jeremy Ford and the entire Stubborn Seed team have created something special in Las Vegas. Inventive food, beautiful presentation, exceptional service, and an experience that feels polished while still being fun. We came expecting a great meal and left feeling like we’d had a genuinely memorable night.

And if you’re lucky enough to have Cole taking care of your table, you’re in very good hands.

Now seeking entries for America’s W**e Competition!

www.HeritageW**eCompetition.com

There are restaurants that serve excellent food, and then there are restaurants that create dishes with a clear point of view. Josephine’s Downtown firmly belongs in the latter category.

The evening began with the Pan Roasted Ostrich, a preparation that demonstrated both confidence and restraint. Ostrich is an ingredient that can easily be overworked, but here the center-cut loin arrived perfectly cooked—remarkably tender with a clean, subtly beef-like flavor. The sweet pepper relish provided a welcome brightness, while the bone marrow bordelaise contributed an opulent richness without overwhelming the delicate character of the meat. Each element was thoughtfully composed, resulting in a dish that felt both adventurous and impeccably balanced.

The Mesquite Spiced Bison Ribeye was equally compelling. The mesquite seasoning imparted a restrained smokiness that complemented rather than masked the bison’s naturally robust flavor. The accompanying country sausage and confit tomato stuffing introduced layers of savory complexity, while the Parmesan- and breadcrumb-crusted fairytale eggplant supplied texture and a comforting earthiness that anchored the plate. It was a composition built on contrast, yet unified by exceptional technique.

The cocktail program deserves equal praise. The Clint Eastwood is a standout—an inventive blend of popcorn brown butter-washed Redemption Bourbon, Cointreau, fresh lemon juice, clover honey syrup, and Fee Foam. Rich yet remarkably balanced, it opens with warm caramel and toasted butter notes before giving way to bright citrus and a silky finish. It’s a cocktail that is both playful and sophisticated, proving the bar is every bit as ambitious as the kitchen.

What distinguishes Josephine’s isn’t simply the quality of its ingredients—though they are clearly first-rate—but the kitchen’s disciplined ex*****on. There is no unnecessary flourish, no garnish included merely for appearance. Every component serves a purpose, every flavor earns its place, and every glass and plate reflects a team operating with confidence and precision.

In an era when many restaurants mistake novelty for innovation, Josephine’s demonstrates that true culinary creativity lies in thoughtful composition, technical excellence, and respect for exceptional ingredients. It is the kind of restaurant that rewards curious diners and reminds seasoned ones why fine dining continues to matter.

From all of us at Libation- looking good at 250 America!