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Somms declare themselves happy that people are finally starting to drink "properly".

Fewer people are ordering big, brash Chardonnays – at least that's what somms are saying.

America's love affair with buttery Chardonnay in restaurants may finally be waning, according to the latest Wine & Spirits Restaurant Poll.

Chardonnay is still easily America's favorite wine in retail sales, according to Nielsen. And the number one winery on this year's Restaurant Poll, Cakebread, is best known for its Chardonnay, while second-placed Jordan makes only a Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon.

That said, Cakebread and Jordan pride themselves on the food-friendly, non-buttery character of their Chardonnays, as do the top two by-the-glass Chardonnays in the poll, Heitz Wine Cellars and Sandhi.

The magazine conducted its 27th annual poll by contacting wine directors at 2952 US restaurants. Only 250 responded, including 52 in California and 46 in New York. Those states are sometimes bellwethers for the future drinking habits of the country, while other times they hold a Summer of Riesling or Month of Sherry while the rest of the country sticks to Chardonnay.

It's also a poll about what sommeliers say is selling, not actual sales results. So it is worth staying skeptical when the magazine introduces its results by saying, "the Chardonnay pendulum swings toward Chablis".

"I'm selling a lot more Chablis, which I'm happy about," Joseph DeLissio of the River Café in Brooklyn told Wine & Spirits. "Guests are saving money and drinking better, or smarter, or more properly, at least to my palate."

However, there is only one Chablis producer, Patrick Piuze, on the list for wines by the bottle, and it slots in at the very bottom in a tie for 48th place – just below Rombauer Vineyards, the best-known proponent of the buttery style.

Rombauer has slipped quite a bit in the poll in recent years; it was in the top five as recently as 2011. Sonoma-Cutrer, another longtime poll favorite known for buttery Chardonnays, slipped from number three last year to 16 this year.

And at the high end of the butter bar, Kistler slipped from eighth place to 25th, although Gianpaolo Paterlini, sommelier at Acquerello in San Francisco, told the magazine that Kistler's "wines have gotten better. They used to be a little top-heavy and buttery, but their single-vineyard wines especially are more focused than they used to be. Even Kistler has been affected by the pendulum swing in California."

Spanish wineries did well in the poll, with La Rioja Alta finishing fourth and R. López de Heredia at 11. Conversely, French wineries aren't highly placed, with only two in the top 20 (Lucien Crochet at seven and Billecart-Salmon at 18.)

Meiomi Pinot Noir was America's favorite wine by the glass for the second year in a row. The brand sold for $315 million last year to Constellation Brands, which obviously counts on selling a lot more glasses of it, though a Los Angeles Times story this week described it as "like sucking on a tree".

Another popular wine brand that had a behind-the-scenes business shift, Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio, may have suffered for it. A longtime member of the by-the-glass poll, and in sixth place last year, Santa Margherita dropped completely out of the poll after breaking off its relationship with importer Terlato Wines International and setting up its own distribution system. Banfi may have taken its place, holding down this year's number six spot with its own Pinot Grigio.

There's usually a surprising wine in the top 10 of the by-the-glass list and this year is no exception. A Greek winery, Kourtaki, came in tied at seven with its Attica Retsina White Blend. Apparently a lot of Americans are suddenly willing to spend $10 for a glass of Retsina.

But the top of the by-the-glass list reflected America's continuing infatuation with Pinot Noir. Copain, a Pinot producer of moderate size, jumped up to second place overall, well ahead of many much bigger wineries. Sandhi, co-founded by sommelier Raj Parr, was tied at fourth.

The reported prices for by-the-glass wines show a willingness to charge more than in the past: four wines from the top 10 wineries cost $20 a glass or more, and the average price of a glass in the top 10 is $14.72.

The poll will appear in the April issue of Wine & Spirits magazine.

This year's top 10 wineries:

Cakebread Cellars

Jordan Vineyard & Winery

Merry Edwards

La Rioja Alta

Marchesi Antinori

Duckhorn Vineyards

Lucien Crochet

Caymus Vineyards

Justin

Silver Oak Wine Cellars