NATCHEZ — The Castle Restaurant and Pub has been given the award of excellence by Wine Spectator magazine for its selection of wines.

The Castle is one of 12 Mississippi restaurants to receive such an honor, the full list of which which will be published in Wine Spectator’s August 31 issue, which hits newsstands July 21.

Wine Spectator began its program to recognize the world’s best wine lists in 1981. There are three award levels, the Award of Excellence, the Best of Award of Excellence and the Grand Award.

A total of 2,563 restaurants earned the program’s Award of Excellence, which recognizes a wine list offering an interesting and diverse selection of wines that are well-presented and thematically match the restaurant‚ cuisine in price and style.