The Buyer | Entries now open for Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer 2025

The Star Wine List of the Year awards celebrate the greatest wine lists around the globe, and the teams behind them, with events taking place in some of the most influential cities in the world.

For the last four years Star Wine List has teamed up with The Buyer to shine the light on the restaurant and on-trade talent in the UK with the Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer. It has proven to be not only an opportunity to highlight the restaurants and bars that place wine at the heart of what they do, but also a great way for restaurant, wine and sommlier teams from across the country to come together and celebrate their friendships and the fact they are all facing the same challenges and opportunities in their own venues.

This year's awards are once again free to enter and will also include those restauarants and bars that are already part of the Star Wine List guides for the UK. Each of the winners will receive a Gold Star award and be featured on the Star Wine List website and app. The winners of the international categories will qualify for the Star Wine List of the Year International Final, to be held in Vienna on June 16 2025.

“Even though our wine list celebrations have spread like wildfire and we now do 19 events across four continents, our UK awards are really something else,” says Krister Bengtsson, Star Wine List’s founder and publisher. “People from all kinds of restaurants and wine bars get together and cheer for each other – it’s a true joy to be part of.”

Richard Siddle, co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Buyer, adds: “It is a privilege and pleasure to partner Star Wine List on the UK wine list awards and to be able to play a small part and shine the light on the best sommeliers and restaurant teams in the UK,” says. “There are a number of on-trade awards programmes available but what makes Star Wine List special and stand out is the fact it is run and judged by sommeliers themselves as well as top wine experts. It always means more if you are being recognised and rewarded by your peers.”

Chance for rosé

This year sees a new category introduced to recognise the importance of rosé in the premium on-trade with a new Rosé Wine List category in partnership with Miraval, which is part of Famille Perrin.

Andrew Bayley, UK general manager, explains why it wanted to be part of the awards: "Premium on-trade continues to outperform the rest of the market as the importance and emphasis of quality, provenance and communications grow. This performance stems from higher quality and higher spend. In this sector the rosé category continues to grow (rosé being the only colour to grow post Covid) but is under-represented. There is untapped potential in offering a more diverse premium rosé selection on a wine list as the average spend per bottle has not increased at the same rate as the other colours.

He adds: "For Miraval, our primary objective therefore is to encourage further breadth in listings which match consumers willingness to experiment. Miraval has been at the forefront of the rosé revolution for more than a decade and our desire to continue to innovate and create is ceaseless, pushing the boundaries of the category in all and every direction.

"The opportunity to create a new rosé category award for The Star Wine List of the Year awards (which we consider to be the wine equivalent of the Michelin Star awards) provides a perfect platform to highlight the opportunity to grow the category within the premium on-trade. We are really looking forward to rewarding those whom are already ahead of the curve and are exploring the diversity of the rosé category."

Celebrating achievements

The awards have become a key feature of the event and a chance for finalists and friends to network and catch up, as Richard Siddle explains: “The big highlight of the awards themselves is the chance to bring together all the finalists and their teams and friends in the trade to truly celebrate all their achievements, and to see them celebrating and enjoying each others’ success. It shows what a close-knit community the sommelier world is and how supportive they all are with each other. There is so much to learn and respect."

Distributor support

It is also a great opportunity for some of the UK's leading importers and distributors to the premium on-trade show their support for the sector and get involved in the event. Like Bibendum, category partner for the overall Grand Prix award that is for the best overall wine list.

Valerie Rodriguez Bibendum's head of fine wine says: "As a premium wine distributor to some of the UK’s most prestigious restaurants, sponsoring Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer is a perfect fit for us. We love supporting the hospitality industry and celebrating the great work they do. Wine is part of our DNA, and we wanted to honour restaurants across the UK that are creative with their wine lists, balancing classics with new discoveries and ultimately encourage customers to try something different."

She adds: "We have stood at the forefront of the drinks industry for the past 40 years, and the premium on-trade is our heartland. Recognising excellence amongst the on-trade is even more important as the hospitality industry increasing headwinds.

How the competition is judged
A panel of judges will soon be announced, including world-renowned sommeliers and wine experts. They are given simple but challenging instructions: vote for the most exciting wine list representing each category.
Once the deadline for entries has passed, the jury deliberates independently of any sponsors or commercial partners to decide the nalists and ultimate winners. The shortlist will be announced in February 2025.

Evolving UK wine lists
The awards are also an opportunity to assess changes in restaurant and wine drinking trends. It gives the competition a bird's eye view of how global wine scenes are developing.

In terms of the UK, Siddle says: “I would say the biggest trend to come through on wine lists is how diverse and individual they have become. Gone are the days when it is all about having the most wines and the biggest lists. Today it is all about nding what is the right list for your restaurant and customers. We are lucky to have such commercially focused sommeliers and wine teams that curate lists based on what they know their customers want to drink and buy. If that means being natural, or all about low intervention wines, then ne. It might mean focusing on Old World classics.

"Our sommeliers today have both the knowledge and the condence to make customer-focused lists that will hit their needs and the restaurants’ goals at the same time.”

The Star Wine List of The Year with The Buyer: The Categories

International (categories at all Star Wine List events)

• Grand Prix, presented by Bibendum
The best list of the overall competition.

• Best Long List
For wine lists with more than 600 references.

• Best Medium-Sized List, presented by Domaines Paul Jaboulet Aîné
200-600 references.

• Best Short List
Fewer than 200 references.

• Best By the Glass List, presented by Majestic Commercial

• Best Sparkling Wine List, presented by Nyetimber

• Best Newcomer List

• Sustainable Wine List
Recognises a wine list that has put extra emphasis on the wine programme’s overall impact, including vine growing, winemaking, packaging and transport. Assessed via a questionnaire during the application process.

• Best Austrian Wine List, presented by Austrian Wine

• Best California Wine List, presented by Pahlmeyer

UK CATEGORIES: (only in the UK awards)

• Best Rosé Wine List, presented by Miraval

• Best Spanish Wine List, presented by Familia Torres

The deadline for entries is January 12, 2025.

Click here for the form to enter.

* You can find out more about Star Wine List here.