The Buyer | Finalist venues in the UK Wine List of the Year 2022 revealed

The finalists in the UK Wine List of the Year from The Buyer and Star Wine List are chosen by a panel of leading award-winning sommeliers. Here are the venues that have made it to the final stage.

The UK Wine List Awards were set up by Star Wine List and The Buyer to celebrate and shine the spotlight on those restaurants, bars, pubs and hotels that have made wine a key part of their offer. In fact, so much so that some have become destination venues in their own right just for the wines that are on their lists.

Venues that are willing to go the extra mile to work with their suppliers, or, in many cases go direct to producers in order to find the exact right wines and winemakers that are right for their customers and the food and offer they want to present.

The UK awards are part of a wider global competition organised by Star Wine List whose founder Krister Bengtsson looked to partner with The Buyer when launching the UK event for the first time in 2021.

Krister Bengtsson, founder of Star Wine List, linked up with The Buyer to co-host the UK version of its global Wine List awards

The overall Star Wine List of the Year competition started in the Nordics back in 2018, to celebrate the great wine lists and the teams behind them. In 2021 the event travelled virtually, and in person, to 10 markets across Asia and Europe. The 2022 awards have so far featured Finland, Denmark, Australia and Norway. Now it is the time for the UK.

Bengtsson says: ”We are excited to once again team up with The Buyer to celebrate the great wine lists of the UK and look forward to meeting people in person again.”

Richard Siddle, editor-in-chief of The Buyer, adds: “It’s been great to work in partnership with Krister and the Star Wine List team in order to provide the platform on which the best wine venues in the UK can shine. We are delighted to be able to reveal our finalists for the 2022 awards and would like to thank everyone who entered. Making it to the shortlist of these awards – considering the competition – is an achievement in itself.”

In person event

Due to covid the inaugural awards were held online but in 2022 we all be able to meet in person in order to recognise and then reward the best wine venues in the UK. Thanks go to the Winemakers Club in Farringdon, north London for hosting the even on February 21.

(Click here to watch the recording of the 2021 UK Wine List of the Year Awards)

The awards are also made possible by our category partners so thanks goes to: Wines of Germany; New Zealand Winegrowers; Louis.M. Martini; Austrian Wine; and Matteo Lupi Wines.

We would also like to thank our judging panel, chaired by Ruth Spivey, UK ambassador for Star Wine List, made up of the following award-winning sommeliers:

Salvatore Castano, Best Sommelier of Europe & Africa 2021
Arvid Rosengren, 2016 Best Sommelier of the Word
Raimonds Tomsons, wine director of Barents Wine Collectors & Co-Founder at WineTeach
Rajat Parr, sommelier and winemaker.

Jury member Rajat Parr says that he has been impressed with the level of wine lists for the event: “The UK is a very interesting place, and especially London. There’s such a great mix of wines here. London has everything: classics and more modern wines. It is very nice to see.”

Each of the category winners will receive a gold certificate and an individual prize from the category partner. The winners of the main international categories will qualify to take part in the International Final of Star Wine List of the Year in June 2022.