Over 100 restaurants and bars battled it out for the top prizes in this year’s Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer.
In the end there could only be 12 individual winners in the categories for the 2023 Star Wine List of the Year UK with The Buyer, but that tells only part of the story for this year’s awards.
For this is much more about an opportunity to shine the light on some of the best wine buying, sommelier, restaurant and hospitality talent in the UK. A day to bring those talents together to hopefully reward them for all their hard work and give them the chance to relax, meet their peers and raise a glass to everyone who had been shortlisted in this year’s awards.
Star Wine List’s Krister Bengtsson and The Buyer’s Richard Siddle welcome guests to the awards (Photograph: Thomas Skovsende)
Putting together competitive, interesting and commercially sound wine lists is hard enough at any time, but doing so against a backdrop of supply chain and availability issues where the price of wines are being changed two to three times a year to factor in increased dry goods, glass and packaging has made the task even more difficult over the last 12 months.
So to be able to create award winning wine lists in such an environment is even more impressive.
To do so also means working closely with suppliers, importers and producers who fully understand the needs and challenges that restaurant buyers face. Some of those producers and suppliers had come together to support the awards, sponsor individual categories and be there on the day to help celebrate the finalists and winners.
The UK awards are one part of a series of events hosted by Star Wine List around the world, with the winners of the International categories going forward to the global final to be held in the summer. The Buyer is delighted to be the partner of the UK awards and help organise, promote, and pull together specific UK categories.
Ronan Sayburn MS was one of the main judges for the competition and is here enjoying some of the New Zealand wines available to taste with Chris Stroud of New Zealand Wine (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Our thanks go to all the category partners for making the awards possible, but also to our esteemed judging panel that really makes being shortlisted, never mind winning such an honour. A panel of leading sommelier talent including Piotr Pietras, Jan Konetski and Ronan Sayburn chaired by Ruth Spivey tasked with analysing the 100 plus wine lists and picking out the finalists and winners.
Here are the winners and shortlists for the 2023 Star Wine List of the Year with The Buyer.
International Categories
Grand Prix
The best large wine list, with more than 600 references. This category is presented by Bibendum.
Gareth Ferreira from Core by Clare Smyth picks up the Grand Prix award from awards sponsor Bibendum (All pictures Thomas Skovsende).
Chez Bruce, London
Core by Clare Smyth, London
Hide, London
Les 110 de Taillevent, London
Noble Rot Soho, London
Pollen Street Social, London
The Clove Club, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury
Winner: Core By Clare Smyth
Gareth Ferreira says: “A wine list is something you work on every day. You can’t rest on your laurels, you review it and analyze it everyday, you look where you can be better. It’s just about staying on top of things.”
Best Austrian Wine List
The category is presented by Austrian Wine
Newcomer Wines won the Austrian wine list of the year (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Moor Hall, Aughton
Newcomer Wines, London
NoMad, London
Pollen Street Social, London
The Ledbury, London
Trivet, London
Winner: Newcomer Wines
Best Medium-Sized List
The best wine list with 200-600 listings
Trivet won Best Medium sized list (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Chewton Glen Hotel, New Milton – New Forest
Climat, Manchester
La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels Seven Dials, London
Noizé, London
Sager + Wilde Hackney Rd, London
The 10 Cases, London
Trivet, London
Wild Corner, London
Winner: Trivet
Best By-the-Glass List
A category presented by Catena Zapata
Noble Rot Soho won the Best By the Glass List sponsored by Catena Zapata (Photograph: Thomas Skovsende)
Carters of Moseley, Birmingham
Corkage, Bath
Les 110 de Taillevent, London
Noble Rot Lambs Conduit, London
Noble Rot Soho, London
Pollen Street Social, London
The 10 Cases, London
Wild Corner, London
Winner: Noble Rot Soho
“We just try to represent different wine regions and different grape varieties, and also being sensitive on the prices, making it affordable to everybody. It is a showcase of our wine lists and an opportunity we give to people to taste different things,” says Ana Rey at Noble Rot Soho.
Best Sparkling Wine List
A category presented by Nyetimber
Best Sparkling Wine List sponsored by Nyetimber went to Les 110 de Taillevent (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Hide, London
Kitchen Table, London
La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels Seven Dials, London
Les 110 de Taillevent, London
NoMad, London
The George, London
The Ritz Restaurant, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury
Winner: Les 110 de Taillevent
Sustainable Wine List
The category is presented by Spier Wine Farm
Best Sustainable Wine List awarded sponsored by South Africa’s Spier Wine Farm, distributed by Jascots in the UK, went to a
Apricity, London
Carters of Moseley, Birmingham
Coast Saundersfoot, Saundersfoot
Farmyard, St Leonards-on-Sea
Holm Somerset, South Petherton
Pale Hall Hotel, Llanderfell, Bala
Restaurant St Barts, London
Winner: Farmyard
“We’ve both got a bit of a passion for natural wine and sustainability. It means a lot to us. If you’re going to serve local produce and put that amount of care into your food, I don’t see why that shouldn’t continue into the wine,” says Ben O’Norum at Farmyard.
Best Short List
The best wine list with fewer than 200 listings
Restaurant St Barts picked up the Best Short List category
A Wong, London
Carters of Moseley, Birmingham
Dinings SW3, London
Farmyard, St Leonards-on-Sea
Ikoyi, London
Levan, London
Planque, London
Restaurant St Barts, London
Winner: Restaurant St Barts
“I’m very excited to win this award. I didn’t expect it, since we were nominated against so many great restaurants around the UK, with wine lists and people that I really admire. It was a very pleasant surprise,” says Emma Denney, head sommelier at Restaurant St. Barts.
Special Jury Prize
Recognises a venue that has done something out of the ordinary. The winner will be announced at the event.
Chez Bruce won Special Jury Prize
Winner: Chez Bruce
“It feels good, we’ve worked very hard and that seems to be evident. The wine list itself has got a lot of classics on it, but we can take the list in any direction and cover a broad field. It is something we work hard on and it’s nice to see that it’s recognized, especially by the guests coming in,” says Victor Barré, head sommelier at Chez Bruce.
UK Categories
Best Up-and-Coming Wine List
The category is presented by Château Palmer
Manchester’s Climat restaurant won Best Up and Coming wine list sponsored by Chateau Palmer (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Climat, Manchester
Restaurant St Barts, London
Sète, Margate
Studio Frantzén, London
The Terrace Rooms & Wine, Ventnor
Veraison Wines, London
Winner: Climat
“We’re delighted about it, we really didn’t expect it. We opened on 2 December last year, so we’re really new. Our focus was always Burgundy, and that’s for sure the strongest part of the list, and now we’re just fine tuning the rest of the world, basically,” says Jerome Boullier at Climat.
Best New Zealand Wine List
The category is presented by New Zealand Winegrowers
New Zealand Wine list of the year, sponsored by New Zealand Winegrowers, went to Pollen Street Social (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Chez Bruce, London
China Tang at The Dorchester, London
Hide, London
Oxo tower restaurant, London
Pollen Street Social, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury
Winner: Pollen Street Social
“I was invited to a trip by Wines of New Zealand some years ago where, at the time, the idea was to suck up some knowledge about New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc, and that was about it. But when I actually got there, it sparked something and I really got a passion about it. I realized that there is a lot more to New Zealand than just Sauvignon Blanc. That got my mind going, and I wanted to showcase it on the list,” says Stefan Kobold at Pollen Street Social.
Best California Wine List
The category is presented by Louis M. Martini
Best California Wine List, sponsored by Louis M. Martini, went to Vineyard at Stockcross (Photograph Thomas Skovsende)
Chiltern Firehouse, London
China Tang at The Dorchester, London
Core by Clare Smyth, London
Goodman City, London
Hide, London
Pollen Street Social, London
The Clove Club, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury
Winner: The Vineyard at Stockcross
New Generation Bordeaux Wine List
The category is presented by Bordeaux Wines
New Generation Bordeaux wine list, sponsored by Bordeaux Wines, went to Noble Rot Soho
Maison Francois, London
Noble Rot Lambs Conduit, London
Noble Rot Soho, London
The Drapers Arms, London
The Terrace Rooms & Wine, Ventnor
Veraison Wines, London
Winner: Noble Rot Soho
“We’ve always been big champions of Bordeaux. Everyone’s talking about new wave growers in Burgundy and Loire, but there’s some really good value gems to be found in Bordeaux as well. We have some UK-based suppliers bringing on some exciting names from that traditional region, so there is lots to be uncovered,” says Noble Rot Soho’s Joshua Castle.
Thanks to Our Partners
