Winners of the Wine list of the Year announced
Dec 01, 2021
Marking the 28th year since the Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards were launched in 1994, the winners of the 2021 Awards were announced online on Monday 29th November.
In yet another year in which the Australian hospitality industry was tested to the limit, the Awards again highlighted the depth of talent, dedication, and the sheer commitment and tenacity, of so many sommeliers and owners around the country.
The winner of the 2021 Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards is – Ten Minutes by Tractor who also take out the 2021 Best Country Restaurant List, and Best Victorian List.
The numbers of entrants in 2021 is an all-time high and the stratospheric quality is reflected in the record number of 176 lists awarded three glasses. This compares favourably to 157 last year and only nine in 1994.
Finalists for the top Award in 2021 are – in one of the toughest fields ever, – Bennelong, Bert’s Bar & Brasserie, Cirrus, all from Sydney, Cru Bar + Cellar Brisbane and Florentino, Melbourne.
The other great strength of Australia’s Wine List of the Year can be seen by the calibre of the lists which vied for the 35 individual awards on offer. These highlight the talents of sommeliers and the commitment of owners to offering a diverse and challenging restaurant experience.
The outstanding performer here was Brisbane’s Cru Bar + Cellar, already a Hall of Famer as Queensland winner three times. In 2021, it won Best Wine Bar List, Best Listing of Queensland Wines, Best List of Wines by the Glass and Best Champagne List.
Charred Kitchen & Bar continues to punch above its weight and shines the light on what is possible in a vibrant country town such as Orange with wins in Best Listing of NSW Wines and Best Beer List.
David and Sarah Lawler’s tiny list at Ishizuka won Best Small List (50 Wines) for the third time as well as Best Non-Alcoholic List, an increasingly eagerly sought-after award.
Almost twenty years after it won Australia’s Wine List of the Year, Aria continues to feature among the awards. In 2021, it has won the Best Sparkling Wine Listand because of the attention to detail and rigour of its sommeliers is placed in three other awards including runner-up in the fiercely contested Best Listing of Australian Wines.
Continuing the theme of Golden Oldies, Giovanni Pilu and his team has won the prestigious Best Wine and Food Matching Award, ten years after Pilu at Freshwater won the top award.
Our most popular awards continue to be Best Wine by the Glass with the innovative technology of Coravin transforming that category as the perfect vehicle for offering premium wines to customers. Best Matching of Food & Wine continues to reflect the ever-closer liaison between sommeliers and chefs while consumer interest and sommelier desire ensures the showcasing of local wines: hence the continued support for Best Listing of Australian Wines and Best Listing of a Region’s Wines.
The new award, Best Wine List (200 Wines), which was introduced to cater for the trimmed-down nature of post Covid wine lists, was well-supported as were Best Wine List (100 Wines) and Best Wine List (50 Wines).
