Meet the finalists in Star Wine List of the Year UAE 2025!

By Rachel Fellows

Published 13-November-2025

News / United Arab Emirates

On 8 December 2025, we will announce the best wine lists in the UAE at an awards ceremony at Sexy Fish Dubai co-hosted by judge and current Best Sommelier of the World, Raimonds Tomsons.

For the third time, Star Wine List is preparing to celebrate the finest wine lists in the UAE (and the teams behind them), with an awards event to be held in Dubai this December. Gold Stars will be presented to the winners in 12 categories by Star Wine List’s Krister Bengtsson with jury members Raimonds Tomsons and Vincent Truong.

Raimonds has been joined on the judging panel by two former adversaries at the ASI Best Sommelier of the World contest and fellow European sommelier champions, Mikk Parre and Salvatore Castano, along with local wine specialist Truong.

These four experts have now chosen their finalists in this year’s competition, and we have 41 venues in the running for a coveted Gold Star, split across Dubai and the capital, Abu Dhabi.

All finalist teams will be invited to our private event, in December, and we can’t wait to toast their hard work. Once the awards have been announced, winners in the eight international categories will automatically be entered into the Star Wine List of the Year International Final, to compete against other regional winners from this season’s tour, in June 2026.

Meet the wine bars and restaurants on the shortlist.

INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES:

Best Long List

For wine lists with more than 600 references

Best Medium-Sized List

Recognises the best wine list with 200-600 references

Finalists:
Birch Restaurant, Dubai
BOCA, Dubai
Clap, Dubai
HANU, Dubai
La Dame De Pic, Dubai
LPM, Abu Dhabi
Maison Dali, Dubai
Row on 45, Dubai
SAL, Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Signor Sassi, Dubai
TakaHisa, Dubai
Zuma, Dubai

Best Short List

Recognises the best wine list with fewer than 200 listings

Finalists:
Akira Back, Dubai
Dragonfly, Dubai
Moonrise, Dubai
Revolver, Dubai
Roka, Dubai
StreetXO, Dubai
TERO (The Experience by Reif Othman), Dubai
Tresind Studio, Dubai

Best Sparkling Wine List

Recognises the best list for sparkling wines

Best By-the-Glass List

Recognises the best ‘by-the-glass’ list

Finalists:
BOCA, Dubai
FZN by Björn Frantzén, Dubai
HANU, Dubai
Kira Restaurant, Dubai
L'Amo Bistro Del Mare, Dubai
La Dame De Pic, Dubai
Row on 45, Dubai
Signor Sassi, Dubai
SUSHISAMBA, Dubai
Zuma, Abu Dhabi
Zuma, Dubai

Best Newcomer List

Recognises a venue that has recently opened

Finalists:
Birch Restaurant, Dubai
Dragonfly, Dubai
HANU, Dubai
Il Gattopardo, Dubai
Kira Restaurant, Dubai
Maison Dali, Dubai
Revolver, Dubai
SUSHISAMBA, Abu Dhabi

Sustainability Prize

Assesses the sustainable commitment of both the wine list and broader venue via a supplementary questionnaire submitted during the application process

The winner will be announced at the event

Best Italian Wine List

Recognises the best list for the wines of Italy

Finalists:
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, Dubai
FZN by Björn Frantzén, Dubai
Il Gattopardo, Dubai
Il Ristorante - Niko Romito, Dubai
Isola Ristorante, Dubai
L'Amo Bistro Del Mare, Dubai
Ristorante L'Olivo at Al Mahara, Burj Al Arab, Dubai
Signor Sassi, Dubai

Special Jury Prize

Rewards a wine lovers’ place that does something out of the ordinary

The winner will be announced at the event

LOCAL CATEGORIES:

Best California Wine List

Recognises the best list for the wines of California, USA

Best Spanish Wine List

Recognises the best list for the wines of Spain

Best Bordeaux Wine List

Recognises the best list for the wines of Bordeaux, France

Expert jury panel

Raimonds Tomsons – Best Sommelier of the World 2023 (ASI)
Mikk Parre – Best Sommelier of Europe, Africa and Middle East 2024 (ASI)
Salvatore Castano – Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa 2021 (ASI)
Vincent Truong – Dubai-based wine expert and educator

Rules

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Commercial opportunities

Please email us to discuss sponsoring a category at Star Wine List of the Year UAE 2025.

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