Ensue in Shenzhen has Asia's Best Sparkling Wine List
On May 29, Star Wine List returned to celebrate the best wine lists in Asia, and the teams behind them. The live event was held at Vinexpo Asia in Hong Kong, and the Gold Star for Best Sparkling Wine List – presented by Nyetimber – went to Ensue in Shenzhen, China.
"On behalf of the team, thank you all for your support and please come and visit us in Shenzhen, we're only a 15 minute ride away from Hong Kong!" said Ensue's Fiona To.
“The sparkling wines on this list are very international and carefully chosen to excite the guests. The broad champagne selection pays respect to the established houses, acknowledges the leading names of grower champagnes, and introduces new up and coming names," said jury member Heidi Mäkinen about Ensue's winning list.
Star Wine List's ambassador Della Tang has described Ensue as "one of the early pioneers of the fine-dining restaurant scene in Shenzhen and the first of the city's restaurants to make a name for itself on the international stage". The wine cellar holds more than 700 different labels, covering many of the wine regions in the world.
This is the second time in a row Ensue wins the sparkling category in Asia – the restaurant won a Gold Star in 2023 as well. The same year, they also won a Silver Star in the Grand Prix category for Asia, and a Silver Star in the sparkling category in the International Final, held in Stockholm in June 2023.
The Silver Star winners in the sparkling category were:
8 1/2 Otto e Mezzo Bombana Shanghai, Shanghai, China
Andō, Hong Kong
Chi-Fu, Osaka, Japan
Inddee, Bangkok, Thailand
Odette, Singapore
Robuchon au Dôme, Macau
Asia is included to our 2023-2024 International tour, and this was the second time we were running it in Asia. The event was held live during Vinexpo in Hong Kong on May 29. Chi-Fu is now qualified for the International Final in Stockholm in June where they will face off with winners from around the world.
Jury
The jury for the second Star Wine List of the Year competition in Asia included a top line-up of esteemed wine experts. The four-person panel consisted of:
• Heidi Mäkinen, Master of Wine
• Reeze Choi, Third Best Sommelier of the World 2023 (ASI)
• Pascaline Lepeltier, Best Sommelier of France 2018
• Julie Dupouy-Young, several times named the Best Sommelier of Ireland
Categories and criteria
Star Wine List judges the wine lists in several categories such as the Best Sparkling Wine List and Best By the Glass List. These categories are the same across all of the awards. In addition, local categories may be added. We have commercial partners for certain categories, such as the Best Austrian Wine List, presented by Austrian Wine. The commercial partners are, however, never involved in the selections of finalists or winners — that is completely up to our independent jury panel.
The criteria for the jury are straightforward but not simple: Vote for the most exciting wine list representing the category.
Read about the terms and how Star Wine List judges the wine lists here.
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Nyetimber
English sparkling producer Nyetimber is the leading producer of sparkling wine in the country.
