Florida’s Best Long List 2025 is at Bern’s Steak House, Tampa
Tampa institution Bern's Steak House was the biggest winner of the first Star Wine List of the Year Florida awards, as announced in Miami this week, receiving three Gold Stars for categories including Best Long List.
Star Wine List’s Krister Bengtsson and Miami Ambassador Jacqueline Coleman presented Gold Stars in nine categories at an awards ceremony held during Vinexpo America, in Miami Beach. Three of those went to Bern’s Steak House.
In addition to recognising Bern’s selection of Austrian wines, the judges awarded the fine dining restaurant a Gold Star for Best Long List (theirs includes around 3,600 references), a category sponsored by Château d’Esclans; this, in turn, put Bern’s into the running for Grand Prix, in which it prevailed over Best Medium-Sized and Short List winners Amara at Paraiso and Ariete, respectively.
“This is more than a lovely restaurant with a remarkable wine list,” explained judge Doug Frost MS MW. “It is an icon. For wine lovers, this restaurant has long been like a pilgrimage deep into winedom. There are so many amazing wines on the list that, if you don't explore and buy something you've never had before, you've missed a tremendous opportunity.”
Bern’s has now been entered into the Star Wine List of the Year International Final 2025, to be held in Vienna this June.
Runners Up
Silver Stars in the Best Long List category were awarded to:
Casa Tua Restaurant, Miami Beach
COTE Miami, Miami
Fiola Miami, Miami
Haven, Tampa
Sexy Fish, Miami
The Surf Club Restaurant by Thomas Keller, Surfside
Judges
The jury panel for Star Wine List of the Year Florida 2025 comprised four top sommeliers from around the world:
• Salvatore Castano – Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa 2021 (ASI)
• Kathrine Larsen-Robert – Master Sommelier
• Pascaline Lepeltier – Best Sommelier of France 2018
• Doug Frost – Master Sommelier, Master of Wine
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.
The winners in the international categories will qualify for our International Final in June 2025, where they will face off with the category winners from other countries and continents.
Read about the terms and how Star Wine List judges the wine lists here.
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