Gold Star to Park Hotel Vossevangen for Best By the Glass List

By Andreas Grube

Published 24-June-2024

News

When Star Wine List of the Year International Final was celebrated for the second time in Stockholm on June 24, Park Hotel Vossevangen in Voss, Norway, won the category Best By the Glass List. The category was presented by Brännland Iscider.

"I didn’t expect this, wow. We were up against some amazing competitors," said wine director Reidar R R Johansen on stage. "We were competing last year too and was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t win – so we’ve doubled the wine list since last year," he continued.

”A really wonderful, deep treasure trove. So much great stuff to drink, at fair prices and amazing diversity. There are few places where I might go for a couple of glasses instead of a bottle, but here, you definitely could!” said jury member Arvid Rosengren about Park Hotel Vossevangen's winning list.

Park Hotel Vossevangen has won no less than 11 Gold Stars in Star Wine List of the Year events over the years, including the prestigious Grand Prix in both Norway, the Nordics and International.

The wine list at Park Hotel Vossevangen holds more than 70,000 labels, and is by Star Wine List's ambassador Linn Johnsen described as "not only about quantity, but it also has one of the most extensive vintage collections of the country".

The category was presented by Brännland Iscider, and the company's founder Andreas Sundgren handed out the diploma on stage.

"We started around eleven years ago, producing 8,000 bottles a year, and now we produce around 100,000 bottles. So we’re really surprised, we thought we should stay a very small business," he said.

The Silver Star winners in this category were:

Saxon Hotel, Villas & Spa, Johannesburg, South Africa
UNioN Wine, Bar & Kitchen, Waterford, Ireland
Bar'Vin, Copenhagen, Denmark
Zilte, Antwerp, Belgium
SOMM The Wine Bar, Vilnius, Lithuania
Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn, Estonia
Ossiano, Dubai, UAE
La Table de Yoann Conte, Veyrier du Lac, France
Noble Rot Mayfair, London, UK
Terroir Tribeca, New York City, US
Operakällaren, Stockholm, Sweden
Vinho, Turku, Finland
Ten Minutes by Tractor, Main Ridge, Australia
Heunisch & Erben, Vienna, Austria
Sticks & Stones Winebar, Munich, Germany
Wunderbrunnen, Opfikon, Switzerland
Inddee, Bangkok

The Star Wine List of the Year tour 2023-2024 started in South Africa in September 2023 and has passed through Asia, Europe and North America on its way to the final Stockholm. All in all, 14 events have been held, from Hong Kong to New York and Dubai to Vienna.

Finalists from 20 countries – from some of the most renowned restaurants in the world – and well over 100 international guests travelled to Stockholm to be a part of the celebration on June 24. The awards in Stockholm was held during a full-day event for finalists, partners and media. Wine lovers from around the world could join the live-streamed event on Star Wine List’s Facebook page.

Jury

The jury of our international final was filled with sommelier champions:

• Salvatore Castano, ASI Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa

• Arvid Rosengren, ASI Best Sommelier of the World
• Marc Almert, Asi Best Sommelier of the World
• Heidi Mäkinen MW

”Overall, we were presented with incredible wine lists to evaluate, each demonstrating an impressive level of quality. The high standard across the board made our task particularly challenging, as each list brought something unique and outstanding to the table, reflecting the passion and expertise of their curators,” said Salvatore Castano of the jury work.

Categories and criteria

Star Wine List's jury evaluates the wine lists in several categories such as the Best Sparkling Wine List and Best By the Glass List. 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.