It's a record! Star Wine List exceeds 4,000 recommended wine places
Since launching in 2017, Star Wine List has expanded to cover over 45 countries and has just topped 4,000 recommended wine bars, wine restaurants and wine lists. Among those, we have over searchable 3,000 wine lists.
The wine bars and restaurants featured on Star Wine List currently total 4,095.
Of those, 2,374 hold our signature Red Star (meaning that an ambassador or team member has visited and endorsed the establishment), with 1,721 White Stars (an endorsement of the wine list, which will always be featured on our site, but a smaller profile page). Read more about our classifications, here.
With Star Wine List Pro, users can search more than 3,000 of those venues' wine lists.
After a career as entrepreneur in media and wine, Star Wine List's Founder and Publisher Krister Bengtsson turned his attention to creating a platform to showcase the world's great wine bars and wine restaurants.
"I thought that there are so many restaurant guides in the world, but as a wine lover you often ended up asking your friends for their favourite places in different cities. I wanted to create a network of recommendations and community of wine professionals, focused on wine in restaurants and wine bars. That is still the core of Star Wine List."
Star Wine List began life with a small team in Bengtsson's hometown of Stockholm, Sweden on 15 May 2017. The Star Wine List of the Year awards were added in 2018, with the app released in early 2020 and, finally, the analytics tool Star Wine List Pro launched in February this year.
Today, the core team comprises eight staff split across Europe and Canada, with the majority of curation done by a global network of 85 sommelier ambassadors. Then, of course, there are our expert jury panellists and our industry partners, who are crucial for the Star Wine List of the Year competition.
The longest-serving member of the team is Project Manager Camilla Lindh, who remembers hoping to visit all of Star Wine List's recommendations when she began with the company in 2018. "Back then, it sounded reasonable to do," she says. "But I am really glad I did not make that my life goal – it would have ruined me quickly!
"When I started to work with Krister in October 2018, we only had four countries (Sweden, UK, Norway and Canada) and a total of 210 venues. So to have been on this journey, from four to over 45 countries, from 210 venues to an impressive 4,095, that's amazing."
Meet the full Star Wine List team and network, here.
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