Ristorante del Lago won sparkling category in the International Open

Andreas Grube
Published 06-May-2024
News

When Star Wine List celebrated our first ever International Open, wine lists from no less than 19 countries were chosen as finalists. Ristorante del Lago in Bagno di Romagna, Italy, won a Gold Star in the category Best Sparkling Wine List, presented by Nyetimber.

“We saw many wine lists with amazing Champagne selections; this one didn't necessarily stand out for that but, rather, its crazy, nearly encyclopedic list of Italian bubblies. Okay, the Champagne list was great too," said jury member Doug Frost, Master Sommelier and Master of Wine, about the winning list.

The International Open was held as an online event on May 6. Of the countries in the finals, both Australia and the Netherlands had the most representatives, with 20 restaurants/bars each. USA had 13 and Canada 10 venues shortlisted.

Star Wine List’s highly coveted wine list awards have grown to cover 14 markets around the world - but sommeliers from many more countries have asked to be let in. These awards were therefore created as a way for other markets to be able to join.

The Silver Star winners in the sparkling category were:

Central Park Voorburg, Voorburg, Netherlands
Ciz Cantina e Cucina, Milano, Italy
Duomo, Ragusa, Italy
ECK Restaurant, Bratislava, Slovakia
Quay, Sydney, Australia
Restaurant Le Coureur des Bois, Beloeil, Canada
Stake Chophouse & Bar, Coronado, USA
Ten Minutes by Tractor, Main Ridge, Australia
Trattoria Serenella Le Tre Lasagne, Vignale Monferrato, Italy

THE WORLD-CLASS JURY

The jury for the first International Open consisted of four highly renowned sommeliers:

• Pascaline Lepeltier
• Piotr Pietras MS
• Heidi Mäkinen MW
• Doug Frost MW MS

Ristorante del Lago is now qualified for Star Wine List's International Final in Stockholm on June 24.

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.

Do like the Pros - search 2500+ wine lists

Nyetimber

English sparkling producer Nyetimber is the leading producer of sparkling wine in the country.

Share

Did you know?
You can search for tens of thousands of wines and see where they are listed in restaurants and wine bars.
Search for wine lists on Star Wine List