Star Wine List of the Year Belgium – the wine lists fighting for gold

By Andreas Grube

Published 19-October-2023

News / Belgium

On November 12 Star Wine List will come to Belgium to celebrate the best wine lists and the teams behind them for the first time. Our top sommelier jury has now evaluated all the wine lists that entered the competition – and today we reveal the finalists.

Belgium will be included to our 2023-2024 International tour, and this is the first time we are running it in Belgium. Star Wine List of the Year Belgium will be held on November 12, during the Best Sommelier of Belgium contest at Radisson Blu Astrid Hotel, Antwerp, arranged by the Belgian Sommelier Guild.

Jury

For the first ever Star Wine List of the Year Belgium, we have gathered a top sommelier jury:
• Piotr Pietras MS
• Julie Dupouy-Young
• Ronan Sayburn MS
• Antoine Lehebel (as our local judge)

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 Sparkling Wine List, presented by Nyetimber. 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.

Here are the finalists fighting for Gold Stars in all the different categories:

International Categories:

Grand Prix

– The best list overall

The category is presented by Premium Estates of Austria

Finalists:
The winner will be announced at the event.

Best Long List

– For wine lists with more than 600 references

Finalists:
Boury, Roeselare
d'Oude Schuur, Sint-Martens-Latem
L'Air du Temps, Liernu
La Table de Maxime, Our
Paul de Pierre, Maarkedal
Restaurant Marcel, Antwerp
Restaurant Sans Cravate, Bruges
Terminus, Watou
Zilte, Antwerp

Best Medium-Sized Wine List

– Recognizes the best wine list with 200-600 references.

Finalists:
Bozar Restaurant, Brussels
Convento, Leuven
Pazzo, Antwerp
Racines Bruxelles, Brussels
Racines Floreffe, Floreffe
Restaurant Hert, Turnhout
Restaurant Imprévu by De Barrier, Houthalen-Helchteren
The Butcher's Son, Antwerp

Best Short List

– Recognizes the best wine list with fewer than 200 listings.

Finalists:
Barge, Brussels
Commune, Beervelde
InVINcible, Antwerp
Restaurant Terroir, Gierle
Ta-nnin, Antwerp
Vintage, Kontich
Vrijmoed, Gent

Best Austrian Wine List

– Recognizes the best list with wines from Austria

The category is presented by Austrian Wine

Finalists:
Boury, Roeselare
Ona, Gent
Paul de Pierre, Maarkedal
Restaurant Imprévu by De Barrier, Houthalen-Helchteren
Restaurant Sans Cravate, Bruges
Terminus, Watou

Best Sparkling Wine List

– Recognizes the best list with sparkling wines.

Best California Wine List

– Recognizes the best list with wines from California

Finalists:
Boury, Roeselare
Convento, Leuven
Ona, Gent
Paul de Pierre, Maarkedal
Restaurant Marcel, Antwerp
Terminus, Watou

Best By the Glass List

– Recognizes the best by the glass list.

Best Newcomer List

Finalists:
Commune, Beervelde
HET ARCHIEF, Antwerp
Ona, Gent
Restaurant Imprévu by De Barrier, Houthalen-Helchteren
Restaurant Terroir, Gierle
Wijnbistro Goddaard, Antwerp

Sustainable Wine List

– For the Sustainable Wine List category, not only the wine list is evaluated, but also the stated actions of the venue, as described through a questionnaire in the application

Finalists:
Convento, Leuven
Ona, Gent
Racines Floreffe, Floreffe

The winners in the international categories will qualify for our International Final in June 2024, 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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