Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025 – Best Austrian Wine List goes to ECK, Slovakia
Devín's ECK has taken the Gold Star for Best Austrian Wine List in the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025.
The winners of the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025 were announced during a virtual awards ceremony on 22 April. And ECK Restaurant in Devín, Slovakia, has been awarded a Gold Star for its wine list's Austrian section – a category sponsored by Austrian Wine.
Located west of Bratislava, ECK is focused on open-fire cooking and serves a six-course tasting menu. Whilst priding itself on the breadth of its pairing options (including non-alcoholic matches), the broader wine list traverses the globe, with a particularly impressive selection of wines from Austria.
“My Austrian heart was taken by surprise by the diversity and vintage depth,” says judge Stefan Neumann MS. “This list strikes a perfect balance – honouring traditional producers while embracing newcomers. The only thing better? Complete alignment among all jury members.”
Meet all the winners in the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025.
Runners Up
Silver Stars for Best Austrian Wine List in the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025 were awarded to:
Café Savoy, Prague, Czech Republic
Cardwell Cellars, Melbourne, Australia
Central Park Voorburg, Voorburg, Netherlands
Constance Halaveli Maldives, Maldives
La Dégustation Bohème Bourgeoise, Prague, Czech Republic
Mokotowska 69, Warsaw, Poland
Remouillage, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Rockpool Bar & Grill Perth, Perth, Australia
The Stonehouse, Santa Barbara, USA
Wickens at Royal Mail Hotel, Dunkeld, Australia
Judges
The jury panel for the Star Wine List of the Year International Open 2025 included four internationally-recognised sommeliers:
• Nina Jensen – Second-Best Sommelier of the World, 2019 and 2023 (ASI)
• Kathrine Larsen-Robert – Master Sommelier
• Stefan Neumann – Master Sommelier
• Julie Dupouy-Young – four-time Best Sommelier in Ireland
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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Austrian Wine
The Austrian Wine Marketing Board is based in Vienna, and is a national service body for the Austrian wine industry. The aim is to strategically support, coordinate and maintain quality and sales.
