Tallinn's Veino wins Best By the Glass List in the Baltics 2024
The Best By the Glass Lists across the three Baltic states have been named, with Estonia's Veino coming in top overall.
At an awards ceremony in Riga on Sunday, 15 September, Star Wine List presented Gold Stars to the Best By the Glass Lists in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
Tallinn wine bar Veino took the Gold Star for Estonia and was named overall winner for the Baltics. Co-owners and sommeliers Gerd Tarand and Paul Ojam accepted the award, which was presented by the category's sponsor, Wynns.
"The diversity across whites and reds is just great (I rarely see Ao Yun by the glass, for example)," says judge Piotr Petras MS. "Prices are coherent as well, leaving guests the pleasure to really enjoy the by-the-glass offering.”
“This means a lot,” said Veino’s co-owner and sommelier Gerd Tarand, when presented with this award. “We made a bold choice to put almost all our wines by the glass, so it’s an exciting opportunity.”
When asked how Veino helps guests navigate the broad selection, co-owner and sommelier Paul Ojam explained: “we don’t actually give our opinion - we have a nice discussion about what they want in the taste profile and we give them suggestions, give them a little taste, and usually we get it right on that first or maybe second or third times.”
Gold Stars were also awarded to Riviera in Riga, with the jury noting its Coravin selection in particular, and HeJi in Vilnius, for both the quality and quantity of its wines, especially those of Champagne.
All three winners will now be entered into the Star Wine List of the Year International Final, in summer 2025, where they will compete against the Best By the Glass Lists from around the world.
Runners up
Silver Stars were awarded to:
Fox Den, Tallinn, Estonia
Gaspar’s, Vilnius, Lithuania
Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn, Estonia
Vyno Vieta, Vilnius, Lithuania
Whitehouse Restaurant, Riga, Latvia
Jury
The awards were decided by our global panel of wine experts:
• Paz Levinson, named Best Sommelier of Americas 2015
• Salvatore Castano, Best Sommelier of Europe and Africa 2021
• Piotr Pietras, Master Sommelier
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 summer 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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Wynns
With the longest-established vineyards in the region, Wynns’ history is deeply intertwined with Coonawarra. Wynns created the famous label that has made the triple-gabled winery a recognised symbol of heritage and refinement in Australia.
