The inaugural Star Wine List of the Year Japan – meet the finalists
The anticipation is building for the first ever Star Wine List of the Year Japan awards, taking place this April at ProWine Tokyo.
On 15 April 2025, we will announce the winners in the first Star Wine List of the Year competition in Japan. In the meantime, we are delighted to announce the Gold Star contenders, as chosen by our expert jury panel.
Winners in the international categories will automatically be entered into the Star Wine List of the Year International Final, which will be held in Vienna this June and see teams from around the world vying for global Gold Stars.
Scroll down to meet our finalists in Japan.
Judges
The expert jury panel for Star Wine List of the Year Japan 2025 includes:
• Toru Takamatsu – Master Sommelier
• Paz Levinson – Best Sommelier of the Americas 2015 (ASI)
• Stephen Wong – Master of Wine
• Reeze Choi – Third Best Sommelier of the World 2023 (ASI)
Finalists
INTERNATIONAL CATEGORIES:
Grand Prix
– The best list of the overall competition.
The finalists and winner will be announced at the event.
Best Long List
– For wine lists with more than 600 references.
Finalists:
Apicius, Tokyo
Il Ristorante Luca Fantin, Tokyo
Komorebino, Kyoto
Legrand Filles & Fils, Tokyo
Sézanne, Tokyo
Best Medium-Sized List
– Recognises the best wine list with 200-600 references.
Finalists:
Ăn Đi, Tokyo
Chi-Fu, Osaka
CYCLE, Tokyo
Dining 33, Tokyo
Maz, Tokyo
MUNI Alain Ducasse, Kyoto
Nogizaka Shin, Tokyo
Restaurant Ryuzu, Tokyo
Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery, Osaka
Best Short List
– Recognises the best wine list with fewer than 200 listings.
Finalists:
AZ, Osaka
Downtown, Okinawa city
FUL, Kyoto
Kagaribi, Nagano
La Vigne Dining Fûdo, Nagano
Le Bistro Tokyo, Tokyo
Le Chat Noir, Osaka
Rangitoto Tokyo, Tokyo
Wine & Tempura Araki, Fukuoka
Best By the Glass List
– Recognises the best ‘by the glass’ list.
Finalists:
Chi-Fu, Osaka
CYCLE, Tokyo
Hajime, Osaka
Maz, Tokyo
MUNI Alain Ducasse, Kyoto
Restaurant Ryuzu, Tokyo
Sézanne, Tokyo
Tinc Gana, Tokyo
Best Sparkling Wine List
– Recognises the best list for sparkling wines.
This category is presented by Nyetimber
Finalists:
Bistro Champagne, Osaka
Chi-Fu, Osaka
Gyoza Bar Chaozu, Tokyo
Legrand Filles & Fils, Tokyo
Les Souvenirs, Osaka
MUNI Alain Ducasse, Kyoto
Nogizaka Shin, Tokyo
Restaurant Ryuzu, Tokyo
Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery, Osaka
Best Newcomer List
– Recognises a venue that has recently opened.
Finalists:
Esprit C. Kei Ginza, Tokyo
FUL, Kyoto
La Vigne Dining Fûdo, Nagano
Sustainable Wine List
– Recognises a wine list that has put extra emphasis on the wine program’s overall impact, including vine growing, winemaking, packaging and transport.
Finalists:
Ăn Đi, Tokyo
CYCLE, Tokyo
Downtown, Okinawa city
Hajime, Osaka
Best Austrian Wine List
– Recognises the best list for wines from Austria.
This category is presented by Austrian Wine
Finalists:
Ăn Đi, Tokyo
Chi-Fu, Osaka
Ginza Soseki, Tokyo
Ginza Soseki Arata, Tokyo
Le Chat Noir, Osaka
Restaurant Ryuzu, Tokyo
Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery, Osaka
LOCAL CATEGORIES:
Best Japanese Wine List
– Recognises the best list for wines from Japan.
This category is presented by Craft Wine Shop
Finalists:
Ăn Đi, Tokyo
Chi-Fu, Osaka
Dining 33, Tokyo
Hajime, Osaka
Komorebino, Kyoto
La Vigne Dining Fûdo, Nagano
Les Souvenirs, Osaka
Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery, Osaka
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.
Nyetimber
English sparkling producer Nyetimber is the leading producer of sparkling wine in the country.
Craft Wine Shop
Craft Wine Shop is an e-commerce site where you can purchase Japanese wines.
We have over 1,000 varieties of Japanese wines from Hokkaido to Kyushu.
Through Craft Wine Shop, both professionals and connoisseurs of wine from around the world can get Japanese wine in small lots.
We would like people all over the world to enjoy Japanese wine.
Kanpai !
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