The Terrace Rooms & Wine has UK’s Best New Zealand List
When Star Wine List and The Buyer celebrated the best wine lists in London and the teams behind them for the fourth time on March 4, we had one national category: Best New Zealand List, presented by New Zealand Wine. The Terrace Rooms & Wine in Ventnor won the Gold Star in the category.
After taking home the award, Ashley and Tom Fahey, owners of the Terrace Rooms & Wine on the Isle of Wight, said that their interest in New Zealand originally came from Ashley spending a year there.
"Ashley lived in NZ for a year, and she found out that what they drank in New Zealand was not really what we drank here. So, this kind of sparked us to investigating what was there. Things like the Pinot Gris, the Albarinos, the Syrahs and the Montepulcianos. The climate in New Zealand means these wines, almost everywhere, are maritime. So, you get so much ripeness and freshness in the wines. And I really think it's such an unexplored category. New Zealand doesn't have quite as many prestigious producers as other places, so it gets overlooked a little bit,” said Tom Fahey.
Maybe this year's award will help with that.
”It really means a lot to us. We're not London, we don't have a Michelin star. It’s literally us, a kitchen porter, and a waitress," said Ashley Fahey.
Nevertheless, the restaurant's New Zealand wine selection surely impressed jury member Heidi Mäkinen:
”This restaurant has a broad selection including top producers and some mature wines, showing how New Zealand can produce world class wines of different varieties. The diversity of different producers and styles is exemplary and well worth acknowledging.”
The Silver Star winners in the New Zealand category were:
HIDE, London
OXO Tower Restaurant, London
The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury
UK is included to our 2023-2024 International tour, and this was the fourth time we were running it in UK, in partnership with The Buyer.
Jury
The jury of our fourth UK awards was filled with sommelier champions:
• Heidi Mäkinen MW
• Piotr Pietras MS
• Julie Dupouy-Young
• Federico Moccia
• Raj Parr
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.
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New Zealand Wine
The national organisation for the New Zealand's grape and wine industry.
