Two Osaka restaurants share the win for Best Japanese Wine List in Japan 2025
It was impossible for the jury to choose one winner in the Best Japanese Wine List category at this week's Star Wine List of the Year Japan competition, and so teams from both Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery and Chi-Fu stepped up onto the stage to receive a Gold Star at ProWine Tokyo.
The first Star Wine List of the Year Japan included a local category for the Best Japanese Wine List, presented by Craft Wine Shop and there were great smiles from the two winning teams when receiving the award from Star Wine List’s Founder and Publisher Krister Bengtsson in Tokyo.
Gold Star winner Chi-Fu is a renowned Chinese restaurant, established in 1947 and driven by a commitment to modern culinary innovation under the direction of third-generation chef Koji Azuma. It also boasts a long list with Japanese wines, described by jury member Toru Takamatsu MS as “a great selection of up-and-coming, quality-focused Japanese growers with some benchmark classics.”
The Shimanouchi Fujimaru Winery is Osaka's sole urban winery, a striking two-store establishment with the winemaking facility's large tanks visible from the Italian restaurant upstairs. “This is a very diverse Japanese wine list including wines from all over Japan (it includes almost every prefecture),” said jury member Reeze Choi. “Besides the high-quality, well-known international grapes, there are also many hybrid, American, and local grapes, thus showcasing the wine culture and landscape of Japan overall. A Japanese wine bible!”
Both Gold Star venues are to be found in Osaka, often hailed as the ‘nation's kitchen’. The city boasts a dynamic and deeply ingrained food culture that goes far beyond its famous street food – its rich tapestry gastronomy, from hearty and affordable local specialties to the growing appreciation for both domestic and international wines, creates a unique and compelling culinary destination. In fact, Osaka accounted for eight out of the 11 prizes given out at Star Wine List of the Year Japan 2025, including the highest honour of Grand Prix, which went to popular wine bar Le Chat Noir.
Winners in the international categories (not the local 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.
Meet all the winners in Star Wine List of the Year Japan 2025.
Runners Up
Silver Stars in the Best Japanese Wine List category were awarded to:
Ăn Đi, Tokyo
Dining 33, Tokyo
Hajime, Osaka
Komorebino, Kyoto
La Vigne Dining Fûdo, Nagano
Les Souvenirs, Osaka
Judges
The expert jury panel for Star Wine List of the Year Japan 2025 included four world-renowned experts:
• Toru Takamatsu – Master Sommelier
• Stephen Wong – Master of Wine
• Paz Levinson – Best Sommelier of the Americas 2015 (ASI)
• Reeze Choi – Third Best Sommelier of the World 2023 (ASI)
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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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.
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