Star Wine List of the Year is celebrating the best wine lists in the Baltic countries for the very first time, with Time to Wine Rotermanni in Tallinn walking off with the much-coveted top prize, the Grand Prix award. At the event held November 19th in Tallin, several other top Baltic restaurants and wine bars also received Gold Stars in recognition of the quality of their lists.
November 20th – “We were delighted to find some great wine lists in the Baltics category, although there is still much more work to do to open the spectrum of wines from around the world, especially from the New World and other less traditional wine regions,” said jury member Paz Levinson. “There is a classicism behind the lists but we found very fair winners in each category.”
Star Wine List of the Year is a celebration of the best wine lists around the world, and the teams behind them. The prize is awarded in eleven categories, and the winners in each received a Gold Star with several qualifying for the international final, which will be held in June 2024.
The Baltics event took place during the Food and Wine Festival in Tallinn on Sunday 19 November, in cooperation with the Baltic sommelier associations. Nyetimber, Austrian Wine and Symington Family Estates were category sponsors.
About the jury
The jury for the Star Wine List of the Year Baltics 2023 comprises a panel of top international sommeliers:
Julie Dupouy-Young, Best Sommelier of Ireland several times
Heidi Mäkinen, Master of Wine
Piotr Pietras, Master Sommelier
Paz Levinson, named Best Sommelier of Americas
Winners
Grand Prix
The best overall list
Gold Star Baltics overall: Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn, Estonia
Best Long List
The best wine list with over 600 listings
Gold Star Estonia and Baltics overall: Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn
Gold Star Latvia: Noble Wine Bar, Riga
Best Austrian Wine List
The best wine list with Austrian wine, a category presented by Austrian Wine
Gold Star Latvia and the Baltics overall: Barents, Riga
Gold Star Estonia: Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn
Gold Star Lithuania: SOMM The Wine Bar, Vilnius
Best Sparkling Wine List
The best list with sparkling wine, a category presented by Nyetimber
Gold Stars Estonia and the Baltics overall: Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn & Chin Chin wine bar, Tallinn
Gold Star Latvia: Barents, Riga
Gold Star Lithuania: Restaurant Pacai, Vilnius
Best Medium-Sized List
The best wine list with 200-600 listings
Gold Star Latvia and Baltics overall: Barents, Riga
Gold Star Estonia: Chin Chin wine bar, Tallinn
Gold Star Lithuania: Restaurant Pacai, Vilnius
Best California Wine List
The best wine list with wines from California
Gold Star Latvia and the Baltics overall: Tauro Riga, Riga
Gold Star Estonia: Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn
Best By the Glass List
The best wine list by the glass
Gold Star Estonia and the Baltics overall: Time to Wine Rotermanni, Tallinn
Gold Star Latvia: Nomad, Riga
Gold Star Lithuania: SOMM The Wine Bar, Vilnius
Sustainable Wine List
Recognizes a wine list that has put extra emphasis on the wine program’s impact, including wine growing, winemaking, packaging and transport.
Gold Star Baltics overall: Fotografiska Tallinn, Tallinn, Estonia
Best Short List
The best wine list with fewer than 200 listings
Gold Star Latvia and Baltics overall: Lowine bar, Riga
Gold Star Estonia: 38 Restaurant, Tallinn
Gold Star Lithuania: 14 Horses, Vilnius
Best Newcomer List
Recognizes a venue that has opened recently
Gold Star Estonia and the Baltics overall: Chin Chin wine bar, Tallinn
Gold Star Latvia: Lowine bar, Riga
Gold Star Lithuania: 14 Horses, Vilnius
Best Portuguese Wine List
The best list with Portuguese wine, a category presented by Symington Family Estates
Gold Star Lithuania and the Baltics overall: Restaurant Pacai, Vilnius
Gold Star Estonia: 180 Degrees Restaurant, Tallinn
Gold Star Latvia: Riviera, Riga
Star Wine List is the award-winning guide to great wine bars and wine restaurants around the world. It is available as an app and on www.starwinelist.com. It was launched in Stockholm (Sweden) in 2017, and is now live in more than 35 countries in the world. All venues are selected by top wine professionals.
