Star Wine List Celebrates Ireland's Top Wine Lists @ SommiT 2023 - Here are the Finalists!

Star Wine List Celebrates Ireland's Top Wine Lists @ SommiT 2023 - Here are the Finalists

You never know who may drop into Cork's L'Atitude.
Perhaps natural wine "royalty" as is the case in this pic.

Star Wine List Awards are held in New York, London and Cape Town and this year they are coming to Ireland for the very first time as part of SommiT 2023.  

The International Sommelier jury for the 2023 Star Wine List of the Year in Ireland 2023 were Pascaline Lepeltier, Veronique Rivest, Julie Dupouy-Young, and Heidi Mäkinen M.W.

The Irish Finalists for the 2023 Star Wine List have just been announced.  The award ceremony will take place on Monday 9^th October 2023, at Waterford’s Medieval Museum and Wine Vaults as part of SommiT 2023. (Invitation Only)

Finalists Grand Prix:  The best list overall, the winner in this category will qualify for the International Final which takes place in June 2024.  The Irish winner will compete against the category winners from other countries in the global final of the Star Wine List.  The Star Wine List winner representing Ireland will be announced at the 2023 Star Wine List ceremony.

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

Here are the finalists:

Best Long Wine List (more than 600 listings)

● 64 Wine, Glasthule

● Monty's of Kathmandu, Dublin

● The Restaurant at Ballyfin Demesne, Ballyfin

Best Medium-Sized List (200-600 Listings) (Sponsored by Chateau Tour des Termes)

● Ely Wine Bar, Dublin

● L'Atitude 51, Cork

● Piglet Wine Bar, Dublin

● The Barton Restaurant at the K Club, Straffan

● Uno Mas, Dublin

Best Short List (less than 200 listings)

● Bar Pez, Dublin

● D'Olier Street Restaurant, Dublin

● Etto, Dublin

● Fish Shop, Dublin

● Frank’s, Dublin

● Note, Dublin

● Potager, Skerries

● UNioN Wine, Bar & Kitchen, Waterford

Best By the Glass List

● Bar Pez, Dublin

● Daróg Wine Bar, Galway

● Dede at Customs House, Baltimore

● Ely Wine Bar, Dublin

● L'Atitude 51, Cork

● Potager, Skerries

● UNioN Wine, Bar & Kitchen, Waterford

Best Sparkling Wine List (Sponsored by Nyetimber)

● 64 Wine, Glasthule

● D'Olier Street Restaurant, Dublin

● Dede at Customs House, Baltimore

● Frank’s, Dublin

● L'Atitude 51, Cork

● Monty's of Kathmandu, Dublin

Best Austrian Wine List (Sponsored by Austrian Wine)

● 64 Wine, Glasthule

● Ely Wine Bar, Dublin

● Monty's of Kathmandu, Dublin

Best California Wine List (Sponsored by DAOU)

● 64 Wine, Glasthule

● Casper & Giumbini's, Dun Laoghaire

● Monty's of Kathmandu, Dublin

Sustainable Wine List (Sponsored by Familia Torres)

● Daróg Wine Bar, Galway

● Dede at Customs House, Baltimore

● L'Atitude 51, Cork

● Potager, Skerries

● The Pear Tree Café & Wine Bar, Galway

Best Newcomer List

● Bar Pez, Dublin

● D'Olier Street Restaurant, Dublin

● Daróg Wine Bar, Galway

● Forbes Street by Gareth Mullins, Dublin

● Hawksmoor, Dublin

media release via Jean Smullen

Frogs Attack #1. Do It Again. Soon!

Frogs Attack #1. Do It Again. Soon!

They came. They saw. They conquered. They, collectively the Frogs Attack, being two pioneering natural winemakers (Jean Foillard and Thierry Puzelat), a guerrilla chef (Antony Cointre) and a comedian (Sebastien Barrier) and they cornered their willing victims in a packed Latitude 51. 

Cork’s leading wine bar was the ideal venue for the French influenced evening. Beverley and her staff caught the informal spirit of the occasion perfectly and we wined and dined, and laughed a lot too. 

Hard to keep up with Sebastien as he roamed between the two floors. He even wandered outside at one stage, startling the customers by banging on the window and, with his phone, taking photos of the surprised faces. We were wondering was the ebullient funny man in trouble a few minutes later when a couple of cops appeared at the door but nothing to do with Sebastien!

May I introduce Jean Foillard to you, via Le Caveau catalogue: A vigneron like Jean Foillard doesn’t come around too often. Jean Foillard and his wife Agnès started their handkerchief-size domain in Morgon in the 1980’s when the majority of appellation, driven by big negoces, were (and are still) producing industrial wines. Undeterred by their surroundings, Jean and Agnès decided to embark on their own path. They returned to honest vine growing and wine making the way their grandparents did. The vines are grown organically. The same attention is paid in their cellar. There are no additives in the cellar to hide shortcuts in the vineyards because there are no shortcuts in the vineyards. The hand-harvested grapes are fermented using natural yeasts only. 

Cooking done and Le Gros relaxes 

And, quoting from the same source, Thierry Puzelat: Having met and worked with Francois Dutheil (Bandol) and Marcel Lapierre (Morgon), two pioneers of the ‘natural’ wine movement, Thierry decided he too, wanted to make his wines as naturally as possible. Puzelat’s wines are quite unique, they are highly expressive of their terroir, authentic, filled with life and have very strong personality.

Le Caveau borrowed, as we do here, this quote from Jamie Goode: ‘Thierry and Jean-Marie Puzelat—brothers—are natural wine royalty. They are making some of the Loire’s most interesting wines and are at the heart of the natural wine movement.’

Behind the counter: Jules and Beverley

And the wines really are superb. The night’s list: Thierry’s Clos du Tue Boeuf, blanc and rouge, and the three Morgons from Jean, all 2016, including his “Cote du Py” and the “Corcelette”. And to make things even better, they were available at shop (rather than restaurant) prices. A nice touch that!

According to his website, Antony Cointre, aka Le Gros, is not an ordinary chef, he is an enthusiastic cook. He does not have a permanent restaurant because he likes to change atmosphere and to touch lots of different audiences. …. making tasting meals in 10 steps at home for 6 or popular banquets of 650 people or even weddings in unlikely conditions. 

And Le Gros, in the tiny kitchen, came up with some tasty dishes at L’Atitude. They included a Feta and Kumquat starter, then a Monkfish carpaccio with Harissa sauce, three French cheeses with date, and dessert of chocolate and, believe or not, rhubarb.

Sebastien attacks the window!

In between the six courses, Sebastian kept us entertained and joined up with some Irish friends to play some tunes. And all the time, we were sipping and enjoying those natural wines, the real stars of the show!

I’ll finish with a message to the frogs: Please attack us again, soon!