Young Gun of Wine has revealed the trophy winners from its 2019 Wineslinger Top Venues - the wine gurus’ guide to the best haunts across Australia right now.
The four trophies include ‘Wineslinger’ for the venue that secured the top spot in the list, the publicly voted ‘People’s Choice’, along with new additions for the ‘Best New Haunt’ and ‘Maverick’ - recognising a venue pushing the boundaries of possibility.
In 2019 the trophy winners are:
● Wineslinger of the Year – 10 Williams Street, Sydney (pictured above)
● Wineslinger People’s Choice – Settlers Tavern, Margaret River
● Wineslinger Best New Haunt – Wines of While, Perth
● Wineslinger Maverick – Supernatural Cellars, Byron Bay
Created by a panel of 100 wine and hospitality experts - comprised in equal parts of winemakers, sommeliers and journalists - the Wineslinger Top 50 is the wine gurus’ guide to the best haunts across Australia right now.
The Wineslinger trophy winners were revealed at an awards ceremony in Melbourne, on Monday, October 28, 2019.
Young Gun of Wine and Wineslinger founder Rory Kent said: “The wine landscape has changed so much in recent years, becoming more and more dynamic – from the products available to the places in which to discover and enjoy wine.
"This year's Top 50 list demonstrated that diversity and colour: from a knockabout Aussie pub, which is this country's largest account for Krug Champagne, where it's drunk out of butcher glasses; to an underground haunt where you blend 1950s nightclub fine dining with rock n roll ethos; to places that blur the lines between restaurant and bar; from CBD hole-in-the-wall laneway venues to regional locations that have some of the best wine lists around. But the common thread with all the Top 50 venues is a shared sense of fun and adventure when it comes to wine.
“Our panel of 100 leading sommeliers, winemakers and wine/hospitality journalists chose Sydney's 10 William Street as their number one Wineslinger in Australia. For good reason too, as 10 William Street has been a leader in this domain: offering exceptional food in a relaxed setting, with a banging wine list that offers a sense of discovery to even the most well-versed wine lover.”
“Wines of While (above) have brought natural wine to Perth, with an admirably strict level of adherence to a definition of the term ‘natural wine’, which can be so loosely used. Only open for a little more than a year, they have made quite an impression, and won the most votes from our 100-strong panel of any venue under two years of age, thus making them the ‘Best New Haunt’.”
“With the ‘People's Choice’, it's so exciting to see that Settlers Tavern (above) has won the hearts, minds and votes of the wine-loving public, as they're such a unique destination – a place that is so fun and laid-back, but with such a seriously deep wine offering. You can get a parma, see a band and drink some of the finest wine around, or discover a new local micro-producer. They're a great pin-up for this award. Makes you want to jump on a plane and get to Margaret River just for Settlers Tavern – and on that, following Harvest Newrybar's win last year, it's great to see another regional location take the People's Choice home.”
“We have awarded the ‘Maverick’ to Supernatural in Byron Bay. They've had the gumption to go and set up a business in a regional location – and yet from the start the response was, why didn't anyone do this sooner! That's a sign that they're onto something. They don't employ sommeliers and shun winespeak for relatable language. They have no cutlery – people eat with their hands. They don't offer cocktails – just wines, and there are about two beers on the list. They've got a strong wine concept that favours organic and biodynamic farming, but they're not dogmatic about winemakers being completely hands-free in the winery, as wines left to raise themselves can sometimes turn nasty! Supernatural are pushing the boundaries, challenging the status quo, remaking and reshaping things, and that's why we've named them the ‘Maverick’.”
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