Ophelia’s wine list recognised with White Star status by The Star Wine List

The team at Ophelia, Gosforth, recently learned that they had been included in The Star Wine List White Star listings.

The Star Wine List’s White Star award recognises venues that have interesting wine lists that have been reviewed and approved for inclusion. After which they are then put forward for the next stage of the process, which will involve a visit by one of the awarding body’s team or ambassadors with a view to possibly awarding coveted Red Star status to the venue in question, part of a continuous stringent evaluation process.

Star Wine List is a guide, it’s totally independent and the decision to select a venue for either Red Star or a White Star status is completely down to the team of Star Wine list and their ambassadors.

Perhaps most importantly Star Wine List does not charge venues to be listed by and a venue cannot pay to be listed either and anyone can recommend a venue to them for consideration; including restaurateurs and sommeliers.

Those venues are then added to The Star Wine List’s rolling list of places to evaluate, for consideration for both White Star and Red Star listings. The team and the ambassadors continually monitor and update their selections, and as a result add and remove venues throughout the course of the year.

Star Wine List is the premier guide to great wine-led bars and restaurants, covering 40 countries on all continents, with more than 2700 wine lists that users can check out on the Star Wine List app and website to view notable selections before they venture out and visit. The organisation also runs a round of yearly awards in each of the countries in which it operates, The Star Wine List of the Year, which reward the top wine lists in specific categories and the work that’s gone into creating those lists within the venues in which they are served.

In the last twenty years things have changed in the UK when it comes to wine and wine selections. Which is one of the reasons the Star Wine List team launched in the UK in December 2020, with the eventual award winners going on to take part in the  Global Wine List Final.

There’s been a considerable change when it comes to wine and that’s something that resonates with venues up and down the country, particularly as wine is no longer just an add on to a meal. Wine is something that has become a main feature of the offer in its own right for many restaurants and bars up and down the country, often leading to venues becoming wine destinations in their own right, very similar to many of their international counterparts.

As a result, the role of the sommelier has become increasingly important in the UK hospitality industry. We’ve had a very strong wine trade in the UK for several hundred years, and there’s a reason for that because historically we’ve not produced much wine. As a result wine merchants and sommeliers spent a great deal of time searching out the best from far flung corners of the globe and that’s something that is still reflected in many restaurant wine lists to this day – great bottles of wine carefully chosen by experts to be enjoyed alongside quality food.

Ophelia’s General Manager Matt Francombe, said: ‘’We’re really happy to achieve White Star status from the Star Wine List. It goes some way to recognising the work we’ve done in pulling together a really interesting wine programme. We’ve taken a great deal of care sourcing from among our favourite regional vineyards, predominantly from France, to deliver wines that marry perfectly with Nick’s French inspired regional cuisine. We’ll continue to push and hope that in the fullness of time we can achieve further recognition for our wine list.’’