Leading wine and lifestyle magazine, New York based Wine Spectator has announced Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney as the first ever recipient in the Southern Hemisphere to receive a Grand Award in the recently published 2010 Restaurant Wine List Awards, which honour the word’s best wine lists. Click here to buy Neil Perry's great Cookbooks from cookbooks.com.au
Held by only 75 restaurants worldwide as of 2010, the Grand Award is given to restaurants that show an uncompromising, passionate devotion to the quality of their wine program. These restaurants all have passed rigorous evaluations, demonstrating that their wine lists, service, cuisine and ambience are worthy of the program’s highest honours.
Since its inception just over one year ago, Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney’s has been the recipient of many prestigious wine and restaurant awards. The wine list features over 3,600 different wines, ranging on vintages as far back as 1795. Although many of the legendary wines of the 20th Century are represented on the wine list, over 400 wines priced below $100 are also featured.
Directors of Rockpool Bar & Grill Sydney, David Doyle, Neil Perry, and Trish Richards were thrilled with this award win and commended Sophie Otton and her team for their outstanding expertise, service and dedication to successfully presenting and managing the extensive list.
"To be one of 75 restaurants in the world and the only one in Australia in the 30 year history of the awards to receive Wine Spectator’s ‘Grand Award’ is a great honour and one that we are incredibly proud of," said Doyle. "It reinforces that Australia is firmly placed on the map in terms of being a world-class wine and restaurant destination."
Rockpool Bar & Grill Melbourne and Rockpool Sydney were also commended and received a ‘Best of Award of Excellence’, which is granted to restaurants that clearly offer a well-chosen selection of quality producers along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style, while Spice Temple Sydney won an ‘Award of Excellence’ for its concise wine list of 100 wines.