Crystal Year for Auckland Restaurant

6 August 2015

Crystal Year for Auckland Restaurant

Bistro gains prestigious wine award – for 15th successive year

Count them if you will. Fifteen stylish logos gracing the top of the wine list at O’Connell St Bistro.

And that adds up to 15 consecutive years of Awards of Excellence for the bistro’s wine list from the prestigious New York wine magazine Wine Spectator.

O’Connell Street Bistro is one of only a handful of restaurants in New Zealand to have achieved any Wine Spectator Award of Excellence.

The awards recognise establishments whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are appropriate to their cuisine and appeal to a wide range of wine lovers.

To qualify for an Award of Excellence the list must present complete, accurate wine information. It is for lists that deliver a well-chosen selection of quality producers, along with a thematic match to the menu in both price and style.

O’Connell St Bistro proprietor Chris Upton says everyone at the restaurant is supremely proud to have achieved the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence again this year.

“To have gained one of these awards for 15 years in a row is great recognition for the ongoing wine buying programme we have at the bistro and the many labels that sit on our list and in our cellar.”

The O’Connell St Bistro wine list features around 290 offerings from all the major regions and most important producers from around the world as well as iconic wines from New Zealand. And the bistro stock rarely drops below 1500 bottles.

The wines are carefully selected and cellared to ensure a wide range of choice in every style and variety with one of the most extensive half bottle selections of any restaurant in the country, Upton says.

The wide selection of wines available by the glass changes seasonally to provide diners with a matching accompaniment to food.

The Bistro’s house champagne is Louis Roederer. It is one of the largest family-owned Champagne Houses, founded in 1776 and has been synonymous with the world’s great champagnes ever since.

And Upton’s favourite? “When we opened more than 17 years ago we had three bottles of ‘88 Chateau Mouton Rothschild Pauillac 1er Grand Cru ($1980). We have only one left and I am not going to reveal where the other two went.”

And his best value choice? “Definitely an ’07 Bell Hill from Canterbury ($220). You would likely pay the same price for a current vintage.”

A crystal year indeed*.

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