Best Club Restaurant List

The Queen’s Club

queensclub.com.au

CUISINEModern Australian
WINE LIST Michael Solomons
WINEs ON LIST 380 (20 by the glass)
WINE PRICES $$$ ($25-$6 by the glass)

The Queen’s Club has long set the standard for service, dining experience and wine culture in club restaurants. Sommelier Michael Solomons has continuously evolved the offering with a lengthy, compelling, well-judged and balanced wine list. It’s a list many restaurants should aspire to, and ably reflects the current climate of wine drinking in Australia.

Solomons starts with a seriously good line up of grower-producer Champagne, and sets a baseline for wine aficionados with supreme producers of Mosel, Austria, Burgundy and Bordeaux. The global touchstones are mostly all met, but then there are the edgier wines from Australian lo-fi winemakers of the Adelaide Hills, the clutch of wines from international natural wine producers – and in a revolutionary move, a couple of skin-contact whites. Local wines are widely incorporated, and the remarkable runs of matured Australian classics are tempting throughout. Mike Bennie

Finalists

Newcastle Club

40 Newcomen St, Newcastle
(02) 4929 1224

newcastleclub.com.au

CUISINE Modern Australian
WINE LISTMatt Underwood & Walter Henao
WINEs ON LIST 490 (21 by the glass)
WINE PRICES $$$ ($25-$9.50 by the glass)

The Newcastle Club is doing its closest winemaking region proud. A list that boldly supports the Hunter Valley with sub-regional delineation of wines and a suite of back vintage releases that would have most wine geeks in a nervous head spin trying to chose. Support for local wine goes further than the Hunter, though, with a judicious selection of wines also coming from all other New South Wales wine producing reasons. It's a
great thing to see such an adherence to the 'locavore' concept. But the wine list doesn't stop at regional favourites, indeed, there's grower Champagne, benchmarks from the world's best known wine regions and a slew of interesting wines from Australia's younger generation avant garde wine producers. Few 'Club' venues would have petillant naturel wines from pint-sized producers adorning their lists, let alone Japanese and Greek red wines. The icing on the cake is the deep 'reserve' list of blue chip Australian icons across multiple vintages from Penfold's Grange and RWT, and Henschke Hill Of Grace. A very fine collection here.

Union University And Schools
Club

25 Bent St, Sydney
(02) 9232 8266

uusc.com.au

CUISINE Traditional & Modern Australian
WINE LIST Elliot Gray
WINEs ON LIST 189 (27 by the glass)
WINE PRICES $$$ ($20-$7 by the glass)

Established in 1857 and nestled in the heart of Sydney CBD, a club steeped in tradition. The club has a wine cellar that houses everything from great, old Bordeaux, through to Grange (and all at club prices if you’re lucky enough to be a member…). It is well balanced, great value, and 27 wines available by the glass; champagne starting at $10 a glass, and still wines from $7. A compelling reason of many to look up membership.

Best Club Restaurant List

The Queen’s Club

The Queen’s Club

Finalists

Newcastle Club

Union University And Schools
Club

Australia's
Wine List
of the Year
Awards

Wine List of the Year
Judy Hirst Award
Best City Restaurant

The Tony Hitchin Award
(Best New List)

Best Small Wine List
(50 Wines)

Best Small Wine List
(100 Wines)

Best List of Wines By the Glass

Best Food & Wine
Matching List

Best Listing Of Australian Wines

Best Listing of a Region's Wines