Melbourne’s Circl has claimed the top prize at Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards 2025, taking home the coveted national title along with seven additional category awards in a remarkable showing for the wine-led restaurant that opened just last year.
The venue, located in Melbourne’s Punch Lane, dominated the ceremony held at NSW Parliament House on 29 September before more than 300 industry professionals, securing wins across multiple categories including: Australia’s Best Restaurant Wine List – City, Australia’s Best List of Wines by the Glass, Australia’s Best Champagne List, Australia’s Best Sparkling Wine List, Best Wine List Victoria, and Australia’s Best Listing of Victorian Wines.
The restaurant also earned the Sommeliers Choice Award, voted for by fellow Australian sommeliers.
Circl’s Xavier Vigier received the prestigious Judy Hirst Award, recognising the sommelier responsible for curating the winning list. The achievement is particularly notable as Vigier previously won the same honour just three years ago with his wine list at Ten Minutes by Tractor.
Senior judge, Andrew Graham, praised Circl’s winning wine list for its “eye-watering depth” that redefines accessibility on wine lists. “So often, the great wines of the world seem almost mythical,” Graham said. “Yet the astonishing list from Circl resets what is accessible. Led by a truly sublime offering of wines by the glass, which is gleefully heavy with famous ‘unicorns’, there is eye-watering depth throughout this list.”
The victory marks the second consecutive year a Victorian venue has won the national title, following Gimlet at Cavendish House’s win in 2024. Circl offers more than 150 wines by the glass to pair with its seasonal, Scandinavian-inspired menu.
Hall of Fame inductees
The 2025 awards saw record entry numbers, with a 10% increase in venues receiving the coveted Three Glass rating, the competition’s highest distinction. Chairman of Judges Peter Forrestal noted the education of sommeliers is “at an all-time high.”
Six venues were inducted into Australia’s Wine List of the Year Hall of Fame in 2025, requiring winners to have either won the national title once or claimed a state/territory or Australian category award three times while maintaining their glass rating annually.
The new Hall of Fame inductees include:
- Cru Bar & Cellar (Brisbane) – with an impressive six distinctions, most notably Australia’s Wine List of the Year 2022, plus three-year wins for Best Wine Bar List, Best Wine List Queensland, Best Wine by the Glass List, Best Champagne List, and Best Listing of Queensland Wines
- Melbourne Supper Club – Best Wine Bar List winner in 2008, 2011, and 2012
- Stillwater (Hobart) – Best Wine List Tasmania in 2016, 2017, and 2018
- The Boat House (Canberra) – Best Listing of ACT Wines in 2019, 2020, and 2021
- Gimlet at Cavendish House – 2024 national winner
- Bentley – Best Digestif List in 2017, 2019, and 2024
State winners shine
Other state standouts included Sydney’s Bennelong, which won Best Wine List NSW and was named a finalist for both the national title and Australia’s Best Restaurant Wine List – City. Judges applauded the Sydney Opera House restaurant’s balanced list, created to honour staff past and present for its 10th anniversary.
Brisbane’s Agnes Restaurant secured Best Wine List Queensland for the third consecutive year, with judges praising its dedication to discovering new Australian producers. Other state winners included The Salopian Inn (Best Wine List SA), Fico (Best Wine List TAS), and Gibney (Best Wine List WA), with the latter three venues claiming their state titles for the second year running.
Capitol Bar & Grill in Canberra also earned back-to-back wins for Best Wine List ACT and Australia’s Best Listing of ACT Wines.
Maison Bâtard, the latest addition to the LUCAS Restaurant Group portfolio, received the Tony Hitchin Award for Australia’s Best New Wine List, with judges noting its extensive by-the-glass offerings and nods to upmarket French venues.
The awards, established in 1993 by Rob Hirst OAM and his late wife Judy, along with Tucker Seabrook, honour the skill and resources invested in developing exceptional wine lists.
Each list is independently judged by industry professionals, including Master Sommeliers, Masters of Wine, and wine experts, who evaluate content, balance, venue suitability, presentation, and pricing.
Award founder Rob Hirst said the quality of wine lists across Australia “has never been better,” with a clear interest from sommeliers and venue owners in building harmony between food menus and wine lists.
