A Christchurch wine bar has been judged among the best in the world winning a ‘Best of’ Award of Excellence in New York.

Cellar Door at the Arts Centre of Christchurch won the coveted prize at last night’s Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards, run by US magazine Wine Spectator.

The magazine, considered the world’s leading authority on wine, began its awards programme in 1981 to recognise the world’s best wine lists.

Their Awards of Excellence are awarded annually to establishments for their wine programme, judged on the quality, representation and diversity of the wine selection, presentation, and suitability for an establishment’s style.

Cellar Door was one of only two in New Zealand in 2024 to make the Wine Spectator list.

Cellar Door director and founder Tim Ogle said, “We are really so stoked to get an award from Wine Spectator, let alone to make the ‘Best of’ list.”

“We have pretty lofty goals, and we always thought if we could meet them we would probably have a world-class product, it’s a real testament to our programme to get this international recognition,” Ogle said.

“Our wine programme is a big job and a team effort. Our attention goes into doing our thing as well as we can every day, so we are humbled for a global publication to acknowledge us,” he said.

To win a Best of Award of Excellence, a wine list must display excellent breadth across multiple winegrowing regions and/or significant vertical depth of top producers, along with superior presentation. Typically offering 350 or more selections, these restaurants are destinations for serious wine lovers, showing a deep commitment to wine, both in the cellar and through their service team.

Cellar Door’s award singles out their selection of wine tasting ‘flights’, unique in New Zealand. Over 20 curated flights are offered every day, showcasing grape variety, winemaking style, region, terroir, vintage etc, presented together with notes so customers can engage as much as they wish, or just enjoy the wines.