Newcastle Restaurant Shortlisted for National Wine Award

The team from Solstice, Newcastle, have been shortlisted in the annual Star Wine List of the Year Awards for the UK, in the Best Short List category, which recognises the best wine list with fewer than 200 listings.

The awards return to the UK on 23 March 2026, marking the sixth year the awards have been held in the country. The shortlisted finalists will gather at 1 Hotel Mayfair to discover who will be presented with a coveted Gold Star.

Winners in 10 out of 13 of the award categories, which are classed as ‘international’ awards, will automatically be entered into the Star Wine List of the Year Global Final 2026, which will take place this June in southern Sweden, in association with Terra Skåne.

This year’s esteemed panel of judges, including Richard Hemming, Master of Wine, Kathrine Larsen-Robert, Master Sommelier, Stephen Wong, Master of Wine and Mikk Parre, Best Sommelier of Europe, Africa and the Middle East (ASI), selected 66 venues across the competition’s 13 categories from the hundreds of entries submitted this year.

Award categories include Best Long List, Best By-The-Glass List, Best Sparkling Wine List, Best Newcomer List, and Best Rosé Wine List, to name a few.

Rachel Lenham, Solstice’s restaurant manager, remarked: ‘’To be recognised in the Best Short List category at the UK Star Wine Awards is a real honour, and a reflection of the extraordinary care our sommelier, Conor, brings to every selection. At Solstice, our list is deliberately intimate, just like the restaurant itself. Every bottle has been chosen to elevate our cuisine, drawn almost exclusively from small, family-owned producers who respect authenticity and a true sense of place, crafting wines with character that help create lasting memories for our diners. Wish us luck later this month!’’

For more information about Solstice, visit: https://www.solsticencl.com/solstice / & House of Tides, visit: https://www.houseoftides.co.uk/ or follow @solstice_ncl or @houseoftides