Restaurant toasts its prestigious award for wine list

A NEWCASTLE fine dining restaurant has been awarded a prestigious rating for its quality wine list and it is now inspired to even greater starry heights.

Ophelia, in south Gosforth, has achieved White Star status from The Star Wine List and will now be in with a chance to go one better and reach Red Star level.

Local chef Nick Grieves, who launched the French-style brasserie in January 2023, is delighted that efforts to source top wines have paid off. And general manager Matt Francome said the listing ”goes some way to recognising the work we’ve done in pulling together a really interesting wine programme.

“We’ve taken a great deal of care sourcing from among our favourite regional vineyards, predominantly from France, to deliver wines that marry perfectly with Nick’s Frenchinspired regional cuisine.”

Ophelia is now being put forward to the next stage, which will involve a visit by one of the award team. The Star Wine List is an independent guide and star status is awarded by its team and ambassadors. It covers bars and restaurants in 40 countries over every continent.

Its UK launch came at the end of 2020, following around 20 years of increasing quality in the wine selections of British venues and the growing trend in sommeliers focused upon seeking out the best. The list also runs yearly awards in each country it operates in. Its star listings involve a stringent evaluation process, with selections being continually monitored so there may updates – both adding and removing venues – throughout the year.

With Ophelia now hoping to bag Red Star status, Matt added: “We’ll continue to push and hope that in the fullness of time we can achieve further recognition for our wine list.”