The Rees Hotel Queenstown’s True South Dining Room has won the Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for the third year in a row. This is the ninth consecutive year that the fine-dining New Zealand restaurant has achieved a Wine Spectator Award from the USA’s bestselling wine and lifestyle magazine. It is the only restaurant in Queenstown that has attained a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence in 2018, 2019 and 2020 for its impressive wine list.
Now in their 39th year, the Wine Spectator Restaurant Awards recognises restaurants whose wine lists offer interesting selections, are suitable for their cuisine and appeal to a diverse range of wine lovers. Comprising more than 3,700 winning wine lists from over 70 countries, the awards aim to elevate wine selection and service around the world.
The Best of Award of Excellence acknowledges wine lists which “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.”
The True South Dining Room’s private cellar contains one of the most comprehensive collections of fine wines in the Southern Hemisphere, combining vintages from France, Italy, and Australia with famous New Zealand producers. Guests can taste wines from the world renown chateaux of Bordeaux, including Latour, Margaux and Mouton Rothschild. They can also try wines from some of the great houses of Burgundy including Romanée-Conti, Faiveley and Comte Georges de Vogue nestle. Wines from all regions are kept in the professionally managed, temperature-controlled wine cellar and can be savoured by guests in The Rees’ Bordeau Wine Lounge.
The Best of Award of Excellence recognises the effort needed to maintain a cellar of more than 350 different types of wines, while rewarding the support the True South Dining Room gives to local vineyards throughout the year.
The Rees Hotel Queenstown’s General Manager, Mark Rose, says, “We are extremely proud of the restaurant’s ability to pair fresh, locally sourced dishes with an extensive range of wine from around the world which distinguishes our Hotel’s dining room as a top destination for wine lovers visiting Queenstown. The achievement of this internationally recognised award for a third consecutive year confirms our reputation, globally.”
The Rees’ True South Dining Room has recently received other awards including the 2019 Beef and Lamb Excellence Award for the 8th consecutive year and 2018 The World of Fine Wine 2 Stars – World’s Best Wine Lists for the 3rd consecutive year. Executive Chef of True South Dining Room, Cory Hume, won Pāmu & Cuisine’s Deer Milk Ice-Cream Competition earlier this year.
Each year the restaurant hosts exclusive, tailor-made Culinary Series Events where guests can indulge in some of the best cuisine and wine New Zealand has to offer, while taking part in thought-provoking conversation surrounding viticulture, local produce, and the wine industry. The Rees holds privately guided and tailored Central Otago Wine Tours, hosted by general manager, Mark Rose. Visitors can look forward to seeing panoramic views of Queenstown from a six-seat helicopter, enjoying a gourmet lunch and a variety of award-winning wines from local regions.
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