Truscott Arms takes Wine List of the Year at Top 50 Gastropubs

The list and the awards, which were revealed at an exclusive lunch by celebrity chef Tom Kerridge of the two Michelin-starred Hand & Flowers and Coach, in Marlow, Buckinghamshire, was again topped by one Michelin-star pub the Sportsman in Seasalter, Kent.

• Visit the Top 50 Gastropubs website for the full list of winners.

Judges for the award, which was sponsored by Berkmann Wine Cellars, included drinks and content editor at the Publican’s Morning Advertiser Jessica Mason and Berkmann Wine Cellars’ sales director Jacquie Kay.

Winning wine list

Of the Truscott Arms’ winning wine list Kay said: I was impressed to see wines from Croatia, Hungary, Romania, Japan, a Basque white and Biezro from Spain.

“Whoever put this list together has done lots of homework. The price spread is good too and there’s something there for everyone and not just the most popular and best-known wines.”

For Mason, the list was a “medley of independent growers amidst established wine makers”.

Find it hard to copy

The Truscott Arms’s boutique sourcing system was praised by Mason, who said many of the big players would find it hard to copy.

She added: “This is an incredible choice of great wines, especially within a very accessible price point by both the glass and the bottle, which should encourage more guests to try a style outside of their usual preferences. The tone [of the list] is friendly and colloquial too, which stops it from being intimidating.”

As well as securing the Wine List of the Year Award, Truscott Arms’s owner Andrew Fishwick, along with wife and business partner Mary Jane, managed to place 47^th on the Top 50 Gastropubs list.

Today (26 January), it also announced the launch of its fine-dining venture Born 1983.

Sample wines:

• Sparkling: Besserat de Bellefon, ‘Cuvee de Moins’, Champagne, France, 2002 (£16 by the glass or £80 for the bottle)
• White: Domaine Chevalier, ‘Le Bois du Mont’, Chardonnay, Ladoix, France (£13 by the glass, £44 for a carafe or £67 for the bottle)
• Red: Domaine Rossignol-Trapet, ler Cru Beaune, France (£16 by the glass, £55 for a carafe or £79 for the bottle)

To see who made this year’s Estrella Damm Top 50 Gastropubs list and who won the specialist category awards, visit www.top50gastropubs.com.

Top 50 Gastropubs 2016 was sponsored by headline sponsor Estrella Damm in association with Nestlé Chef, Appletiser and Schweppes and Berkmann Wine Cellars