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The jury of the annual Winebar of the Year competition in the Netherlands announced this afternoon that Buskens in Nijmegen has won the prestigious title 'Winebar of the Year 2024'. Co-owner Michiel Houkes, together with his team, personally accepted the honorary title and grand prize at last year's winner, Oocker Amsterdam. This year, all 15 nominated wine bars scored very high during mystery visits, at least an 8, but the jury unanimously decided that Buskens was the rightful winner with a 9.5.
Besides the certificate, Buskens received a beautiful box of six South African wines, awarded by the Platter's Wine Guide, presented by representation of main sponsor Wines of South Africa.
It was once again a treat for the judges to travel the country for the Winebar of the Year election. Every year, the debate flares up: is it a wine bar, a restobar or a restaurant where extra attention is paid to the wine? Conceptually, wine bars vary widely; some are sleek and technocratic, others atmospheric and cosy, and still others are reminiscent of a vintage shop full of curios. What all wine bars meet is the enthusiasm of the staff and the knowledge available.
Robert Verhoeven of www.wine-bars.nl: "What was particularly striking: at most wine bars, the judges were really surprised by the suggestions of the staff as well as the outstanding quality of the wines presented. The wine lists we scrutinised this year are incredibly extensive and varied in region and grape variety."
Although main sponsor Wines of South Africa did not make it a rule that the participating 15 wine bars had to have South African wines on the menu, it is still very happy that the winner has a nice collection on the menu: "Besides wines from Stellenbosch, we see fantastic wineries from Franschhoek, Constantia, Paarl, Robertson and Swartland on their menus. These are clearly connoisseurs of our beautiful wine country. Fortunately, more and more wine bars are putting wines from South Africa on their menus, and we advise every wine entrepreneur to also take a good look at the Platter's Wine Guide."
This year no winner from the Randstad but a wine bar from Nijmegen, a city that is becoming increasingly gastronomic. Wine bar Buskens is located in a historic and surprisingly large national monument on the edge of the city centre. The bar is warm and atmospheric with rich décor with great attention to detail. The judges were very surprised by the options Buskens offers, you can sit high, low, there is a bar area or take a seat at the single set tables. It is immediately clear that the varied audience (from 25 to 65) comes for the wine. But certainly also for the delicious bites and dishes and the staff, all very professional and knowledgeable. The manager introduces the judges to the very extensive wine list-which contains literally everything that makes the judges' hearts beat faster. In terms of white wine, the jury is looking for something special with some age, the menu literally offers a whole page of Chenin Blanc from the Loire from 1991 to 2000, wow. A Brédif, Grande Annee 1993 is chosen, insane and certainly affordable.
In short, should you be visiting Nijmegen any day soon, be sure to pop in to wine bar Buskens, which has not taken the title 'Wine bar of the Year 2024' for nothing! Congratulations again!
Website: buskensnijmegen.co.uk
Phone: 024-3031030
The expert jury this year consisted of Sharon van Lokhorst (FavorFlav), Harriet Boekholt (on behalf of sponsor Wines of South Africa), Hans van de Meeberg (Misset Hospitality), Gijsbregt Brouwer (food trend watcher and co-founder of the Belly), Robert Verhoeven (Pitch PR and founder of www.wine-bars.nl), Robert van Dijk (Coravin), Wouter Aalst (The Fitting room Amsterdam) and Julian Cleton (VinVin in Utrecht).
The winner will receive a box containing the 6 highest-rated wines from the Platter's Wine Guide 2025. This election is made possible by Wines of South Africa (WoSA), a non-profit organisation that promotes the export of all South African wine to key international markets. Besides its headquarters in Stellenbosch, South Africa, WoSA also has offices in Johannesburg, England, Canada, USA, Sweden, China, Germany and the Netherlands. www.wosa.co.sa
About wine-bars.co.uk
On wine-bars.nl you will find the nicest wine bars in the Netherlands. Using the search function, you can quickly see where to find a wine bar. In recent years, the number of wine bars has grown considerably and this trend is expected to continue for a while. Currently, there are more than 150 wine bars on the website. With broad, national coverage, from Groningen to Zierikzee and from Amsterdam to Maastricht. Through the annual wine bar award, attention is drawn to this ever-growing segment within the hospitality industry. Previous Award winners include; Lefebvre in Utrecht, Bouzy in The Hague, VinVin in Utrecht, Wijn bij Stein in Den Bosch, Barrel in Groningen, Shiraz Amsterdam, De Paskamer in Amsterdam and Oocker Amsterdam. Wine-bars.nl is an initiative of Pitch PR, the PR agency specialising in the marketing and promotion of wine regions, hospitality and food. www.pitchpr.nl
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