The Winners Revealed

Monday 28 August, 2006

The Winners Revealed

The first ever New Zealand Bartender Magazine Bar Awards took Auckland by storm on Wednesday, 23 August at the Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel at the picturesque Princes Wharf.

The bar awards is the first awards ceremony dedicated to New Zealand’s bar and bartending industry and recognises the hard work of bar professionals over the last year. The gala dinner event was held on the second night of Auckland BarShow; with ten awards presented over the evening. Over 300 of New Zealand’s leading bar professionals turned out for the festivities with guests traveling from Christchurch, Queenstown and Napier.

The attached PDF includes all the finalists in each category with the winners listed below. The seven finalists in each category were collated from thousands of trade votes submitted from all around New Zealand. The winners were then determined by a panel of industry professionals who cast their votes in August.

In addition, Spanton Media Group hosted the inaugural New Zealand Bartender Magazine’s Bartender of the Year Competition with the support of premium liqueur brand Grand Marnier. 25 of New Zealand’s finest bartenders competed at Auckland BarShow by sitting a written exam followed by a mixology demonstration to take out the prestigious honour of being Bartender Magazine’s Bartender of the Year. The winner, Simon McGoram from Auckland’s Mea Culpa won a trip to Sydney BarShow in September and a cash prize of $1000. When accepting the award, Simon said: “Hopefully my Dad will now be proud of my career choice!” Taking out second place was Dickey Cullimore from Lime in Christchurch, followed closely by Riki Carter from Imbibe in Wellington.

Taking out two awards on the night for Bar of the Year and Bar Team of the Year was The Matterhorn in Wellington. Co-owner of the Matterhorn, Christian McCabe said of the victory: “It’s really great to be recognised among our industry peers as we all work really hard to make Matterhorn what it is.”

David Spanton, Managing Director of Spanton Media Group and Editor-in-chief of New Zealand Bartender magazine was thrilled with the turnout for the event. “The awards night is a great opportunity for New Zealand’s hospitality trade leaders to network with their industry peers and be congratulated for their achievements over the last year… all the winners should be very proud.”

THE WINNERS

Bartender of the Year
Winner: Simon McGoram, Mea Culpa, Auckland
2nd place: Dickie Cullimore, Lime, Christchurch
3rd place: Riki Carter, Imbibe, Wellington

Bar of the Year
Matterhorn, Wellington

Bar Team of the Year
Crow Bar, Auckland

Cocktail Bar of the Year
Motel, Wellington

Cocktail List of the Year
Match Lounge, Auckland

Best Drinks Selection
Matterhorn, Wellington

Pub of the Year
Dux de Lux, Christchurch

New Bar of the Year
Chapel, Auckland

Wine Bar of the Year
Dida’s Wine Lounge & Tapas, Auckland

Nightclub of the Year
Sandwiches, Wellington

ENDS