RANKING THE BRIGHTEST AND BEST SOMMELIERS OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND 2025.
The Champagne Louis Roederer Top 100 Sommeliers New Zealand has released its first ranking of the country’s best sommeliers – the most comprehensive list ever of top wine professionals in hospitality.
The Champagne Louis Roederer Top 100 Sommeliers has ranked the very best professionals on the restaurant scene in New Zealand for the first time. Never before has such a list been compiled; highlighting outstanding wine service and food pairing skills of the very best sommeliers and wine wait staff in the country
Number one New Zealand sommelier in 2025 is Leah Kirkland, Group Beverage Director, Emett Group. Commenting on the inaugural ranking, chair judge Cameron Douglas, Master Sommelier, said, “Leah is an outstanding wine and beverage professional, a Sommelier with mana, influence, authority and efficacy.”
Over 50% of the very best sommeliers in New Zealand are based outside of the Auckland region, 40% are women, making this the most democratic and inclusive listing of wine service professionals across Aotearoa. In fact, four of the Top 20 Sommeliers in 2025 are women.
The Champagne Louis Roderer Top 100 Sommeliers is an annual ranking of the New Zealand top sommelier talent, celebrating the art and savoir faire of those professionals who epitomise service in wine and beverages. We honour their status and achievement with a lapel pin and certificate.
The ranking invites nominations from sommeliers and their hospitality peers from across New Zealand making it possibly the most democratic and accurate ranking of its kind. Based on the nominees’ experience, career and educational achievements, day-to-day responsibilities and performance in competitions, Top 100 Sommeliers uses an infallible, aggregated points system to assess and analyse each sommeliers’ professional successes.
Special awards are also presented to those Sommeliers in New Zealand who have gone above and beyond in the promotion of this aspirational profession and in the pursuit of excellence during their careers:
2025 Top 100 Sommelier Legend Award sponsored by Barton & Guestier:
Stephen Morris, Yu Group
2025 Top 100 Sommelier Inspiration Award sponsored by Grahams Port:
Suraj GC, Park Hyatt, Auckland
Top 5 Female Sommeliers:
Nora Blackburne, Embra
Liz Buttimore, Arbour, Marlborough
Jacqueline Jubel, No 7 Balmac
Larissa Muller, Palate
Katie Woodhead, Cellar 495
Top 5 Ones to Watch sponsored by Craggy Range:
Giulio Barducci, Toast & Oak
Ben Carmine, Paris Butter
Joseph Costello, The Wine Room
Samira Kakh, Normanby
Gary Pluck, 11 Woodard Street
Top 5 Young Sommeliers sponsored by Negociants:
Victoria Birsen, Cellar 495
Jieuxe-Snow He, The Northern Club
Alexa Soriano, Metita Sky City
Micheal Tully, The Gables
Katharina Ziehe, Onslow
Thanks very much to Top 100 Sommeliers partners including headline partner: Champagne Louis Roederer, alongside Barton & Guestier, Craggy Range, Graham’s Port and Negociants NZ.
See the full Champagne Louis Roederer Top 100 Sommeliers New Zealand 2025 ranking on the website:
https://sommelieredit.com/nz/top-100-sommeliers/results-2025/
ABOUT TOP 100 SOMMELIERS
Launched in the UK in 2023, this international initiative now also ranks the very best wine service professionals in Spain and New Zealand and will be expanding to Australia, Portugal and Poland in 2026.
Entrants are assessed on a range of criteria including their work experience, responsibilities, qualifications and accolades to recognise those sommeliers who are at the top of their game right now. Top 100 Sommeliers is not just about an individual’s profile or the size of their wine list. It is judged on a combination of factors, making it an all-encompassing validation of each sommelier’s responsibilities, experience and accolades, including.
? Amount of time spent on the floor
? Day-today buying, management and training responsibilities
? Experience and accolades
? Education, experience and studies
Our esteemed panel of judges ensures rigour and transparency. Their assessment of the data and the individual sommelier entries guarantees. The democratic approach of this annual ranking is based on merit and the professionalism of each sommelier.
Follow: @top100sommeliers_nz #sommelieredit #top100sommeliers