World's best sommeliers touch down in Australia

What makes a great wine list? Does it need be as thick as your forearm and list 20 vintages of Grange? Or should it be small and tightly picked with focus on quality over quantity? Should it be fat with classic wines from France and Italy? Or sharp with exciting discoveries from the new world?

"It really depends on the the restaurant," says Joo Lee, sommelier at Eleven Madison Park, the New York fine-diner which currently sits in third place on the World's 50 Best Restaurants list. "When I look at a wine list, I like to see something that can offer a wide variety of wines that complement the food at that restaurant. Our list is predominantly old world focused, with lot of champagne, riesling and burgundy which pair perfectly with our tasting menu."

Lee is in Sydney for the Sommes of the World program, a 10-day tour of Australia's landmark wine regions hosted by Wine Australia to coincide with The World's 50 Best Restaurants Awards to be held in Melbourne on Wednesday. Sommeliers decide what wine is poured in their restaurants and Wine Australia hopes the program will result in a greater number of Aussie drops in the world's top restaurants.

Dan Sims is the director of wine events company Bottle Shop Concepts and sits on The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Guide wine list review panel. He agrees with Lee that a great wine list is contextual and should complement the restaurant's food.

"There's no black or white answer," says Sims. "When I'm judging wine lists I'm looking for something that best reflects what the business is trying to achieve, whether it's a casual bar or a three-hatted restaurant. Size doesn't matter – a big wine list doesn't mean it's a great one."

Eleven Madison Park's wine list is more than 100 pages long and regarded as one of the best in the world. Lee admits his Australian offering is "brief" but is very keen to increase the representation. He says the strength of Australian wine lies not only in world-class drops like Penfolds Grange and Hunter semillon, but the sheer variety of a regions and grapes.

"We're seeing so much new stuff coming out of Australia. Everyone in the world knows about Australian shiraz and the big, juicy fruit-forward styles, but you don't hear a lot about the excellent pinot noirs, rieslings and sparkling wines. As a sommelier, I find being able to say to customers 'hey, do you want to try something new and exciting from a region you might have never heard of before' to be a terrific selling point."