Raising the wine bar
So many bars, so little time. The past 18 months have seen a proliferation of particularly good, wine-obsessed establishments pop up in inner-city laneways and suburban shopping strips across Australia - and the trend shows no sign of slowing, with even more places on the cusp of opening. Here's a selection of the best: fabulous new bars where you can enjoy a glass of something delicious this Christmas.
Tom Hogan and John Tennent behind the bar at Melbourne's Harry & Frankie.
Harry & Frankie (Bay St, Port Melbourne) will open this Friday with ex-Lake House sommelier Tom Hogan at the helm. It is set to be the hottest new wine destination in the southern capital this season. The interior design is gorgeous, the mouthwatering, zeitgeisty collection of bottles from Australia and around the world covers all bases from Margaret River sem sav to obscure cloudy "amber" natural wines, and prices are reasonable: all bottles are available to take away or, for an extra $15 corkage, to drink on the spot.
Antipasto at Brooks in Melbourne.
Bay Street is shaping up to be a bit of a wine hub: another new, Victorian-focused bar, Imbibe (Port Melbourne, imbibewinebar.com.au), is about to open a couple of blocks back towards the city. Indeed, as the fantastic Bellota Wine Bar (South Melbourne) demonstrated when it opened this year, you don't need to hunt in inner-city laneways for somewhere good to drink. I wish this place was just around the corner from my house, not least because of its extraordinary collection of vino: a doorway leads you to the Prince Wine Store next door, where you can select from 3500 bottles and - again - pay just $15 corkage to drink that wine in the bar.
Wine and bread from Harry & Frankie.
Having said that, though, one of my very favourite places to enjoy a glass or two at the moment is the stylish basement bar at Brooks restaurant in Melbourne's CBD. There's always something special about stepping below street level to imbibe: a sense of drama, of expectation, that heightens the senses. And there's always something interesting and unusual on by the glass, selected from sommelier Matt Brooke's award-winning list, often available from a magnum.
The Salopian Inn, McLaren Vale, has 150 gins from around the world.
There's also a touch of theatre at Riley Street Cafe and Wine (Surry Hills, Sydney), partly provided by the constant passing flow of humanity in this colourful corner of the city, partly by sommelier Gabrielle Webster's infectious enthusiasm for wine - especially the obscure, the characterful and the large format: this is another place where you can expect to see wines by the glass poured, with flourish, from a magnum. I spent one of the most enjoyable warm afternoons of the year here, perched on a stool at the open window end of the narrow bar, grazing on great bar snacks and glasses of wonderful wine.
The bar scene in Adelaide and surrounds is also picking up pace, to the great delight of that city's more discerning and adventurous drinkers. The night I visited Proof, a small, two-level bar with a decidedly vintage feel tucked down a lane behind the excellent Press Food and Wine restaurant in the CBD, the place was full of merry winemakers - always a good sign that there's some fine drinking to be had.
You'll also find the winemaking community well represented at the recently reborn Salopian Inn (McLaren Vale), south of Adelaide, both in bottle form on the wine list and in person at the bar, attracted by co-owner Michael Armstrong's staggering collection of no fewer than 150 gins from around the world (who even knew there were that many gins?). Yes, I know this is meant to be a wrap-up of wine-centric establishments, but this bar's gin focus is so amazing I feel you need to know about it (see breakout for a couple of other good Adelaide wine bar recommendations).
One of my favourite wine-friendly bars of the year also happens to be one of Australia's smallest. Sidecar (Hobart), owned by the team who brought us the great Garagistes restaurant, seats a mere dozen or so people around a solid horseshoe bar overlooking an open cupboard of a kitchen, where small plates are prepared to order. It's the kind of place where you go and give yourself over to the experts serving, letting them place unexpected but very good things to eat and drink in front of you until you're satisfied.
As I say: so many bars, so little time.
Harry & Frankie, 317 Bay St, Port Melbourne, (03) 9645 4414. harryandfrankie.com.au
Brooks, Basement 115-117 Collins Street, Melbourne (via George Parade), (03) 9001 8755. brooksofmelbourne.com
Bellota, 181 Bank St, South Melbourne, (03) 9078 8381, bellota.com.au
Riley Street Cafe and Wine, 222 Riley Street, Surry Hills, (02) 8093 9807. facebook.com/RileyStreetWine
Proof, 9a Anster Street, Adelaide, (08) 8212 0708
Salopian Inn, cnr Main and McMurtrie Roads, McLaren Vale; (08) 8323 8769, salopian.com.au
Sidecar, 129 Bathurst Street, Hobart, (03) 6231 1338, garagistes.com.au/sidecar
WHERE THE WINEMAKERS DRINK
TO broaden the scope of recommendations, I asked the 12 winemaker finalists of the 2013 Young Gun of Wine competition where they've particularly enjoyed drinking this year. In Brisbane's Paddington, the winemakers hang out at Cabiria (cabiria.com.au, drinks pictured), partly because of the excellent selection of bottles from around the world, with a strong emphasis on organic, biodynamic and natural wines, and partly because of the shucked-to-order oysters.
In Perth, the hot tip is the bar at Lalla Rookh on St Georges Terrace (lallarookh.com.au): "Awesome wine selection, great food and amazing people running the place," says Iwo Jakimowicz of Si Vintners. "You'll often find a winemaker or two there."
In Adelaide CBD, a number of grape-treaders recommend Clever Little Tailor on Peel Street (cleverlittletailor.com.au): "Lovely space, laid-back service, welcoming and fun," says Bobar Wines' Tom Belford, and Cantina Sociale on Sturt Street (cantinasociale.com.au), with a constantly changing selection of small-batch, exclusive wines sourced direct from the producer.
In Melbourne, the biggest nod goes to Monkey Bar on St Georges Road in Fitzroy (monkey181.com.au), with its program of live music and guest winemaker chefs: "A cool local, a bit like Cheers: they know everyone's name," says Ar Fion winemaker Dave Mackintosh.
Source: The Australian, 10 December 2013
