13 November 2021. Words by YGOW.
The Wineslinger 2021 list of Australia’s top places for wine fun is here, and Melbourne’s Top 20 venues are an excitingly diverse lot.
How to classify the calibre of this year’s Top 20 wine venues in Melbourne? ‘World class’ is a pretty strong place to start. But somehow, not even that phrase captures the breadth and diversity of what’s out there. This is a city where a former sommelier turned importer can set up a cosy bar/bottle-o hybrid with exclusively sulphur-free wines up the road from a tiny corner spot that’s as much a guesthouse and café as it is a benchmark wine bar – and nobody bats an eyelid.
Neighbourhood wine bars simply thrive here, but so, too, do restaurants of all shapes and sizes. Indeed, there’s every chance you’ll find the same folks muscling through an encyclopaedic list of Burgundy and Bordeaux at a veteran French bistro one day, then hovering around the bar at an inner-city institution specialising in wood-fired cooking and natural wine the next. That’s just the way the city works – and it only all ever seems to get better and better. Start from the top of the list, work your way down, or do it your own way. Then do it all over again, and see for yourself.
Here are Melbourne’s Top 20 places for wine fun in 2021
Auterra Wine Bar, Armadale
Baby Snakes, Footscray
Bar Liberty, Fitzroy
Bellota, South Melbourne
Carlton Wine Room, Carlton
City Wine Shop, Melbourne
Embla, Melbourne
France-Soir, South Yarra
Geralds Bar, Carlton North
Gimlet, Melbourne
Gray and Gray, Northcote
Kirks Wine Bar, Melbourne
Little Andorra, Carlton North
Marion, Fitzroy
Mr West, Footscray
Napier Quarter, Fitzroy
Neighbourhood Wine, Brunswick
Old Palm Liquor, Brunswick East
Osteria Ilaria, Melbourne
Public Wine Shop, North Fitzroy
It’s a fantastically mixed bunch, but one thing they all have in common is they love wine, and they want to share that love with you. Whether you’re in for the long haul or a quick drink and a snack, these Wineslingers just want to see you, and to share what they know, share what they love.
Venues have bounced back from various lockdowns reshaped but fighting fit and ready for action, menus are fine-tuned, wine selections polished, and eager professionals are ready for wine-fuelled fun.
And with the doors open again, it’s the perfect time to remind yourself how much you love your regular wine-focused venues by both paying them a visit and getting your vote in for the People’s Choice. The Young Gun of Wine website also has detailed profiles on all the Wineslinger Awards top venues, with everything you need to know to find your next favourite haunt.
Vote on the People’s Choice here.
This year’s Wineslinger Awards trophies include top spot ‘Wineslinger’, ‘Best New Haunt’, the ‘Maverick’, which recognises a venue pushing the boundaries of possibility, and the publicly voted ‘People’s Choice’.
Everyone that votes in the ‘People’s Choice’ can go into the draw to win a host of amazing prizes, including a Liebherr wine cabinet, a year’s supply of wine from ygowstaging.wpengine.com, and gift packs from Cullen, Henschke, Ocean Eight and Swinney. People’s Choice voting is now live online via younggunofwine.comwineslinger. Voting closes on Monday 3 December at 12:00pm.
The 2021 Wineslinger trophy winners will be announced on evening of Monday 6 December.
