In 2018 we launched Wineslinger to lead people to places around Australia where they can enjoy a glass of wine, whilst at the same time encouraging the creativity and excellence in this environment.
We’re presenting an annual list of Top venues as determined by a cross section of Australia’s leading wine and hospitality tastemakers – winemakers, sommeliers and journalists – who vote on their favourite wine haunts.
It is then up to the public to decide which of the Top venues wins the ‘People’s Choice’. The other trophies include top spot ‘Wineslinger’, ‘Best New Haunt’, and the ‘Maverick’ which recognises a venue pushing the boundaries of possibility. All trophy winners will be announced on October 19.
In the inaugural year, 2018, City Wine Shop took the overall title, as voted on the panel of 100+ industry leaders, and Harvest Newrybar was the most popular venue, as voted by the public, taking out the People’s Choice award.
In 2019, Sydney’s 10 William Street took out the overall prize, while Margaret River’s Settlers Tavern won the People’s Choice award. There were two new awards added in 2019, with Perth’s Wines of While winning the Best New Haunt, as best venue under two years old, while Byron Bay’s Supernatural Cellars was our first Maverick recipient, as the most adventurous venue, pushing boundaries to breaking point.
Last year, Melbourne’s Carlton Wine Room took out the overall prize, while Geelong’s Union Street Wine won the People’s Choice award, Adelaide’s Leigh Street Wine Room was the Best New Haunt, and Brisbane’s Snack Man was the named the Maverick.
While we’ve historically announced a Top 50 each year. In this edition – our fourth year of the annual awards – we’re announcing Australia’s Top 100 places for wine fun. It provides more great places for wine lovers to experience, and hopefully gives our beloved hospitality industry a deserving boost, too.
This year’s Top 100 includes Top 20 lists in Sydney and Melbourne, Top 10 lists in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, and Top 5 lists in Canberra and Tasmania, with regional locations around the country rounding out the numbers.
We want to lead people to venues where they can have a great wine experience.
The objective of this award is to showcase and celebrate the venues around Australia where our type of wine folk like to enjoy a glass of wine, or two, or more… Places with approachability, energy and adventure.
This award is not about one component such as food and wine matching, or the wine list, or the service… it is about the whole experience. What draws us all to those places where we like to enjoy wine is really the sum of the parts.
It’s often that undefinable thing a place has that makes it special. It is up to panellists to each establish their own lens of what venue has the best experience for wine drinkers.
This award is also an opportunity to recognise the originality, commitment, and quality of a venue’s offering.
There are blurred lines between wine bars, restaurants and pubs. Food and wine go hand in hand, so it’s hard to think of an on-premise venue where food doesn’t play a very good supporting role in the experience.
Boundaries of scope for this award include:
New South Wales, Paddington
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2020 Top 50
2019 Wineslinger
2019 Top 50
2018 Top 50
An offshoot of Potts Point’s much-loved Fratelli Paradiso, 10 William St shed the skin of modern Australian-Italian dining with a push away from fried calamari with rocket et al, delving into a new form of Italian experimentation. Respectful and subtle experimentation, that is. And while Fratelli Paradiso has long stuck to a wine list that…
Queensland, Woolloongabba
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2021 Top Venues
2019 Top 50
1889 Enoteca owes half its name to the heritage-listed Moreton Rubber building’s history, but the other half, and the source of its inspiration, is to be found in the great wine bars of the Eternal City. Owner Dan Clark has been travelling to Italy for over 20 years. “The great enoteche of Roma are the…
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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At the moment, it seems that some of the best restaurants in the country have built their kitchens around the coals of a wood fire. Agnes is housed in an old brick warehouse turned dimly lit dining room – a moody sanctuary in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley. The restaurant acts as the fourth milestone for the…
New South Wales, Sydney CBD
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2020 Top 50
Toby Hilton and brothers Anton and Stefan Forte of The Swillhouse Group have been responsible for some game-changing bars in Sydney, from Shady Pines Saloon to Baxter Inn and Frankie’s Pizza. More recently, they have had restaurants in their sights, with Restaurant Hubert, then Alberto’s Lounge, in 2018, gently shaking the foundations of Sydney dining…
Victoria, Belmont
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A by-the-glass drinkers paradise, Archive has over 150 wines available in glass and half-glass measures, with about 30 menu items to choose from to make up a platter to keep things on an even keel.
Victoria, Armadale
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An offspring of renowned fine-diner Amaru, Auterra is all about sophisticated snacks and wine that speaks of place, with less-familiar grower Champagne a specialty.
Victoria, Footscray
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Mark Nelson has thrown out any notion of convention in his very personal wine bar, serving lo-fi wine and snacks, and every now and then veering into a full-on party vibe with disco ball, thumping music and rollicking good times – but it’s just as welcoming and even calm most of the time.
Victoria, Fitzroy
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Bar Liberty is a canvas for the talents of ex-Attica duo Banjo Harris Plane and Michael Bascetta, a disruptor, a chance to throw out the formality, the rules, and have at it with instinct and raw talent.
South Australia, Beulah Park
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2021 Top Venues
A super-cool newcomer with clever produce-driven cooking, plenty of it off a wood-fired grill, Bar Lune is bang on the zeitgeist for casual share-plate dining, clever cocktails and small-batch wines.
ACT, Canberra
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Bar Rochford’s location in the historic Melbourne Building, which was built in 1927, is perhaps salient. When owner Nick Smith opened the doors in 2016, he’d taken inspiration both from the classic wine bars of Europe and the small bars that Melbourne is so well known for. And while Bar Rochford would slip into the…
Victoria, South Melbourne
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The bolthole that is Bellota is somewhat of a sanctuary to wine lovers in a South Melbourne so steeped in pub culture. A modestly sized bistro set in a renovated terrace house in Bank Street, Bellota seats about 40 inside, which more than doubles out the front and at the rear when the sun shines….
New South Wales, Sydney CBD
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Brent Savage and Nick Hildebrandt’s influence on dining and drinking in Sydney is hard to underestimate. They now have four restaurants under their umbrella, but it was with Bentley Restaurant + Bar that they found their long stride. And that original combination of Hildebrandt’s adventurous wine selections and Savage’s clever cooking is as exciting as…
Western Australia, West Leederville
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Besk is all about great product and easy-going good times. 500 bottles of wine from players both traditional and radical are available to stay or go. The smart fire-fuelled cooking is ample reason to stick around, though.
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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2021 Top Venues
A take on a classic Italian trattoria, with dishes seen through Ben Williamson’s lens and built to suit the local produce and climate, Biánca also has one of the city’s finest wine lists, delving deep into Italy.
New South Wales, Double Bay
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Paul Jones brought some useful things with him when he set up Bibo Wine Bar in an old leather-goods shop in Bay Street Double Bay. Although he didn’t have the operational skills to run a wine bar, he did know how to build and fit one out. As well as being an architect, Paul has…
New South Wales, Darlinghurst
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A temple to Italian food and wine, with plenty of local options, both familiar and a little wild, all accompanied by a hip-hop soundtrack, with festivities kicking on till deep in the night.
New South Wales, Newtown
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Come for Pasi Petänen’s mould-breaking cooking and a treasure trove of hard-to-find natural wine, or opt for no-nonsense steak frites with sauce diane and a glass of something local.
Victoria, Carlton
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2020 Wineslinger
2020 Top 50
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2018 Top 50
The Carlton Wine Room was rebooted in early 2018 by somewhat of a hospitality dream team: Andrew Joy (former manager of Marion and Cumulus Up), Travis Howe (Coda and Tonka sommelier and co-owner) and chef John Paul Twomey (who spent a decade with Andrew McConnell as his development chef and second in command). So, one…
New South Wales, Orange
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One of the region’s great restaurants, with a deep exploration of the best of local produce and wine, Charred is built around Lucifer, their custom charcoal stove, and the talents of chef Liam O’Brien and sommelier David Collins. Go immersive for the tasting menu, or perch at the bar to snack and pick through the vast wine list, with around 40 available by the glass.
Victoria, Melbourne City
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2020 Top 50
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2018 Wineslinger
2018 Top 50
From a single site adjacent to the Princes Theatre, business partners Con Christopoulos and Josh Brisbane have – over the course of a decade or two – acquired the entire Spring Street frontage up to the lane that borders the Imperial Hotel. Starting with the European and Melbourne Supper Club – which saved a whole…
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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2018 Top 50
Clever Little Tailor is somewhat of a veteran now, having opened in 2013 when bars like this in Adelaide – that are now thankfully somewhat more prevalent – were just a dream. With a relaxation of the licensing laws approved – much like the ones that spearheaded the Melbourne and Sydney small-bar booms – Dana…
New South Wales, Newtown
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A classic Euro-style deli seen through the lens of the Porteño crew, with star bartender Michael Nicolian on the tools; perch at the bar for supreme deli fare and a glass or two, or slip into the bistro and get lost in the retro charms for a little while longer.
ACT, Canberra
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A haven of calm sophistication in the bustlingly cool hub that is Canberra’s Braddon, Corella’s sophisticated native-ingredient-infused cooking has all the hallmarks of a cutting-edge fine diner, but it’s just as welcoming for those intent on share plates and a glass or two.
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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Cru Bar & Cellar is woven into the fabric of Brisbane, with the pioneering venue never seeming to show its age, even after over a decade and a half. Wrapped around a central onyx bar, tables skirt the perimeter of the building, with patrons even seated on the sills of the retractable windows, almost spilling…
New South Wales, Potts Point
Wineslinger
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At Geralds, the early arrivals dictate the open bottles, which can be switched around once exhausted, with ten typically open at any one time.
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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East End Cellars is one of this country’s most enduring retailers of fine wine, with Michael Andrewartha’s Vardon Street store offering Adelaide an unparalleled selection for over two decades. Today, the original site is occupied by the wine bar Mother Vine, which he also owns. The original East End Cellars flame burns bright, though, with…
Victoria, Melbourne City
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Some years back, Christian McCabe left behind successful restaurant Matterhorn, in Wellington, to try his luck across the Tasman. That first venture was the celebrated, though now closed, Town Mouse in Drummond Street, Carlton. Along with Town Mouse chef and co-owner Dave Verheul (a Matterhorn alumnus), McCabe branched out further, and more boldly, in 2015,…
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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The Exeter Hotel perhaps best embodies the winemaking mantra that “It takes a lot of beer to make good wine.” Long a haunt for winemakers, wine writers and wine lovers, the Exeter is one of Adelaide’s most beloved establishments, and one where any affectation is left at the door. The Exeter knocked any wine drinking…
South Australia, Aldinga
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An intensely personal wine bar, Fall from Grace is also an incredibly accessible one, with wine, cheese and salumi at retail pricing to take away or consume in-house. It’s also the best place to start a conversation with a local winemaker, as most are regulars.
New South Wales, Sydney CBD
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Sommelier Stuart Knox got his start in the wine game after begging to be promoted from waiter to sommelier at London institution Bibendum, Terence Conran’s first restaurant. Three years later, and the young Knox had quite the education after handling the 1500-bin wine list (compiled by Matthew Jukes at the time) and a discerning clientele…
Victoria, South Yarra
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Words like ‘institution’ and ‘iconic’ get tossed around a lot, and not always with deep justification. But France-Soir, near the top of the Toorak Road hill in Melbourne’s South Yarra, has earned both of those monikers, and some time ago. It is indeed an iconic institution, and an establishment with a loyal following that few…
Victoria, Carlton North
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At Geralds, the early arrivals dictate the open bottles, which can be switched around once exhausted, with ten typically open at any one time.
Victoria, Melbourne City
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With a grand hotel of yesteryear aesthetic, Gimlet is Melbourne’s hottest ticket right now, with food, wine, cocktails and service polished to blinding sheen. But there’s just as much reason to go for the room – one of the country’s best.
South Australia, Goodwood
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2021 People’s Choice
Good Gilbert is the kind of local we all wish we had, with an exciting and well-priced wine list, en pointe simple food and uber-friendly but deeply knowledgeable crew. It’s the platonic ideal of a local wine bar.
Victoria, Northcote
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Boris Portnoy’s All Are Welcome bakery has become a Northcote institution over its relatively short life, now he’s teamed up with winemaker Mitch Sokolin to deliver smart but simple dining with a killer collection of cutting-edge wines.
Tasmania, Launceston
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2020 Top 50
Opening a hospitality venture during a global pandemic is not something that even the most thorough business plan would address (well, they might now). But Ricky Evans and Chanel Parratt’s plans on opening a wine bar – aligning Evans’ Two Tonne Tasmania and Havilah wine labels with like-minded makers – were not going to be…
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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If you judged a book by its cover, you might never peg Hellbound as a serious wine bar. The retro-feel ‘wine bar’ sign that points prospective customers down a flight of stairs may be encouraging, but it speaks more of dive bar than it does Willi’s Wine Bar. There’s a giant caricature of a Rousseau…
New South Wales, Bondi
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A Sydney icon perched over Bondi Beach, Icebergs is built for both special occasion dining and fun times, with seats at the bar or on the sundrenched terrace a more accessible way to take in its charms, along with the vast wine list – or perhaps just a cocktail or two.
Queensland, Burleigh Heads
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A bustling casual restaurant with modern Vietnamese flavours paired with cutting-edge Australian wine.
Victoria, Melbourne City
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2019 Top 50
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Just as Con Christopoulos was almost single-handedly responsible for reclaiming the Paris end of Melbourne’s city from what looked like terminal decline some decades ago, he too is redrawing the borders west of Elizabeth Street. In territory mired in restaurant touts, with menus pitched mainly to a tourist audience, and otherwise populated by city workers…
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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2018 Top 50
La Buvette could not proclaim its Frenchness any more emphatically, with the retro-Parisian exterior a striking blue that could have been lifted straight from the Tricolore, and name and purpose stated in classic script font and oh-so Gallic drop shadow. Yes, it’s immediately clear what you’re in for at La Buvette. Well, to a degree….
Queensland, South Brisbane
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Until he opened La Lune Wine Co, chef Paul Mc Givern was perhaps best known for his exploits on the fine dining scene, notably at East Brisbane’s The Wolfe, which achieved its fair share of critical acclaim. And though McGivern again pushed into that sphere with Corella (now closed), the equation that underpins La Lune…
Western Australia, Dunsborough
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A modern European wine bar in the middle of Dunsborough, Lady Lola serves smart share plates and an eclectic mix of wines, with food and wine refreshed each week – a local’s dream.
Western Australia, Perth City
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Down a flight or two of stairs, Lalla Rookh Bar & Eating House is tucked well away from the business-minded bustle of St Georges Terrace in Perth’s CBD. Indeed, it is somewhat of a sanctuary from the traffic and the soaring glass and concrete, a relaxed ‘tavern’ (their words) that also has an enviable food…
Western Australia, Mount Lawley
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2020 Top 50
Before launching Le Rebelle in 2019, Sarah and Liam Atkinson had certainly done some yards. Over the years, the pair have worked at some of Perth’s hottest destinations, including, collectively, at Print Hall, Star Anise and wine mecca Lalla Rookh. The husband-and-wife duo had also previously teamed up to open Miss Kitty’s Saloon in 2012…
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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2020 Top 50
2020 Best New Haunt
Leigh Street Wine Room is one of those rare places that feels like it’s been there for decades, smoothed and polished over the years. It hasn’t, of course, with LSWR pulling their first corks in 2019. But Nathan and Sali Sasi’s temple to natural wine has made its mark in indelible fashion, anchoring itself as…
Western Australia, Albany
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2020 Top 50
Take in the fin de siècle room lounging in the restaurant or lodged in the bar, and you can eat and drink just as well in either, with snacks or a deeper investigation into French and Vietnamese fare, sometimes kept well apart, and sometimes meshed.
Victoria, Carlton North
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Little Andorra has the warm wood, terrazzo and whitewash interior of Melbourne’s classic Euro-leaning bars, with vinyl spinning and a killer wine list it makes perching at that bar irresistible, but don’t miss booking for Mertcan Dogusgen’s set-menu feast.
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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This cosy wine shop/bar is a buzzing lo-fi wine mecca that spills into the much larger outdoor area, with coffee and pastries in the morning, and simple wine-friendly snacks from where they leave off.
Tasmania, Hobart
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Kobi Ruzicka had a wine bar concept in the mental planning stage for quite some years, but it was the opportunity to lease the site adjoining his acclaimed Hobart restaurant, Dier Makr, that finally saw it realised. The exit of the café was well timed, as Ruzicka’s restaurant was soaking up a good bit of…
Western Australia, Subiaco
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2020 Top 50
Joel Valvasori-Pereza first introduced Perth’s dining public to the joys of Friulian cuisine with his lengthy stint as Head Chef at Lalla Rookh. After turning in his apron in 2016, a new venture wasn’t far off, with the chef opening Lulu La Delizia in Subiaco by the end of the year. It’s hard to overestimate…
Western Australia, South Fremantle
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Before Joel Rees and Danielle de Almeida opened Madalena’s, they were Fremantle food truck pioneers. In 2013, they talked the council into approving a permit for their mobile offering of Brazilian Street Food, Comida do Sul. That van became a welcome site on Fremantle’s streets, as well at festivals, weddings and other events. Now with…
Queensland, South Brisbane
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Maeve Wine Bar is housed in somewhat of an enviable site, with it backing onto Brisbane’s thriving Fish Lane precinct, but perhaps more significant is the grandeur of the heritage building whose first floor it occupies. Built in 1929 for the Queensland National Bank, the nods to classical architecture have been given new life in…
Victoria, Fitzroy
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If Gertrude Street Enoteca and the City Wine Shop are the pioneers of Melbourne’s drink-in wine stores, then Andrew McConnell’s Cumulus Up and Marion can lay reasonable claim to capturing the essence of what are, somewhat inelegantly, known as ‘barstaurants’. Perhaps this pitching of wine and food in equal measure was not necessarily the intent,…
Victoria, Ballarat
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Started as a cellar door slash to represent the Mitchell Harris wines, this wine bar has become much more than that, with an exciting selection of wines from around the world (the avant-garde nestling up against the classic) and simple but clever food to match.
New South Wales, Sydney CBD
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Nick Hildebrandt and Brent Savage are a formidable duo, founding landmark restaurants Bentley Restaurant + Bar, Yellow and Cirrus, as well as their wine bar-slash-restaurant, Monopole. Hildebrandt is one of Sydney’s most celebrated and influential wine minds, crafting lists over the years that have pushed boundaries like few others, while Savage has very much had…
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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A WWII Nissen Hut transformed into a smart European restaurant, Mosconi is serving some of Brisbane’s best food, paired with a wine list jammed with Old World gems. It also has an inviting fluted timber bar with bentwood stools, just made for the casual visitor.
South Australia, Adelaide CBD
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In 2014, Pablo Theodoros (The Stanley Bridge Tavern), Frank Hannon-Tan (Amalfi Ristorante), Michael Andrewartha (East End Cellars) and David LeMire MW took possession of the old East End Cellars site to open Mother Vine. Starting as a wine bar with some simple snacks, Mother Vine has grown to become one of Adelaide’s most-loved food and…
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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A slick but warm modern wine bar where the excellent food takes a back seat to the ever-changing list of wines on pour, focused on matching the Brisbane climate and favouring New World makers and new wave approaches.
Victoria, Footscray
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The bottle shop is a treasure trove of natural and generally lo-fi wine with a huge selection of great beer. By to go, or grab a bottle and settle in upstairs at the bar – they’ve got a working list of interesting pours and huge selection of artisan spirits, too.
Western Australia, Wembley
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A compact Italian diner with Italian food seen through the dynamic lens of Matt McDonald, paired with an equally dynamic list of hard-to-source wines, which you can take away, too.
Victoria, Fitzroy
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Daniel Lewis and Simon Benjamin have given the ‘small is beautiful’ mantra somewhat more credence with their charmingly petite all-day eatery, Napier Quarter. Lewis hails from Brisbane, while Benjamin would be known by many a Melburnian as the former part-owner and front man of the much cherished, and also modestly proportioned, institution that is Bar…
Victoria, Fitzroy North
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Up a flight of stairs above long-term wood-fired pizza player Woodstock in Fitzroy North, Neighbourhood Wine occupies a site of both individual charm and somewhat dubious history. Before Simon Denman and partner and chef Almay Jordaan took possession of the first-floor title that stretches over two shopfronts, it had remained idle for a quarter of…
Western Australia, Fremantle
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A smart restaurant, cutting-edge wine bar, creative cocktail lounge, and all in a stunning heritage building with super-chilled service and vibe? Count us in.
New South Wales, Wollongong
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A natural-leaning wine bar that ventures deep into the night – a rare thing in the ‘Gong – with a pan-Asian menu keeping everything nice.
Victoria, Point Lonsdale
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If you’re of a mind to put up a chardonnay from new-breed local star Mulline against a Raveneau Chablis, you can do that here, paired with some of the best food in the region. If it’s hot, you can then kick off your shoes and walk across the sand to cool your heels in the ocean. Perfect.
New South Wales, Surry Hills
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Nomad’s fire-charged, produce-first cooking turned many heads back in 2013 when it burst onto the scene. Eight years later and the grill has doubled in size, as has the wine list, while the commitment to sustainability has never been stronger. Plenty more reasons to go – if you needed them.
Victoria, Brunswick East
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2020 Top 50
Old Palm Liquor is the younger Lygon Street sibling of the already iconic Neighbourhood Wine. Opening in 2013, and expressly reflecting it’s anchoring in the local area, Simon Denman and Almay Jordaan’s Neighbourhood Wine has also become a destination for those further afield, drawn by Jordaan’s Euro-leaning menu and the vast collection of minimal-intervention wine…
Victoria, Melbourne City
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The next-door sibling to Tipo 00, the pasta here is just as fine, but the menu extends to more primi and secondi options, with the wine list also turned up a notch or three.
New South Wales, Paddington
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2021 Best New Haunt
A similar vibe and treasure trove of lo-fi goodies to the Newtown iteration of P&V, but you can stick around here, have a bite and crack a few bottles for a relatively modest corkage.
ACT, Canberra
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A drink-in wine store in the best tradition of the genre, warm, welcoming and low on pretence, turning out plates of classic wine bar food paired with leftfield wine
Western Australia, Perth City
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2020 Top 50
After a $100 million restoration, the State Buildings are now home to some of Perth’s most exciting hospitality establishments, with three of them under the Petition umbrella. The restaurant side of things, Petition Kitchen, is open all day, with service stretching from 7am (8am on weekends) right through until late into the night. Beer Corner…
Victoria, Fitzroy North
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A great addition to Melbourne’s drink-in wine stores, Public Wine Shop takes things a step further with the delightfully elegant plates of Ali Currey-Voumard in a super relaxed room. The vibe here is organic, hand-made and gently handled – for everything, from cider to food.
New South Wales, Sydney CBD
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Matthew Swieboda has made more than a little impact on the Sydney drinking scene, with his iconic Love, Tilly Devine refashioning what Sydneysiders drank and how they drank it. That swing from the formal to the personal, from the conventional to the artisanal, was given further flight with his collaboration with Nathaniel Hatwell at Dear…
ACT, Canberra
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Relaxed but sophisticated share-plate dining from Sean McConnell – drop in for a quick bite and a glass of something eclectic, or settle in for the long haul with a group and order everything to share.
New South Wales, Sydney CBD
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2018 Top 50
Jason Scott and brothers Anton and Stefan Forte, from the Swillhouse Group, had plenty of success under their belts (The Baxter Inn, Frankie’s Pizza, Shady Pines) when they conceived of Restaurant Hubert, but as deeply considered and painstakingly realised as their other venues were, nothing can truly prepare one for the breath-takingly ambitious Restaurant Hubert….
Queensland, Burleigh Heads
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A new wave Australiana-themed wine bar, and a far cry from the Ettamogah Pub. Wearing its national pride front and centre, but somewhat subtly, Rosella Bar celebrates native ingredients, the best of our beverages, both old and new school, as well as music, with a local-only soundtrack.
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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An intensely personal wine bar, Fall from Grace is also an incredibly accessible one, with wine, cheese and salumi at retail pricing to take away or consume in-house. It’s also the best place to start a conversation with a local winemaker, as most are regulars.
New South Wales, Randwick
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Sella Vinoteca is one of Sydney’s finest Italian restaurants, matched with a brilliant wine list, but its charms are equally accessible for those wanting to pull up a stool for a snack and a glass or two. And you can take any of the bottles home, too.
Western Australia, Margaret River
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Margaret River’s beloved Settlers Tavern started life in 1977 as a haven for surfers, riffraff not considered suitable for the pub that serviced the then 1000 residents of the township of Margaret River. Since then, the population has grown six-fold, and Settler’s Tavern has grown with it, becoming a live music hub, as well as…
New South Wales, Newtown
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The combined talents of bar guru Stephen Smooker and wine luminary Sophie Otton doing their thing in a warm and friendly bar makes for a damn fine local, and one worth travelling for, too.
Western Australia, Highgate
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2021 Maverick
Si Paradiso is a venue that takes it wine as seriously as it does its quest for good times. Slip into the bar or kick back in the sun-splashed courtyard till it surrenders into the night with good vibes – courtesy of DJs or live music – and three-day-ferment wood-fired pizza to keep you company.
Queensland, Fortitude Valley
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Snack Man is Cameron and Jordan Votan’s moody adjunct to their well-lit, minimalist canteen, Happy Boy. While the latter focuses on dishes from the barbecue and blisteringly hot woks, with craft beer and local small-producer wines, the latter is all, unsurprisingly enough, about snacks, or small plates, with inspiration coming from regional Chinese cuisine, and…
Tasmania, Hobart
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Chef Matt Breen does compact particularly well. Following on from the success of his lauded bolthole of a restaurant, Templo, in Hobart, Breen went smaller again, opening Sonny in 2019. Both venues accommodate about 20 patrons in a sitting, but at Templo we’re talking tables and chairs and a focus on dining, while Sonny is…
South Australia, Verdun
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A proper pub done right, but it’s much more than that, with a formidable collection of wine to complement the beer and burgers – there’s chargrilled local chook and braised lamb, too. In the tradition of the Exeter and Victory hotels, this is a classic in the making.
Northern Territory, Darwin
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The Northern Territory isn’t the first place that comes to mind when one thinks of wine, or wine bars. In fact, it’s likely that Stone House Wine Bar & Kitchen, in Darwin, is probably the first. At least the first that one might easily recognise as such once through the front door. Founded by Rebecca…
New South Wales, Byron Bay
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Supernatural may have changed owners but the mission is largely unchanged, with a dynamic organic wine selection matched with smart share plates and a decidedly welcoming and casual feel.
South Australia, McLaren Vale
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The Salopian Inn is about as iconic as a regional restaurant gets, setting the tone for McLaren Vale dining for decades. Karena Armstrong took over that revered 1851 homestead in 2013, and she has elevated it even further to be one of South Australia’s most acclaimed dining destinations, as well as a mecca for wine…
South Australia, Norton Summit
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A reborn but not bastardised pub with some of the best views in the Adelaide Hills, ice-cold beer, smart wine, some of the best food around, plus everything is very reasonably priced – it’s a must visit!
New South Wales, Port Macquarie
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The Stunned Mullet has long been one of Port Macquarie’s favourite restaurants, but few outside the town realise what a wine mecca it is, too, with a vast and comprehensive list full of incredible treasures, both domestic and imported.
South Australia, Summertown
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On the face of it, The Summertown Aristologist started as a restaurant that acts as a showcase for the wines of Anton van Klopper (Lucy Margaux) and Jasper Button (Commune of Buttons). But it’s a lot more than that. A whole lot more. Van Klopper sat on the lease of an old shop on Greenhhill…
Queensland, Noosa Heads
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A welcome relief from the conspicuous glamour of Noosa, Theo’s is a warm local for residents and blow-ins alike, with smart and simple food, a super-friendly vibe and some serious product.
Tasmania, Hobart
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Whitney Ball and Tom Westcott had some serious restaurant credentials before they took the lease on the Hobart Hotel some two-and-a-bit years ago. The couple’s last stint before self-employment was at the revered Franklin, with Ball managing the front of house and Westcott on the pans. The move to a pub that has long been…
Victoria, Geelong
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While Melbourne may have fallen for the enoteca model of wine bar somewhat earlier, it wasn’t until the arrival of Andy Leigh and Lewis Phiddian’s Union Street Wine in early 2014 that Geelong properly succumbed to its charms. Gutting an old shopfront with the help of family and friends, the pair installed a bespoke polished…
New South Wales, Summer Hill
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A brilliant and relaxed local for great wine, cocktails and fun times, with the decided advantage of One Penny Road sending all the food up the stairs to the hungry drinkers.
New South Wales, Marrickville
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Brothers Julian and Dominic Abouzeid opened their Marrickville wine bar, Where’s Nick, in 2017, with the third brother taking naming rights only. The story, as they tell it, was that the project was built around the three siblings, but Nick insists he never agreed to be involved. As they say, “he [said he] wanted nothing…
Tasmania, Hobart
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Before the confidently elegant Ettie’s opened its doors in the old Hobart Hotel building, Carl Windsor and James Kingston were best known for their North Hobart wine bar, Willing Bros. Wine Merchants, founded in 2014. Housed in an old shop front, Willing Bros. is a few hundred street numbers north up Elizabeth Street and doesn’t…
Western Australia, Perth
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Sam Winfield likes to keep busy. And he likes to follow his heart. At a point when his career as a surgeon (yes, it’s Dr Winfield, thank you very much) was blossoming, Winfield threw his energy into an empty Federation Art Nouveau shopfront at the top of William Street, with the aim of creating Perth’s…
Victoria, Daylesford
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Winespeake Cellar + Deli is Daylesford’s new wine and cheese mecca. Well, that’s true and untrue at the same time. Winespeake is the evolution of Jen and Owen Latta’s Wine & The Country, Daylesford’s previous wine and food mecca. Thankfully, closing the doors on their much-loved seven-year-old wine-store-wine-bar-deli in the middle of a global pandemic…
New South Wales, Surry Hills
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WyNo x Bodega is a merger of two of Ben Milgate and Elvis Abrahanowicz’s businesses. The pair, who gave Sydney dining a fair shake with their fire-fuelled homage to Argentinian barbecue, Porteño, first broke onto the scene with Bodega in 2006. Today, their stable of restaurants – exclusively run or as partnerships – is an…
ACT, Narrabundah
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While the name XO may convey that most emblematic of Hong Kong sauces (as well as Cognac, if that’s where it takes you), XO restaurant, in the Canberra inner suburb of Narrabundah, is far from confined to a regional cuisine, no matter how cosmopolitan that cuisine may be. XO draws broadly on the cooking of…
Queensland, Noosaville
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It would be easy to be absorbed by brilliant tapas and paella across a vast menu of Catalan and Basque specialties while drinking excellent cocktails, but don’t forget to investigate the wine list, which is crammed with thoughtful and exciting selections, from the humble to the grand.
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