Berg Herring Wines opens cellar door at Sellicks Beach

After years of work, a southern suburbs couple has opened their cellar door in a converted Sellicks Beach church – and the response has been overwhelming.

Chloe Fitzgerald and Sam Dunlevy of Berg Herring Wines in their new cellar door at Sellicks Hill. Picture: Berg Herring Wines

When Berg Herring Wines quietly opened its new cellar door with just a single A-frame sign advertising the new space, it didn’t expect much of a response.

But within days of the December 26 unveiling, owners Sam Dunlevy and Chloe Fitzgerald were run off their feet at the Sellicks Beach chapel turned cellar door.

“We’re as busy as we can handle at the moment but we’d like to look into increasing capacity and possibly doing events and live music and food trucks and that sort of thing,” Mr Dunlevy said.

“We’re really pumped with how it’s going and we can manage it ourselves at the moment but soon we’ll need to get some help in and we’re still getting our head around it.”

Mr Dunlevy estimates around 75 people were coming through the cellar door in the early days, with local people the biggest supporters.

“By far the majority of people have been those people with the connection to Sellicks and they’ve been coming back day after day,” he said.

The sunset deck at Berg Herring Wines at Sellicks Beach. Picture: Berg Herring Wines

Chloe Fitzgerald and Sam Dunlevy of Berg Herring Wines outside of their newly opened cellar door in the old church. Picture: Berg Herring Wines

“We’ve already seen people come back six times and it’s become their local hangout.”

Since purchasing the property in 2015, the couple have slowly renovated the old chapel themselves with the intention of it becoming home to the cellar door.

Mr Dunlevy said they were nervous about what potential customers might think of a church turned cellar door, but the historic building had quickly become a drawcard.

“We were a little nervous that people would take it the wrong way but it’s been really positive,” he said.

“We’ve heard so many locals saying they’ve kept an eye on the place over the years and been curious what’s happening in there.

“They know the building and drive past it all the time and they’re just pumped to see it being used and to be able to share it with us.”

Berg Herring Wines is open on Saturdays and Sundays at Lot 21 Sellicks Beach Rd, Sellicks Beach.