New Brisbane bar Dark Blue slated for Fortitude Valley’s Winn Lane

The powerhouse and the pup behind a cult favourite Brisbane wine bar have revealed their plans for the latest venue to join their portfolio.

Hannah Wagner and her dog Daisy after signing the lease for Dark Blue on Fortitude Valley's Winn Lane

The dynamic duo behind Fortitude Valley’s favourite moody wine bar have just sealed the deal on a brand new venue in a neighbouring laneway.

Hannah Wagner, and her beloved furry friend Daisy, the masterminds behind Bakery Lane Italian wine bar Dark Red, and connecting cocktail bar 2.0, have revealed their grand plans for a new venue on Winn Lane.

Taking over the former Outpost and Gemini Brow Studio buildings, which are now one space, Dark Blue is set to be the ‘polished’, but still casual, big sister venue to Dark Red, which is expected to open by March next year.

In recent weeks, Ms Wagner and her team have removed the wall between the two buildings and have begun renovations on the main floor, as well as the mezzanine level.

“The landlord (Arthur Apostolos) showed me the space, right when I had just said “let’s take a holiday” and I just loved it so much, I walked in and I just fell in love,” Ms Wagner said.

Wagner said Dark Blue will focus on Mediterranean and Portuguese wines, and also innovative cocktails at the hands of an ‘incredible’ cocktail bartender, whose name is still on the down low.

The construction process at Dark Blue.

“Dark Blue will be just a bar, with very minimal food options- very dressed down, I am thinking probably one main option,” she said.

“There will also be a mini kitchen on the mezzanine level that will have stuff, like a sous vide, for making some very cool cocktails.”

Dark Blue will come together slowly, Ms Wagner said, so she is able to take her time to craft the venue that will become home to ideas she has had floating around for years.

“I’m very excited with the ideas my staff have … Dark Blue will be a place for me to execute all of those ideas … there will also be more wine tastings and things like that,” she said.

Dark Red which opened in 2022 and its cocktail bar, affectionately known as 2.0, have become incredibly popular with newcomers and its bustling crowd of regulars, who flock to the dog-friendly spot day in, day out.

One of Wagner's favourite existing features inside the new Dark Blue is the rear wall.

When Ms Wagner opened 2.0 in September of this year, her original vision had been to use it as a function space.

But as the build progressed, so too did Dark Red’s popularity and soon it was clear that the new venue would need to be used to expand on the existing space, to make way for those dedicated customers.

“We have so many incredible regulars, honestly too many, which is a great problem to have,” she said.

“I’ve been searching for the nervousness in this new venue, but we have so many regulars and friends that are super excited and I feel very supported I feel very excited about it.”

“Our new neighbours at Winn Lane, Quivr are really friendly and welcoming, the whole place has such a neighbourhood vibe.”

Ms Wagner’s dog Daisy, is an integral part of Dark Red, 2.0 and Dark Blue, and was the entire reason Dark Red came into existence in the first place, and she is clearly one well-adored pup, by all who meet her, or encounter her portraits on the walls of the bar.

“I was working for the landlord and he was helping sell the venue on and when that finished, he really encouraged me, he offered me a larger venue, but I couldn’t take that on,” she said.

Dark Red, Bakery Lane, Fortitude Valley. Instagram @darkred.bne

“The main point of starting Dark Red was that Daisy could come work with me at the bar, beside me at the bar every day,” she said.

“When I got her, I wasn’t necessarily ready to have a dog, I used to just go through pet rescue sites like it was Tinder, and I fell in love with a couple, but daisy when I saw her I was like ‘this is the one’.

“I was moving house, but the place I was had a large balcony, but the rescue was saying she needed a yard.”

“I remember being at Bunnings getting stuff to DIY some fencing for her when I got an email that said someone else with a large yard wanted her and they were adopting her and I just walked home, in the rain, listening to Coldplay.”

“Arthur (Apostolos) asked me when we were going to pick Daisy up, and I said it was over, someone else was adopting her and he said, ‘its not over until its really over’.

“He immediately helped me find the only one bedroom place in New Farm with a back yard and I applied and was approved straight away and I got Daisy.”

“Arthur and the Daisy are the main reasons dark red exists, Arthur has believed in me so much, his encouragement to just “go for it, what’s the worst that could happen?”, has instilled a real risk taking mindset in me.”