Melbourne’s best wine bars
With a splash of something interesting in the glass matched by food equally alluring on the plate, Melbourne’s wine bars have wine-dine good times sorted. Here are the best to check out.
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CARLTON WINE ROOM
There’ll always be something different and exciting to swirl in your glass at Carlton Wine Room, like funky orange wine made from ancient falanghina grapes near Naples or an organic nebbiolo from Italy’s Lombardy region.
Co-owner Travis Howe also has no shortage of homegrown hits to suggest.
His approachable wine list is a drawcard, but so is the parade of home-style cooking by chef John-Paul Twomey.
Whether you’re cosied in a plush booth upstairs or at the chatty downstairs bar, Carlton Wine Room serves luxe food and drinks without a hint of wine snobbery.
BAR LIBERTY
Bar Liberty’s famed sourdough flatbread lures all to the stylish Fitzroy bistro-bar.
This toasty, wholemeal crowd-pleaser comes with whipped cured butter for slathering and scissors for cutting – but it’s too good to share.
Bar manager Josh Begbie’s refined drinks list complements the Euro-inspired snack food.
There’s pate-style blue cod between two ultrafine potato crisps, best washed down with a skin-contact vermentino that also teams well with head chef Zackary Leon Furst’s smoked razorback prawns
BELLOTA
Good food and good wine served by smiling faces equals a good time.
There’s nothing revolutionary about Bellota’s formula, but such is the consistent skill with which it’s applied, this South Melbourne stalwart continues to go from strength to strength.
That’s due in no small part to the super-tasty, magnificently executed fare from Nicky Riemer’s kitchen.
Dishes are at once accessible and familiar, yet elevated with a flavour-first philosophy that transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, this is food you could happily eat thrice weekly. And many do.
CONGRESS
A cool glass of water, a comfortable chair and “something delicious to eat” … that’s the Congress promise and, boy, does this Collingwood wine bar deliver.
Owners (and siblings) Michael and Katie McCormack know the real meaning of hospitality.
From the moment you open your tab with whole wheat sourdough and malt butter, gently informative staffers help you marry wickedly good wines with marvellous morsels: impeccable oysters, duck hearts on a skewer, and the soft bread ‘sanga’ loaded with a pig’s head croquette.
THE RECREATION
Part bottle shop, part bistro, part neighbourhood hangout … three years in and The Recreation has settled into a comfortable groove, offering big flavoured hits-with-a-twist that complement the terrific selection of worldly wines on the shelf to drink in or grab-and-go.
The bread remains reason alone to visit – a chewy, fluffy crunchy-crusted slab on which to slather vibrant house-churned butter – but the highlights that follow are many.
A punchy XO sauce adds an Asian lilt to a piece of crisp-skinned hapuku, and a silverbeet gratin that’s crunchy and creamy in equal measure is the very best way to eat your greens.
Add a wine list that’s a true joy and you have the perfect local that’s worth a visit from afar.
ESTELLE
Scott Pickett has transformed what was his ESP fine diner and bistro next door into the one seamless space.
There’s a wine bar-snack vibe on one side, and a more substantial, if still casual, offering in the handsome dining room.
It’s perfectly formed to keep locals on repeat who drop in for Earl Grey negronis and wagyu toasties, a post-movie plate of cheese and saying “yes, please” to another glass of pinot.
But there’s still enough high-end smarts to make a big night out of multi courses and a worldly cellar (with several drops available by the glass).
BAR TINI
Lip-smacking snacks and Spanish wines are at the heart of Frank Camorra’s Bar Tini.
The bodega-inspired eatery is a slice of Europe slotted in touristy Hosier Lane, a blackboard menu order-at-the-bar affair.
Sharp service sees tapas land at your table pronto.
Expert staff guide novice drinkers through the Iberian Peninsula wine maze, with the lighter godello or a bold Mataro/grenache blend choice picks.
Whether it’s date night, a group gathering or you’re fetching a takeaway bottle of vino, Bar Tini is great value, and lots of fun.
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