Brisbane’s Cru Bar + Cellar wins Australia’s Wine List of the Year

Patrons of Brisbane’s Cru Bar + Cellar are happy to spend $400 on a single glass of wine from the 92-page list that has won it Australia’s Wine List of the Year.

Chris Walker from Brisbane’s Cru Bar + Cellar. Picture: Lyndon Mechielsen

When Chris Walker inherited the wine list at Brisbane’s Cru Bar + Cellar eight years ago, he set about a major renovation project that paid homage to the foundations of the wines he was bequeathed but also breathed new life, flair and a sense of adventure into his grand restoration.

Bottle by bottle he built his dream wine list to “wow” the eclectic mix of patrons who live and work around Cru in Brisbane’s in vogue Fortitude Valley, and all of whom appreciate an expansive and well curated wine list to complement the menu.

“It is a pretty diverse set of ­people here,” Mr Walker told The Australian.

“You’ve got uni students right through to billionaires in the one area, and this venue has been there almost from day dot, and next year will be close to 20 years.

“There are not a lot of venues that last 20 years, let alone a venue that is constantly evolving, trying to adapt to the market but almost trying to lead the market in a lot of ways as well when it comes to wine in this industry.”

What Mr Walker has produced after years of tasting, searching and accumulating some of the best wines in Australia and from around the world is akin to a great novel or manifesto, a thumping 92-page wine list that lands with a thud on the restaurant table like a telephone directory.

There are the old standards of course, pages of Australian shiraz and cabernet, smatterings of pinot and French classics, but increasingly what Cru is becoming renowned for is super luxury wines served by the glass.

More than 80 exciting wines by the glass that thanks to a special wine preservation device can extend the life of the wine once the bottle is open – stopping a luxurious wine soon turning into vinegar if the restaurant can’t sell it all by the glass in time – which has opened up a whole new world of possibilities. It means Mr Walker can open a bottle and over a series of weeks or months offer his diners options such as a 150ml glass of 2018 Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, priced at $400, a glass of 2019 Domaine Bonneau de Martray Corton-Charlemagne Grand Cru for $250, or a glass of Henschke Mount Edelstone Shiraz 2009 for $100.

“The feedback we are getting from our customers is that those wines by the glass are selling well,” Mr Walker says. “You wouldn’t think someone would pay $100, $200 or more for a glass of wine, but they are doing that. People are drinking less, but drinking better.”

The industry has now rewarded him and his team for their efforts, after Cru Bar + Cellar was named Australia’s Wine List of the Year on Monday night, and Mr Walker took home the Judy Hirst Award for his role as collector and curator of the venue’s wine treasures.

Cru also took the titles of Australia’s Best Wine Bar List and Australia’s Best Champagne List.

Other finalists for the main Australia’s Wine List of the Year Award in 2022 included Sydney’s Bennelong restaurant and Melbourne’s Cutler & Co.

‘You wouldn’t initially think someone would pay $100, $200 or more for a glass of wine, but they are doing that. People are drinking less, but drinking better,’ says Cru Bar + Cellar’s Chris Walker. Lyndon Mechielsen

“Brisbane’s Cru Bar + Cellar has finally won Australia’s Wine List of the Year after 20 years at the top of its game,” said chairman of judges Peter Forrestal. “Cru first drew our attention as the winner of the Best List in Queensland in 2004. Since then, it has just about won every award on offer. Possibly Cru’s three wins of Australia’s Best List of Wines by the Glass signalled its intentions, and more recently, a complete revamp of the design of their list reinforced their claims to be among the elite.”

Mr Walker said Cru’s wine by the glass list, which stretches for 19 pages, is proving incredibly popular but there are still many of his customers who would rather enjoy ordering a full bottle to match with their meal.

“I think there’s still going to be that customer who comes in and just wants to drink a big bottle of Barossa shiraz, or someone who just wants to drink a nice bottle of champagne. But there are also people who come in and rather than spend $200 on one bottle of wine, they’d rather spend $200 and have five different glasses of wine in a premium category that they are not accustomed to because the way that we lay it out.”