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Melbourne’s Best Wine Bars, Where It’s About More Than Just a Glass

Somewhere between a restaurant and a bar, wine bars in Melbourne are driven by proximity to local wine regions and a preference for casual, friendly service.

The wine bar scene in Melbourne is, in a word, divine. Wine bars are so ubiquitous here that around almost every corner sits a cozy little bottle shop with ceiling-high wooden shelves brimming with bottles. Down nearly every lane, you can find a casual day-to-night cafe stocked with natural and low-intervention picks or full-on, multi-room restaurants with marble countertops, chic decor and chef-driven menus to accompany 1,000-plus bottle lists. 

In Australia, wine bars aren’t just restaurants, nor are they simply stuffy shops full of high-end bottles with just a cheese plate on the menu. 

For Gus Gluck, director of business development for Neighbourhood Wine, one of the most beloved wine bars in Melbourne (as well as its two sister venues, Old Palm Liquor, Bahama Gold), service is the primary element that sets wine bars apart. “Ideally, if it’s a real wine bar, it will be a bit louder, and things will be a bit more casual,” he explains from his perch on a stool at Old Palm Liquor, where we tasted through a few local bottles while chatting. “A great wine bar has to do with how it feels, or the service, and then it has to come down to the wine. It’s not always even the list; it’s also about the glassware, how it’s served, the temperatures, how it’s opened—that’s all critical.”

Gluck, a U.K. transplant who has now lived and worked in Australia for the last decade or so, was drawn to Victoria by the vibrant wine scene. “Victoria doesn’t have the biggest wine industry yet,” he says. “It’s still emerging, and there’s such diversity because there’s no real house style. Yes, there’s a lot of pinot and chardonnay, but Victoria is also amazing because of its future for a lighter style syrah that’s very aromatic and evocative due to a chemical called rotundone that’s found in the soil in certain areas.”

So if Victoria’s wine industry is still in its early stages, why is Melbourne replete with so many excellent spots to drink wine and have a snack? Dan Cole, owner of another local wine bar, The Moon, thinks the proximity to several excellent wine regions, such as Yarra Valley, Gippsland, King Valley and the Mornington Peninsula, might have something to do with it. “We’re geographically close to so many amazing wine regions that we get to showcase incredible wines from small, independent winemakers doing their thing,” Cole says. “Even some of our winemakers have incredibly old vines—50, 60, 70-year-old vines that are producing such amazing fruit. The diversity of the wine bars in Melbourne is an example of the great winemakers of the area in Victoria.”

If you’re visiting Melbourne in the near future and searching for a spot to soak up the great wine culture, look no further. Below is a list of the best spots in the city, scattered among the central CBD where visitors congregate, as well as cool-kid local neighborhoods like Fitzroy, Carlton and Collingwood.

Melbourne, Australia's Best Wine Bars

122 Russell St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia

Located right in the heart of the CBD, this wine bar is the perfect first stop for a visitor who wants to get a taste of the local scene. Chef and owner Dave Verheul is known for his fire-grilled cooking style, which is enough to draw diners here on its own, but more recently, he’s also begun making his own vermouth and amaro under Saison Aperitifs. A smattering of those aperitifs are on offer at the bar, which initially opened back in 2016. Wine by the glass is always a draw, as is an eclectic, miles-deep bottle list from co-owner Christian McCabe, which is organized with playful headings that actually make sense: “crispy and salty whites,” and “elegant and perfumed.” Across 200 bottles, expect a good mix of classic European picks, Australian standouts, and plenty of natural picks. There’s also a bevy of mixed drinks and spirits, NA offerings, and beers to keep the bar approachable for all drinkers.

1 Reid St, Fitzroy North VIC 3068, Australia

Opened way back in 2013, Neighbourhood Wine is the quickest answer most locals give when asked about the best wine bar in the city. Seasonal produce is at the heart of chef Almay Jordaan’s menu; she started the bar with her husband, Simon Denman, an international sommelier in London who returned home to Australia and now also makes wine himself. With a list spanning over 1,000 bottles and a........

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