City Winery Has Opened a Seasonal Pop-Up Bar and Bottle Shop in Carl's Bistro's Old Newstead Digs

At the end of September, Newstead farewelled a recent favourite, with City Winery pop-up Carl's Bar and Bistro closing its doors on Wyandra Street as part of a move to a yet-to-be-revealed new location. But the team that gave Brisbane its first inner-city winery isn't done with the space, or with pop-ups there. Ahead of a new concept that'll also focus on vino — unsurprisingly — the crew has launched a temporary seasonal bar and bottleshop for the holiday period.

Dubbed City Winery Christmas Pop-Up, the Wyandra Street site is currently serving wines by the glass, cheese and charcuterie, and pintxos-style bites — and selling bottles for customers to take home. So, you can stop in for a drink and something to eat, chat about ace vino and nab something for your wine rack.

The pop-up is operating six days a week, from 3pm Tuesday–Friday and from midday on Saturdays and Sundays — with public holiday closures from December 25–27 and January 1–2 — and is likely to stick around until the end of January. When it says farewell, the City Winery team will move onto renovating the venue for that aforementioned new concept, with details about what'll settle into the space permanently still under wraps.

While City Winery opened its doors in Fortitude Valley three years back, the Wyandra Street address has been in use for four, with Carl's initially starting as a pop-up before City Winery's Wandoo Street flagship launched. It proved so popular, however, that the hole-in-the-wall wine bar and bistro stuck around until outgrowing the venue. Hence the move, with City Winery co-founder Adam Penberthy still looking at new spaces when Carl's finished trading at its OG home.

For now, patrons at Carl's short-term successor can expect Australian wines aplenty, as well as a curated selection of European drops.

And, as for those bites, the City Winery Christmas Pop-Up has the likes of caramelised onion jam and goat's cheese tarts with candied walnuts, truffle mushroom duxelle tarlets with confit button mushrooms and sage, citrus-cured trout with smoked crème fraîche and dill, and mini pavlovas with house-poached strawberries on its menu.

Find City Winery Christmas Pop-Up at 22 Wyandra Street, Newstead — operating six days a week, from 3pm Tuesday–Friday and from midday on Saturdays and Sundays — likely until late January. Keep an eye on City Winery's socials for further details.