The Best Wine Bars in Melbourne's Eastern Suburbs
The east is not wanting for wine bars — you can find well-stocked bottle shop bars and sleek drinking spots all the way from Prahran to Hawthorn to Camberwell.
The Best Wine Bars in Melbourne's Eastern Suburbs
The east is not wanting for wine bars — you can find well-stocked bottle shop bars and sleek drinking spots all the way from Prahran to Hawthorn to Camberwell.
If there's one thing the eastern suburbs do well, it's wine bars. It doesn't matter if you're slogging it down Chapel Street or staying away from the crowds in a quiet leafy pocket of Kew, chances are, there'll be a nice little wine bar nearby. The ones of this list stock a nice selection of traditional and new-age natural drops, and most have a kitchen or at least a good selection of cheese so you can snack while you taste a few of the open bottles. Quite a few even allow you to take away — so once you've taste tested a few, you can take a bottle home with you to drink at your leisure.
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Best known to most as the long-running antiques haven Young’s Auction House, the historic site at 227–229 Camberwell Road has swapped the furniture and vintage treasures for vino and Mediterranean fare, stepping into its new role as Young’s Wine Rooms. Step through the door into a space that respectfully blends old and new, with brick walls and exposed beams now married with natural tones and contemporary textures. A diverse collection of spaces makes this a spot for all occasions, from tapas and wine sessions in the Champagne and cocktail bar, to lazy lunches in the sun-drenched internal courtyard. Classic southern European flavours combine with traditional French technique for a menu that’s generous and lively and, to match, you’ll find a considered and well-travelled wine collection, with bottles from Greece and Croatia starring alongside approachable drops from both Europe and closer to home.
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A wine bar, kitchen, deli and cellar door rolled into one, this one’s got the goods for most occasions. St Giles boasts warm, dapper interiors by Two Design, working a mix of dark timber, soft leather and elegant marble, and a leafy alfresco terrace — even though it’s located within Camberwell Place’s new dining precinct. The matching wine list is a tightly curated mix of European drops and homegrown heroes, with plenty of options by the glass and a strong take-home selection. As for the food, you can expect share plates like Port Phillip mussels done in white wine garlic and parsley, grazing platters that you can make yourself from an impressive haul of charcuterie, seafood and cheese, and a selection of steak frites.
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If you’re looking for some hard-to-find wines, Milton Wine Shop is your Malvern go-to. The cosy bottle shop isn’t just for takeaway, either — the venue doubles as a wine bar that slings rare drops by the glass. The venue is split across three spaces, including the bottle-o, a living room with fireplace, and a sun-filled courtyard. The latter is a rare outdoor gem that can also be used in cooler months, as it’s heated and enclosed. Expect both old- and new-world wines on offer here, with a focus on quality winemaking. By the glass, there are orange and chilled reds alongside the usual red, white and rosé, along with ‘interesting and rare’ drops from France, Italy and Austria. Apart from wine, there’s a strong selection of craft beers from Australia and New Zealand, too. The bar’s simple food offering ranges from nibbles like wasabi peas and toasted barbecue corn to cheese toasties and an extensive cheese and charcuterie offering.
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Ines Wine Bar is one of the most charming watering holes around, Euro-style street seating and all. Inside, the team at Techne Architecture has pulled together a warm, laidback mix of walnut, Italian marble and aged brass accents, to match a soundtrack of classic tunes from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ray Charles. In short: it’s a space designed for unwinding. Having most recently honed his smarts at Ides and intimate Japanese spot Kappo, sommelier Raffaele Mastrovincenzo has designed a wine list of around 80 Italian, French and local varieties, with a Coravin system allowing for more interesting by-the-glass sessions. In the culinary corner, it’s Euro accents all the way. Think a daily-changing selection of crostini, cheese and charcuterie boards, freshly shucked oysters and the croque signore, riffing on a French classic with the addition of aged prosciutto.
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Walking into this cosy Commercial Road wine bar is a bit like walking into an old-school library — but instead of leather bound books lining the walls, it’s 400 bottles of wine (the better option, obviously). The Alps was opened back in June 2016 by the very qualified team behind other local wine spots Milton Wine Shop and Toorak Cellars. It’s a successful combination of wine bar and bottle shop, where 20 bottles at a time are available to taste. Not fussy about natural or biodynamic trends, The Alps focuses on serving wine that tastes of the place it was made. A cosy spot to stop by in winter — especially as you can hunker down with toasties and cheese boards. Small tables, a small fireplace and a long dining table. Simple but great.
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Luton Lane is a European-style wine bar through and through. Behind that bar (and in the fully stocked wine fridge) there are over 100 bottles of wine, with a whopping 17 by the glass ($10–14). Those focus on natural drops and span labels from France, Spain and Argentina, along with quite a few from Victoria’s wine regions. At the moment, the must-try is the natural fermentation sparkling by French winemaker Varichon & Clerc. The kitchen does Spanish-style bar snacks that change regularly and, as with any great wine bar, the cheese and charcuterie game is strong — the latter includes specialties like chicken and black truffle terrine ($16) and Spanish tinned stuffed squid in ink ($12). Grab a seat at the wrap-around marble bar and you’ll be sorted for the night.
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Neptune Food and Wine, as its name might suggest, has the latter. It also has a fairly impressive collection of empty wine bottles lining the window ledges down the back of the restaurant and a fireplace. Nab a spot on the leather sofa downstairs to reap its warmth, otherwise huddle nearby next to the wine wall or in one or the atrium-style booths. On cosy afternoons we recommend a plate of charcuterie and cheese with a bottle of wine. And if you like what you’re drinking, you can take a bottle home with you from the bar’s wine wall on your way out.
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Stepping through the door at Wine 1160 is like coming home. Well, the ideal home, perhaps — one with cosy brick walls, wooden furniture, a lovely rear courtyard and (most importantly) shelf upon shelf of beautiful wine. At any one time, you’ll find 200 bottles upon them. But even though it’s a big list, it’s not pretentious — and sometimes the team even has a bottle or two open so you can try something new. The food is matched to the wine available but the glass — not the other way around — so you can easily pair lobster linguine with a glass of Macedon Ranges chardonnay or pork meatballs with a Calabrian red.
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If ever there was a wine bar you’d be happy to call home, Flatiron Side Door is it. Two years of careful restoration by owners Ben and Emma Bangay has transformed the space into a light, bright locals’ oasis, complete with a hand-carved bar, artwork-covered walls, and a stunning, magnolia-lined (dog friendly) wine garden for those lazy afternoon sips. Created alongside the bar, is the wine list — which was carefully selected by Ben, with a personal story behind each drop. Homegrown favourites like the Mac Forbes’ RS19 Riesling hang out alongside French Burgundies and Italian Soave. To match, the food menu is one that was made to be enjoyed with a tipple in hand — a concise, snack-happy lineup of salumi and cheese platters, breads and dips, and artisan pizzas.
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Surrey Hills is no longer the alcoholic ‘dry-zone’ it was a mere decade ago. If the presence of The Hills Wine Bar — from the team behind Milton Wine Shop and The Alps — isn’t enough to prove it, maybe the bar’s life-size graphic of Maria von Trapp prancing through the Austrian Hills with a bottle of wine in either hand will. The modest-fronted bar on Union Road opened in 2017, and winds back farther than the passerby would expect. That means it provides plenty of perfect spots to sit and catch up over a bottle of wine — and with 220 varieties choose from, that’s no easy task. As for food, the bar offers up solid pizza options, including the Milk & Honey with prosciutto, pork, gorgonzola, rosemary, and honey.
Top image: Young’s Wine Room.
