Making a splash

Across Australia, bottle shops are coming together with wine bars in a drinking hybrid we can all raise a glass to, writes GEORGIE MEREDITH.

- GEORGIE MEREDITH

On Sydney’s Oxford Street, a bottleshop doubling as a wine bar is casting a spell. It goes by the name of P&V (that’s Piss and Vinegar, by the way), and it’s a concept with a bit of magic about it. Guests can grab a bottle of something eccentric from the tightly packed shelves and drink it in the adjoining courtyard right there and then. An always-changing wine list is on offer by the glass, paired with a neat yet varied menu of delicious small plates. And you’ll find an eclectic community of customers, from highly regarded sommeliers sampling the jewels of Jura, to local passers-by who may not know anything about wine at all.

The bottle shop-meets-wine bar model hit Australian shores in the late 1990s, but draws on a rich European history. In Paris, they’re known as caves à manger – literally “cellars for eating” – which you’ll find peppered throughout the city’s streets. They’re effortless and convivial, offering an array of curated bottles to take away or drink in situ, alongside a menu of humble yet delicious bites to eat. In Italy they’re known as enoteche (the plural of enoteca), which originated as little shops in regional towns where visitors could sample a selection of locally produced wines, along with a few snacks, for a small fee.