Vinesmith Wine Group, the company behind Victoria’s Blue Pyrenees, Decameron Station, and Glenlofty Estate vineyards, has opened Vinesmith City Cellar Door in the heart of Melbourne.
The venue is part cellar door, part late-night wine bar, and part French bistro, overlooking Melbourne’s Treasury Gardens at 1 Flinders Lane.
The ground floor hosts a cellar door and wine shop led by wine experts including Yuhan Jiang and Vanessa Crouse. Denton Corker Marshall designed the warm space to feel like a ‘timber cave’, using rare Australian native materials.
Executive Chef Richard Hayes is leading the upstairs bistro and wine bar. Highlights include Portarlington mussels vol-au-vent with crème crue and garden herbs; kingfish crudo with orange, fennel, miso, and nashi pear; and sirloin steak, pommes frites, Café de Paris butter, and red wine jus.
The wine bar offers lighter dishes, including terrine de carnard with onion chutney, pickles, and toast; and smoked scallops with kohlrabi, verjus, and finger lime. Desserts include basque cheesecake with blueberry sorbet and a tarte tatin with crème fraiche.
The extensive wine list includes a comprehensive local selection and exclusive boutique French imports.
“At 1 Flinders Lane, we offer a new introduction to some of the finest wines in the country, some of their French comparables, and a flexible approach to tasting, dining and celebrating,” says Vinesmith Chairman Roger Richmond-Smith.
“Our wine list includes both the classics such as famous Pyrenees reds, sparklings, and whites as well as some of our winemakers’ innovations,” says Richmond-Smith.
The venue is open from Tuesday to Saturday for lunch and dinner.
Photographer: Eve Wilson
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