Want to hit up all the best wine bars in Sydney? Prepare to take your sweet time. Our wine-loving city is packed with fab spots to down a cheeky bottle of vino. A select few celebrate nothing but local tipples. Others focus on particular regions of Europe. And some have encyclopaedic volumes of wine that require a sommelier to decipher.
Food is also big at these Sydney wine bars. Cheese and charcuterie boards abound, and a select few have kitchens that give the city’s top restaurants a run for their money. So, whether you’re after a cheeky pét-nat served with stuffed zucchini flowers or prefer tempranillo and tostadas, Sydney’s best wine bars have you covered.
185 Campbell Street, Surry Hills
Find contemporary Korean fusion dishes alongside a carefully curated wine list
The SOUL Group has struck gold, again. After launching two hugely successful local haunts, the dynamic duo have branched out once more to open Sydney’s first-ever Korean tapas and wine bar in familiar Surry Hills digs. Taking over SOUL Deli’s former place of residence — which has now moved a few doors down— the Campbell Street locale is serving up a fresh take on Korean snacks as well as an excellent selection of wines.
There are few Korean restaurants and bars in Sydney that focus on wine pairings, and boy are we glad that Bar SOUL jumped in to plug that gap. Where else can you pair a loaded fish burger with Bokbunjajoo Black Raspberry Wine, or gang-doenjang with a glass of Mudgee rosé?
Double Bay gains another quality vino spot thanks to fine dining pros
This beloved Sydney wine bar is brought to you by two Guillaume expats: head chef Jose Silva, who ran the kitchen at the previous incarnation of Bennelong, and restaurant manager Jonathan Mallet, formerly of Guillaume in Paddington.
Pooling their years of fine dining experience, Silva and Mallet decided to focus on premium quality (yet not too pricey) Mediterranean dishes, with an emphasis on the Portuguese food that Silva grew up eating and cooking. In addition, it has exclusive access to a very special private cellar, containing a selection of aged Australian shiraz, cabernet and cabernet blends. There’s also small collection of Penfolds Grange vintages 1980, 1982, 1983 and 1984. You can drink some of Australia’s best wines here.
A Newtown wine bar with creative cocktails from a top Sydney sommelier
If there’s one wine palate you can trust, it’s Sophie Otton’s — owner of She Loves You. Having over 20 years in the wine industry, her resume boasts wine director at Sydney’s Rockpool Bar and Grill and sommelier at Billy Kwong. Plus, she has been a wine consultant, writer and judge, too.
Otton brings all that expertise to the inner west with She Loves You — Newtown’s ever-evolving wine bar focusing on minimal intervention and quality drops at affordable prices. But don’t expect to find a wine list at this small 30-seat wine bar. The bartenders will ask for your preferences and suggest what’s available that day. Just go along for the ride when visiting She Loves You, easily one of the best wine bars in Sydney.
A wine bar with A-plus snacks in a historic Glebe Point Road building
Designed by Sydney’s Pattern Studio, Glebe’s two-storey wine bar — No. 92 — is so opulent you’d never realise the building had previously been a boot factory. And a bank, a tailor, a pizzeria, a grocer and a private investigator’s office. This spot has quite the history.
For its latest costume change, the building has been decked out with banquettes, gorgeous marble-topped tables, plush lounges, works by Taiwanese Australian artist Angie Pai on the walls and elaborate pendant lights hanging from the ceiling. The wine list is expertly curated to complement the Mexican fare streaming out of the kitchen. Pair your drops with some tacos, tostadas and fried chicken for the ultimate experience.
