Named after the term for a 500ml bottle of wine, this intimate wine bar is similarly petite, with a simple set-up and tight food menu letting the star of the show shine: the drinks.
Jennie feels a little like a mate’s place – with much better wine. The set-up is little more than a communal 18-seat African mahogany table in the centre (it was once a meeting room for a coworking hub) and a feature wall of wines. The stuffy office vibes are gone, but the place has retained its remit as a local meeting spot. The staff are warm, attentive and knowledgeable. And there’s no barrier between you and them – there’s no service bar, in keeping with the relaxed, informal and breezy enoteca vibes.
The globetrotting wine list includes something for everyone, whether you want something classic or weird and funky, and specialises in sourcing rare drops – maybe a dry single-vineyard palomino by Corta y Raspa, a project by a collective of growers in sherry country in southern Spain; or a flinty chardonnay by Bodega Chacra, an ambitious producer in Patagonia, Argentina. There’s a tight edit of beers (most by Adelaide’s Mismatch), gins and whiskies hidden from view. But they’re not really why you’re here.
It’s all about the wines at Jennie, and the snacks to eat with them. The food menu has evolved considerably since the place opened last year, from small bites to share plates that don’t require a kitchen: Coffin Bay Oysters with chilli oil and chives, beetroot and gin-cured salmon with soy and citrus dressing, and things on toast – spicy salami with local honey and pickled peppers, chicken-liver pâté with quince jam and cracked pepper, fish fingers with whipped taramasalata, and burrata with black-truffle honey.
There’s also Coravin wines available by the 125ml pour, including an Alain Graillot marsanne and roussanne Crozes-Hermitage from Northern Rhone, and a GD Vajra nebbiolo-barolo blend from Piedmont.
Wine is the obvious choice here, but if you’re struggling to choose from the 250-odd drops, the 2021 Guímaro mencía is particularly popular. “I firstly love these wines for where they’re from – if you Google Ribeira Sacra vineyards it seduces you instantly with stunning, desolate landscapes,” says co-owner and operator Scott Taddeo. “But equally important, as a drink too, it’s the perfect by-the-glass wine – light to medium bodied, vivid in its aromatics, red fruits, sanguine, herbal, spicy and has this crushed-rock thing, which seems to speak of where it’s from.”
Either way, rock up with an open mind and curious palate – the staff here love introducing new wines to people, and you can rest easy knowing you’re in good hands. If you’re in a different kind of mood, may we point you towards the Cacao-Banana Negroni, a delightfully decadent and tropical spin on the classic cocktail.
Snag a spot by the window during the cooler months to watch the motley passers-by of Peel Street. If you’re visiting in spring or summer, get in early to nab a spot outside and soak up the after-work energy of the street (the outdoor seats fill up quickly after 5:00pm). Then keep the Euro summer vibes going and order a white port and tonic, a Portuguese-style aperitivo that’ll transport you to the streets of Lisbon.
But you don’t have to sip in-store to sample the best of Jennie. The bar’s launched a monthly wine club for members to get curated packs of three or six bottles (for a very reasonable $180 for the latter) delivered to their door.
