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Myrtle Wine Bar

15 Warburton Lane, Melbourne, VIC, 3000
Phone
(03) 9602 2273
Website
myrtlewinebar.com.au
Instagram
@myrtlewinebar

Read time 3 Mins

Posted 04 Mar 2024

By
Michael Harden

This CBD wine bar with an all-Australian drinks list and addictively tasty food menu packed with Indigenous ingredients is the kind of nationalism we can all get behind.

Wines at Myrtle Wine Bar
Why you goIf you were elsewhere in the winemaking world – France or Italy, say – the idea of a wine bar being all French or all Italian would be neither novel nor shocking. In Australia, however, a bar that concentrates solely on locally made wine and spirits and lists warrigal greens, wattle pollen, saltbush and rosella jelly on its food menu is much less common and can seem like a novelty or a gimmick. There’s nothing gimmicky about Myrtle Wine Bar in Melbourne’s CBD, though. Owners Kirsty McAteer and her partner, chef Chris Smith, have a solid grasp of how to pull a solid wine bar together, whether you’re talking a food menu of wine-friendly treats like house-made sausage rolls and chicken-liver parfait or a drinks list that includes acclaimed winemakers like Margaret River’s Cullen and Avani from the Mornington Peninsula, and Aussie-themed cocktails alongside Melbourne Bitter longnecks and VB “throwdowns” (the 250ml stubby). It’s a strong mix, with a further sense of place coming from the space being a nicely renovated former blacksmith’s workshop down one of Melbourne’s much-spruiked laneways. Myrtle’s all about quality good times and while the home-grown component is more a part of the equation rather than the main point, it’s hard not to feel a swell of patriotism when noting all the great and tasty things Australia is capable of producing.
Why you stayMyrtle does an excellent line in mood. The lighting is flattering and the historic bones of the former blacksmith workshop (and Spanish restaurant) – painted brick walls, concrete floors, high ceilings – are smartly augmented with wall-sized wine racks, barrels, a small jungle of plants at the entrance and walls hung with prints by famed Melbourne photographer Rennie Ellis. Add a timber-panelled mezzanine dining area, eclectic decor that takes in old gilt mirrors and antique sideboards, and a soundtrack of vinyl that may give you Talking Heads, Blondie, Curtis Mayfield and The Beatles, and it’s easy to settle in quickly. The food menu, meanwhile, with heftier main-course options (steak and chips, for instance) alongside snackery like sardines with whipped Murray Valley cod roe, is a compelling case for making a night of it.
Inside Myrtle Wine Bar in Melbourne
One of the cocktails at Myrtle Wine Bar
What drink to orderThe all-Australian list has a generous 20-ish options by the glass that might include Victorian chardonnay, riesling from Tasmania, fiano from NSW and sangiovese from South Australia’s Limestone Coast, so it would be foolish not to take advantage of that and try wine from a producer and a region you’ve never had before. It would also be remiss to ignore the cocktail list, which embraces the craft-distilling tsunami that has rolled across Australia in the past decade or so. It’s difficult to resist the call of the Mackay-Tai, a drink based around five-year-old FNQ Rum Co Iridium rum from Queensland or a Wattleseed Whisky Sour that uses a wattleseed-infused Starward whisky and a syrup made from ironbark honey.
What to pair it withA word of warning for those thinking they’ll just pop into Myrtle Wine Bar for a quick glass of wine on their way somewhere else: Chris Smith’s menu will get its hooks into you quickly. You’ll find macadamia and rosemary focaccia, house-cured meats, croquettes that might be flavoured with ham hock or chicken, lamb served with crushed broad beans and mint, and perhaps a sticky date pudding served with lemon myrtle ice-cream. Your plans for the evening might change and we say don’t fight it.
Dishes and drinks at Melbourne's Myrtle Wine Bar
Some of the spirits on offer at Myrtle Wine Bar
Don’t leave withoutCheck out the spirit list, a nicely curated single page or so of some of the best of the craft-distillery push in Australia, including a couple of examples of the new agave spirit (known in Mexico as tequila) that has started to emerge in Australia in recent years. The two on the list here are Dirt Road from Mount Uncle in Far North Queensland and an Agave Blanco from the excellent Mountain Distilling in central Victoria.
Make it fancyMyrtle Wine Bar keeps its prices to the more affordable end of the spectrum when it comes to wine, with most bottles on the list coming in at under (sometimes well under) $100. If you’re feeling flush, though, and the occasion calls for bubbles, an excellent option is the Leeuwin Estate’s Brut sparkling, a finely and elegantly balanced blend of chardonnay and pinot noir from one of Western Australia’s best and a small bargain at $130.
Sponsor logo
In partnership with Melbourne Food & Wine Festival
Authour image
Michael HardenAfter 25 years writing about wine and food, Michael Harden is getting the hang of it.
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Drinks DirectoryDate nightBarRestaurantAfter work drinksSpecialty BarVego Food OptionsTop notch wine listCasual catch-upMeal and a bevMelbourneMelbourne – CBDGreat tunes
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