Time Out Sydney Food & Drink Awards 2025: Wine Bar Nominees

Caravin is a French-leaning spot on the Potts Point block. It’s a wine bar, mostly, but its quirky and delicious roster of Comté custard, poisson cru and smoked beetroot tartare has brought patrons here to drink and dine. If you’re lucky enough to score a seat outside, there’s a carefree European feel, with street drinkers joyously swilling bottles on short stools and pre-drinking during Caravin’s late-afternoon Apéro Hour. We can’t wait to go back.

Some Sydney venues are “inspired by” eateries from other lands. Others, like Deux Frères, can transport you directly to somewhere on the other side of the world. This laneway pintxos bar plucks you right out of your Circular Quay surrounds and plonks you, magically, into one of the tiny bars that Spain’s Basque country is famous for. It may make you consider booking flights to San Sebastian – until you remember you can save the big bucks and travel back here to Deux Frères any time you like.

When you think of The Corso in Manly, the main pedestrian mall that connects the wharf to the beach, you might picture relaxed surf shops, market stalls selling homemade jewellery, and children playing in water fountains. But the walkway, lined with ice cream shops, fast-food joints and beachy pubs, isn’t the suburb’s go-to stretch for wine bars or fine dining. And yet, here comes Henry G’s. Set inside a former butcher-turned-vitamin shop, Manly’s wine parlour shows signs of its former life, with a decommissioned meat rail framing the front room and scratched signage reading “Purity Cleanliness Services” still legible above its curtained windows. Even on a quiet night, the lamp-lit cavern hums with excited chatter, clinking glasses and the entrancing tinkle of piano keys, and whisks you away to a reimagined Manly, that once upon a time may, or may not have, existed.

Underground wine bar Letra House opened at the end of last year in peak silly season. It’s located on Kent Street in Sydney’s CBD – underneath Roman-style trattoria and sibling venue Palazzo Salato – but you won’t see it from the street. Instead, follow the cobblestone footpath underneath the archway and turn left. There, you'll see an 1860's heritage building that once housed the Sydney HQ of the London-based Letraset company. A small, neon-pink angel marks the spot. You’ve arrived. With ace sips, Spanish-leaning snacks and service, Letra House, is a knockout, just like Spain’s much-loved sangria and tortilla. Leaving your house (and coming to this one) has never looked so good. 

The sun is shining. The music is pumping. And the wine is flowing at P&V Wine & Liquor Merchants, one of the best places to spend a Saturday arvo in Sydney if you want to check the pulse of Paddington. The charming spot is housed in one of many storied terrace houses that dot this hip strip in a suburb dating back to the city’s early Victorian times. P&V aims to be a one-stop shop for craft brews, small-scale spirits and wine and, unlike the OG Newtown outlet, is both a bottle shop and wine bar. Regardless, one thing’s for sure: this Oxford Street haunt is a Sydney stalwart for a reason.

It’s been a big time for 25 Martin Place. Last November, the building welcomed The International, a three-in-one mega venue by hospo group The Point, who are behind the Architectural Digest-worthy Shell House, the energetic Dolphin Hotel, Orange’s Hotel Canobolas and the can’t-wait-for-you-to-open Fort Denison venue. The mega establishment is located in the wings of Seidler’s iconic skyscraper, the heritage-listed MLC Centre, and right next door to his mushroom. With exciting drops, home-run snacks and a stylish space, The Wine Bar is a polished and classy vino haven. And the best bit? You won’t forget the name in a hurry.