Brisbane’s independent wine store scene has come a long way. Just a few years ago, there were only a handful of decent operators – meaning if you didn’t have one in your neighbourhood, you were pretty much out of luck.

But recently, local stalwarts like Wine Experience, Craft Wine Store, Cru Bar & Cellar and The Wine Emporium have been joined by boutique spots Half Moon Wine Store, Wineism, Barrels & Stills and Embassy Cellars. Some bars, such as The End and La Valle, also followed suit with neat takeaway selections. As we roll into 2023, it seems like there are decent places to pick up wine all over town (and we couldn’t be happier about it).

Broadsheet asked some of the brains behind these wine shops what they’re drinking this summer. From canned cocktails to orange wines and mineral-driven whites, these are their top picks.

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Jordan Shertock, Half Moon Wine Store
Jordan Shertock and Alex Farquhar opened Half Moon Wine Store in South Brisbane in 2021 and followed it up with a Wilston store last year. It’s quickly become a favourite for small-producer and Italian wines.

As the weather heats up, Shertock says he’s reaching for canned cocktails, pét-nats and light, chilled reds. He’s loving the Bizzarro Australiano tinnie by Delinquente, a producer from SA’s Riverland region. It’s a twist on the classic Americano, blending Delinquente’s bitter Bizzarro aperitivo with Maidenii sweet vermouth. “[This is] super smashable and complex,” Shertock tells us. “[It’s] perfect on ice or straight from the tinnie, ice cold.”

He’s also enjoying Moorak Oakbank Pét-Nat – another South Australian drop, produced in McLaren Vale – made with chardonnay and pinot meunier. And he recommends the Il Farnet Giandon Rosato, an interesting blend of Italian varieties from Emilia-Romagna. “Is it a rosé? Is it a chilled red? Who gives a shit? It’s delicious,” he says. “[It has] tart red fruits, wild herbs and moreish acidity.”

Tony Harper, Craft Wine Store
Since opening in Red Hill over 10 years ago, Craft has built a reputation as one of the best wine stores in Brisbane. Owners Tony and Tanya Harper followed up the original with a second outpost in Coorparoo and a third in Indooroopilly, and launched an online store last year.

Harper admits his drinking habits don’t change much seasonally – he’d be happy to drink champagne all year round – but he reckons Victorian producer Bindi Wines' Dhillon Glenhope Macedon Ranges Rosé is the perfect summer drink. “[It’s] perhaps the most delicious rosé I have tasted in a long time,” he says. “It’s a blend of merlot and shiraz, fermented with indigenous yeasts, [and it spends] six months in barrel. Savoury, layered and textural. Delicious!”

He’s also a big fan of the Shaw & Smith Lenswood Vineyard Chardonnay from Adelaide Hills, placing it marginally ahead of the Tolpuddle Vineyard Chardonnay, from Tasmania’s Coal River Valley (both wineries are managed by the same team). While the Shaw & Smith doesn’t receive as much attention as the Tolpuddle, he reckons it’s equally complex but silkier and more expansive, and destined to be just as long-lived.

Nick Goding, The End Bar
The End Bar in West End is not only one of the best drinking spots in town, it also stocks a neat selection of natural wines for takeaway. Owner Nick Goding is also planning to launch an online wine store – Chasing Rainbows – in the next few weeks.

One of Goding’s summer favourites is an orange wine called Sonnyboy by family-run small-batch winery Aristotelis Ke Anthoula (formerly Ari’s Natural Wine). A blend of Riverland zibibbo and vermentino, it’s made on the NSW South Coast with zero additions. “[The name] is hard to pronounce and hard to remember, but it’s really fun and delicious,” he says.

Goding also picks a chilled red created under The End’s own wine label – also called Chasing Rainbows. It’s a red and white blend of saperavi (a Georgian variety), semillon and viognier, with all the grapes coming from Queensland. “It’s super delicious and moreish,” he says. “It’s a bit of a crowd favourite.”

Ian Trinkle, Wineism
One of Brisbane’s best sommeliers, Ian Trinkle (ex-Aria Brisbane and Arc Dining), opened Wineism in Albion with his wife, Liz Trinkle, in early 2022. The venue – where you can hang out and indulge in wine and snacks, or pop in for a bottle to take home – has quickly become one of the hottest wine spots in town.

Like Shertock, Trinkle is a fan of Delinquente’s Bizzarro Australiano cocktail, but at the moment he’s also leaning towards high-acidity wines like chablis. One of his favourites is the Domaine Sebastien Dampt Chablis. “I tend to drink a lot of chardonnay in summer,” he says. “Chablis seems to fit the brief for what I like – racy and fresh, with excellent minerality and a bit of body.”

He also loves super-dry champagnes and sparkling – ones labelled “extra brut” or “brut nature”. The Laherte Freres Blanc de Blancs Brut Nature is on regular rotation in Trinkle’s fridge at home. “These drier styles of champagne have minimal to nil added sugar,” he says, which means you tend end up with “some lively acidity”.

Michael Nolan, Wine Experience
Rosalie’s Wine Experience is one of the longest standing operators in Brisbane's indies wine shop scene, having opened back in 2004. In 2020, owner Michael Nolan added an intimate wine bar to the storefront as an ode to some of his favourite European wine bars.

Over the summer, Nolan’s been enjoying some interesting whites – including gavi, a varietal from Italy’s Piedmont region, and muscadet, from France’s Loire Valley. “Gavi is a great Italian white that’s almost like Italy’s answer to chablis,” Nolan says. “We also have a love for muscadet at the shop. It’s a great mineral and saline white that’s great with seafood and hot weather.”

When it comes to reds, Nolan likes drinking fresh and vibrant drops that don’t see too much time in oak. The Ampeleia Unlitro Toscana Rosso is one of these: a grenache blend from Tuscany that comes – as the name suggests – in a one-litre bottle. “It’s one of those wines that I always have a bottle of at home,” he says. “It’s so versatile – it’s the perfect barbeque or pizza wine, or it can be drunk on its own without food.”