Booze Mecca P&V Wine Merchants Opens the Pop-Up North Sydney Needs

In my (humble) opinion, P&V Paddo is the ideal spot for a wine. The courtyard’s charming, the vibes are breezy and the booze line-up leaves nothing wanting. And if you’re in the inner west, the Enmore Road bottle-o is likely a go-to. Now P&V owners Mike Bennie and Louise Dowling are popping up in North Sydney in the Victoria Cross precinct, adjacent to the South Miller entrance to the Metro station.

“Week one was met with a flurry of activity and it’s really great to have the freedom of this pop-up to do something a bit more… let’s call it ‘cosmopolitan’,” Bennie tells Broadsheet. “The reason why I frame it that way is the feel of the space we’re in. It’s an alleyway, effectively. There are lots of picnic tables and stand-up bars around it.”

The purpose-built bar pops up from Thursday till Saturday, from 5pm. “It just gives me this sense of opportunity that we often miss in Sydney: to grab a glass of wine that’s really good, standing up, before you hop on the Paris Metro and head somewhere else. When you say to yourself, ‘gosh, why doesn’t Australia have any places like this?’”

A lot of people turn their heads as they swing by. “It’s super simple. And that’s nice. It’s that cosmopolitan European style: just drink a glass of wine very casually. It doesn’t have to be the whole palaver. We’re not doing food, we’re just simply a vendor of glasses of wine for commuters and those that want something a bit different in North Sydney.”

Head down the laneway across from Torotoro Ramen to sip from a stellar line-up of mostly Aussie juice. A Dr Edge drop? Or a NSW-made glass from Moonlight? All yours. Plus, a reserve list that runs through the “checklist of what’s cool to drink,” Bennie says. “Jura white wine, orange wines from the north-east of Italy, wines from Slovenia, interesting wines from lesser-sung parts of France, Germany, Italy. So a few surprises in there.”

Between 5pm and 6pm, house pours are just $10 a glass. The bar’s only guaranteed till the end of September, but there could be more. “It feels like there’s a bit of a wind of change going on [in this area]. We immediately thought there was a great sense of adventure having P&V north of the bridge. We’re keen to explore options.”

With DJs spinning and a bunch of dining stops nearby, this is the North Sydney laneway to be in.

P&V Wine and Liquor Merchants Pop-Up
In the laneway outside the South Miller exit of Victoria Cross station

Hours:
Thu to Sat from 5pm

pnvmerchants.com.au
@pnvmerchants