Natural winemaker Doom Juice has opened a cellar door in a garage behind the House of Music & Booze in St Peters.
“We’ve always wanted a physical venue where we could show off our wines and be part of the community,” Sebastian Keys and Zachary Godbolt, founders of Doom Juice, tell Broadsheet via email. “We were thinking about going down the full route of getting a warehouse.”
But while toying with that concept, they happened to drop into the House of Music & Booze – and fell in love.
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SIGN UP“It’s like a mate’s backyard,” says the duo. “There’s a beautiful, rustic garage and a sunlit courtyard, and it’s very low-key.”
That said, they’ve added a few trimmings. These include a stunning wooden bar handcrafted by Godbolt’s dad (who handily happens to be a carpenter), red neon lights, lots of pot plants, and a dramatic mural by cartoonist Struthless. The resulting effect is “on the gothic side, but approachable”.
Expect to be greeted by Keys and Godbolt – wearing red overalls, ready to offer you a splash of vino and have a chat. Since launching in early 2020, Doom Juice’s wines – which are natural, organic, and vegan – have developed a cult following. Order a glass of a drop you like, and settle in.
Every Friday, Redfern’s Good Ways Deli pops up, with a changing menu that might include Whole Beast Butchery sausages on buns, or potato cake with fermented chilli on soft buns.
On Sundays, pop-up diner St Lawrence Bistro will be on food duty. Chef Jack Fitzhenry (Bastardo) will lead the venture, working with various chefs to bring punters unexpected but delicious eats. Guests include Old Fitz head chef Toby Stansfield, Continental Deli CBD head chef Marcelo Munoz, Wesley Cooper Jones (P&V), Cafe Paci sous-chef Sammy Rozsnyoi, Luka Coyne (Fish Shop), Sagra’s Ed Saxton and Anna Ugarte-Carral (Ten Hats, ex-Old Fitz).
Meanwhile, on Fridays and Saturdays you’ll be tucking into taramasalata, baba ganoush and fresh bread from Lamia Super Deli in Marrickville. Plus, there’ll be musical collaborations – from DJs spinning house tracks to live rock bands.
For anyone who can’t stick around, Doom Juice will also operate a bottle shop. On top of its own drops, there’ll be local beers from Grifter, Young Henrys and other brewers, as well as a tiny (and rotating) handful of other natural wines.
“We’ll stock one or two producers at a time,” say Keys and Godbolt. “There are so many great wines and wine makers out there, it’d be a shame not to.”
At this stage, the cellar door is a pop-up, designed to meet your wine needs through the spring. But Doom Juice is excited about the possibility of a longer stint, and maybe “even something bigger down the track”.
Doom Juice
161 Princes Highway, St Peters (entry via Victoria Street)
Hours:
Fri 4pm–10pm
Sat & Sun midday–late