Since 2017, P&V Wine & Liquor Merchants has been making all our booze dreams come true from behind its chalk-blue facade on Enmore Road. Its commitment to stocking interesting drinks – from funky and smashable wine made by Aussie and international producers, to spirits made with native ingredients and beer from local brewers – has drawn clientele from across the city. And, unusually for a bottle shop, it’s dedicated to community; it hosts regular food and booze masterclasses, often roping in local talent to provide expertise. Now, in an effort to make life easier for those in Sydney’s east, it’s opened a second space on Oxford Street. And while it’s retained the same electrifying spirit as the original, it’s also offering a whole lot more.

“It’s a bottle shop, but we were lucky enough to get a space that has a courtyard out the back and a restaurant space up above it, and a massive kitchen,” Mike Bennie (Rootstock), who co-owns P&V with Lou Dowling (ex-Mary’s), tells Broadsheet. “We thought we would utilise the courtyard space to create a full-service experience, which means you can taste wine, you can drink wine, and you can pull bottles off the shelf and sit down and open [them] for a small corkage fee. And we have a small list of by-the-glass options which will be opened every day and change regularly. It’s basically an enhanced version of P&V.”

The upstairs restaurant, a French-inspired bistro named Porcine, will be run independently of P&V by two culinary heavy hitters: Nicholas Hill (ex-Old Fitz, Milan Cricket Club) and Henry Levy (ex-Don Peppino’s). It’s slated to open mid-March. Hill has also been enlisted to create bar snacks for patrons in the P&V courtyard (which seats 20 to 25 people) – expect house-made terrines, rillettes and eel pate. There’s also a vegan ploughman’s board and cheese and charcuterie plates.

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As for the store itself, its inventory is just as exciting as its predecessor’s. Expect all the usual culprits – Aussie and international reds, whites, rosé, orange and fizzy drops (sorted not by varietals, but under themes such as “reds of impact” and “fancy whites”) – as well as a bulky range of magnums (“Magnum Land”), non-alcoholic options, a litany of vermouth, spirits from independent distillers, loads of condiments and plenty of tinned fish.

When the upstairs restaurant isn’t in use by Porcine (which is open for dinner three nights a week and lunch on Sundays) it’ll host tastings and P&V’s masterclass program. Upcoming classes include a sake workshop with Tim Watkins from Black Market Sake, and an introduction to Italian natural wine with vino aficionado Giorgio de Maria. The space will also host pop-up dinners and, every now and then, whole-building takeovers with local chefs on snack duty.

“The street we’re on is around the corner from our friends in 10 William St, it’s down the way from Fish Butchery,” says Bennie. “P&V and a big part of the work I’ve done there is about community. And it just felt like a really good spot where we could build another community and work within a community, share the space with other people. There’s heaps of scope.”

P&V Wine & Liquor Merchants Paddington
268 Oxford Street, Paddington
(02) 9054 3158

Hours:
Daily 10am–9pm

pnvmerchants.com