121BC

Two things the Italians know how to do: vino and allure. Vini and Berta offshoot, 121 BC, has both. It's simple, chic and oozing Italian.

A LONG BAR covered in terracotta-coloured vinyl makes the most of a tiny space. Stools are set up around its perimeter. A futuristic light feature with a cluster of light bulbs provides a soft glow to the room. The waitstaff operate from a little spot behind the bar, taking orders and filling glasses - a bit like a sushi bar where the chef makes the goods and pops them on your plate in front of you. Behind us, a floor-to-ceiling wall of wine bottles provides a beautiful backdrop. On the other side of that wall is the cantina, or bottle shop, as narrow a space as the enoteca. A blackboard lists Italian wines by the glass or you can pick a bottle from the cantina and add $15 corkage. There's a subtly scientific feel to the place - clean surfaces, sharp mood lighting, a fandangled drip coffee machine and manager and sommelier Giorgio De Maria filling carafes, explaining grapes and measuring glasses like a zany scientist.

USE THE EXPERTISE of De Maria and his staff - they're absolute whizzes and are pretty much guaranteed to know more about the tongue-twisting list of Italian varietals than you. Wines come as 100-millilitre glasses, which is slightly less than a standard glass (and priced accordingly) to allow for several different wines to be tasted. For an Italian wine bar as slick and sexy as this place, it's surprisingly cheap. Three glasses of wine and a satisfying dinner came in at $40 a head for us. Based on that, I'll be back very soon.

DESCRIBE WHAT YOU FEEL LIKE DRINKING and the staff will come back with the right drop from a list of 21 wines representing 21 Italian regions that changes monthly. A dry, light, clean white? The Clara Marcelli 2009 passerina from Marche ($5.50) hits the spot. A red to cut through the grease of the pork ribs? The Paltrinieri 2009 lambrusco greto from Emilia-Romagna ($5.50) is one of the most interesting reds I've come across - gently chilled, complex, abrasive and, as promised, cutting through the oil like a knife. My favourite of the night is the Dolianova 2008 moscato from Cagliari ($5.50) - it smells unbelievable and has an aftertaste like pink lemonade. Aside from wine there's a Peach Bellini ($9) to die for - white peaches poached with water, white wine, sugar, rosemary and lemon peel, whipped up by Giorgio. Next people will be mistaking me for Sophia Loren circa 1960, I'm sure.

THE IDEA IS TO HAVE A GLASS with a little something to eat. We end up gorging because the food is fabulous. One lot of melt-in-your-mouth pork ribs in balsamic ($10) is not enough and we order another serve. Bread with anchovy butter ($4) is moreish, as is the complimentary pasta fritta (bread deep-fried in oil, salt and rosemary). A salad of figs, walnuts, gorgonzola and rocket ($9) is brimming with fresh flavours. The pine mushrooms, borlotti beans and ricotta ($8) are perhaps the only disappointment - they're just a bit grey. After copious fine wine and sumptuous share plates in a new, slick Italian wine bar, we're expecting to pay up big but when the bill comes, it's the cherry on top. Bellissimo.

YOU'LL LOVE IT IF you want a sexy wine bar that's not a rip-off.

YOU'LL HATE IT IF you want something loud and bustling.

GO FOR moscato, lambrusco, pork ribs, Peach Bellini.

IT'LL COST YOU wine by the 100-millilitre glass, $5.50-$12; share plates, $4-$16.