Essie wine bar retunes a Malvern music school

Malvern, it's your turn for minimal-intervention wines and bolognese and mozzarella jaffles with the opening of Essie wine bar on Station Street.

The man behind the bar is Tasmanian-born Angus Brettingham-Moore, who cut his teeth at Franklin in Hobart before joining the team at Toorak Cellars, then spending the past two years at The Hills, a wine bar owned by the Toorak Cellars team in Surrey Hills.

Before opening Essie last month, he stripped back the interior of the former Josh Cohen music school to expose brick walls and century-old Baltic pine floorboards.

He's added floor-to-ceiling wine racks, American oak furniture, including a large communal table, and a huge, sun-drenched courtyard.

"I've tried to create an environment that people want to come back to regularly," says Brettingham-Moore.

He's pouring minimal-intervention wines made by small, hard-working producers who take care and pride in their product, such as Tasmania's Stargazer and Melbourne's Calyx Wine.

"The wines really speak for themselves," he says. "They're delicious to drink and very exciting in the bottle. They make you think 'Ah, jeez, that's an amazing glass of wine'."

To eat, there's jaffles (including one with bolognese and mozzarella), plus cheese, charcuterie and other antipasti.

Open Mon-Wed 3-10pm, Thu-Sat noon-11pm, Sun noon-10pm.

35 Station Street, Malvern, 03 9500 0218, essiewine.com