This new restaurant will have the city’s biggest wine-by-the-glass list (just don’t call it a wine bar)

“We don’t want to be the place to go before or after dinner. We want to be the place to congregate for food and wine,” says Xavier Vigier of his first venue, Circl, set to open in February in the CBD laneway site that previously housed Bar Saracen and before that, Rosa’s Kitchen.

It’s a window into his grand ambitions for the venue that he initially thought might be a wine bar, but has since decided will be “a wine-centric restaurant”.

The former Ten Minutes by Tractor sommelier is focused on bringing great wine to more people. To do that, he’ll break more than a few norms at Circl.

The first point of difference will be offering 150 wines by the glass, organised into three tiers with the largest being full of approachable but not commonly found wines.

Then there’s the top-tier section of that list, defined by a single, rare bottle opened each week. Glasses will be available by the half-pour, with a restriction of one glass per person.

Vigier says he became disillusioned by restaurants reserving such bottles for their VIP customers. He wants to share exceptional wine with more people and thinks this is an equitable way to do it.

“I personally don’t have $800 to spend on a bottle, but I have $100 to spend on a very good glass. It’s still expensive, but it’s more accessible than buying the whole bottle,” he says.

Circl will also look beyond the blue-ribbon wine regions of the world, where price tags are reaching unaffordable levels, and instead offer bottles from exciting emerging regions, whether Australian or international.

Joining him in the project are fellow sommelier Callie Poole (ex-Congress Wine) and chef Elias Salomonsson (ex-Scott Pickett Group and Vue Group).

Salomonsson will be applying French technique to top-shelf Victorian produce such as Blackmore beef, St David Dairy and Yarra Valley Caviar.

“He knows how to make a very natural product,” says Vigier. “He doesn’t want to use microherbs, for example. It’ll be modern Australian [food] with finesse.”

March Studio (Baker D. Chirico Carlton, The Press Club) are replacing the moody interiors of what was Bar Saracen with warm tones and copper, matched by a copper-clad exterior on Punch Lane. Ground floor tables will face an open kitchen and a refrigerated cheese cabinet, while the upstairs dining room will be accented by a glass-fronted temperature controlled wine cellar.

Circl will open in February at 22 Punch Lane, Melbourne