Where's Nick?

It's the dawn of a new era of take-home booze in Sydney.

Mr Liquor's Dirty Italian Disco – the bottle shop, karaoke party and midnight spaghetti disco Sydney definitely wasn't waiting for – is a new project from hospitality collective Pinbone, and Merivale. It's set to open imminently. Then there's the yet-to-be-named Bottle-O opening in Enmore some time in November by wine-gun-for-hire Mike Bennie and Lou Dowling, the eyes, ears and muscle behind the Mary's empire. Online, Joel Amos (DRNKS.com) creates a bespoke wine experience that's like having your very own desktop sommelier. It's certainly a good time to be drinking juice. 

And now, this new Marrickville wine bar has swung open from brothers Julian (an ex-buyer for excellent CBD bottle shop, the Oak Barrel) and Dominic Abouzeid, which they've named for their  brother Nick.

It's that classic early-days, small-bar vibe – mismatched furniture, lighting that could probably stand to be fiddled with a little more, the random bit of art and a small blackboard menu of eats all made in a corner of the bar out of a couple of toaster ovens. 

Food isn't really the focus, to be perfectly straight with you. These guys are wine specialists. But you can fashion a dinner out of what's on offer. That might look like a thickish, slightly biscuity pizza base topped with sugo, red onion, zaatar, fresh mint and labna. Or another (and this one's my preference) of fresh fig, sliced tomato, ribbons of prosciutto and mozzarella. Order a serve of warm olives and pretend they're an entree. Better yet, save yourself and hit Pizza Madre down the road for dinner, post wine.     

Here's the thing. What they lack in very tasty snacks, they make up for by an extremely strong offering on the wine front. 

There's a neat blackboard menu for specials and gear-by-the-glass and a thick list for those of you looking to settle in and get serious. Rotating guest winemakers mean you might clink glasses with the likes of James Erskine, the Adelaide Hills winemaker behind Jauma wines. Try his fairly austere chenin blanc, "sand on schist", named for the mix of beach sand and minerals the original chenin grapevines were planted in. Or maybe it'll be the simultaneously juicy and flinty pinot noir from the Architects of Wine. There's plenty of French if you want to stray beyond our shores (hi there, everything from the Jura, welcome to the party) but flying the home turf flag is always a good thing. 

We'll drink to that.

Try this The Architects of Wine give good, juicy and slightly dusty pinot noir

Bottom line Fig and prosciutto pizza ($14); Jauma chenin blanc ($13.50); Architects of Wine pinot noir ($13.50)