In a loft-inspired laneway space, it’s serving South American and Spanish wines, alongside snacks such as sardines, Superbon Madrid crisps and deli boards.
How do you follow-up one of Fortitude Valley’s most popular wine bars?
Dark Red, tucked away on Bakery Lane, heaves with punters on Friday and Saturday nights. There’s a lot to love about this place – the small producer Italian wines are on point, the vibe freewheeling and giddy – but what has always tied it together is owner Hannah Wagner, who would typically work the bar herself, often at breakneck speed, running and recommending bottles to curious drinkers.
So it’s not so much how you build upon Dark Red, but how you build upon Wagner herself, whose personality is at the centre of what she does.
Thankfully, with the opening of Dark Blue in the heritage-listed Shannon’s Building last month, the answer was to hire two of the best barkeeps in the city. Dark Red is now run day-to-day by award winner Ellery Low, who seasoned drinkers will know from his many years at Maker in Fish Lane.
In Dark Blue, located just across Ann Street from Dark Red, on the corner of Winn Street and Winn Lane, is Charlie Hunter, who was most recently behind the bar at the rambunctious Savile Row on Ann Street in the Valley.
“It wasn’t hard [to relinquish control] with Ellery,” Wagner says. “It was weird: with anyone else, I wouldn’t have done it. But he fills in my gaps – we’re pretty much opposites in terms of our style, but we see eye to eye on so many things.
“Now, with Charlie in Dark Blue, both of them are foundations. There’s something that calms me about Ellery, and something that excites me about Charlie.”
What else differentiates Dark Blue? It’s the first venue Wagner has designed and built from scratch, as opposed to Dark Red, which she slowly evolved from the short-lived Uh Oh Italian Wine Store & Bar.
The result is what Wagner shorthands as having the feel of a New York loft, with the venue featuring high ceilings, and plenty of timber and original brick features. A small bar sits at one end opposite a mix of high and low seating overlooking Winn Street. Above sits a vintage chandelier and a small mezzanine, which Wagner and Hunter are using as a staff area.
Dark Blue leans just a bit more towards cocktails than its sister venue, with Hunter serving an evolving menu that imaginatively interprets the classics. You might order the Espresso Martini-inspired Caramel Carajillo (Licor 43, Archie Rose vodka, cassia, clove, salted caramel), a Dark Blue Spritz (blueberry-infused vodka, vermouth and cava), or the Med Martini (Four Pillars Olive Leaf gin, lemon-infused vermouth, caper brine, lemon oil, dill infusion).
For wines, Wagner is focusing on drops from Spain, Chile and Argentina, with the initial list running to around 50 bottles. Ask her to show you some – she’s particularly proud of a Korinta chasselas, a Cacique Maravilla pipeno (which roughly translates to “peasant wine”) made from pais grapes – both from Chile – and a Matias Riccitelli malbec from Argentina.
“I was really keen to cut into more niche portfolios,” she says. “By its nature with wine, you tend to learn about the terroir of a place, its geography. You’re learning about the cultures and the history.”
There are also snacks such as tinned sardines and octopus, Superbon Madrid crisps, and deli boards you can compile yourself with items such as a terrine and a cherry duck pate.
It might be a more grown-up version of Dark Red, but Dark Blue still only has 30 seats. In short, get there early after work if you want to grab a seat.
Wed-Thu 4pm-10pm, Fri-Sat 4pm-12am
5A Winn Lane, Fortitude Valley
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Matt Shea is Food and Culture Editor at Brisbane Times. He is a former editor and editor-at-large at Broadsheet Brisbane, and has written for Escape, Qantas Magazine, the Guardian, Jetstar Magazine and SilverKris, among many others.
