Becco
Becco is quiet at 4.20 pm but bar snacks and a freshly opened Louis Roederer ($25) add to our conviviality. It’s $4.50 for a freshly shucked oyster, $22 for chili dusted calamari, and Kev’s favourite — perfect, thin, hot, fresh French fries ($7.50) with house tomato sauce and smooth very garlicky aioli. Service is friendly and attentive. Their champagne list includes Delamotte (NV $90), and the delicious Billecart rosé champagne ($145, a bargain).
Champagne Lounge
41 Little Collins Street
Melbourne Victoria 3000
e info@champagnelounge.com.au
t +61 3 9654 0554
w www.champagnelounge.com.au
facebook Champagne Lounge
open you tell us!!!
Comme
Comme, 7 Alfred Place, Melbourne Tel 03 9631 4000 has Laurent–Perrier NV by the glass and a more than decent list of champagnes by the bottle. They like the association of Champagne Devaux with the local Yarrabank, and that would be worth exploring for a group. But there were only 3 of us, and recent tastings of Laurent–Perrier have left us with the impression that the current batch is a little unnerved by long travel from France, and will drink with much more balance in a few months’ time, after it has overcome its home–sickness. Comme do have some good half–bottles. Nevertheless, we depart the spacious, sparsely populated cool interior of Comme and continue to a bar already featured on Galaxy Guides…
Cristal Cocktail & Champagne Bar
402 Chapel Street
South Yarra Victoria 3141
t +61 3 9826 3330
e info@cristal.com.au
w www.cristal.com.au
check out their web site……so much fun!
Cutler & Co.
55 – 57 Gertrude Street
Fitzroy Victoria 3065
t +61 3 9419 4888
w www.cutlerandco.com.au
open Tuesdays to Thursdays and Saturday from 4.00 pm, Fridays and Sundays from midday
Gingerboy
Gingerboy is preparing to open for the evening. Upstairs, their bar is ready. But they are not ready to pour from the bottle into our glasses, depriving us of the magic of the theatre of champagne. Nor are they prepared to use properly prepared glasses. While a generous serve, the mousse is very disappointing, and the bouquet flat and one dimensional. It’s too gloomily lit to assess the colour, and the palate is disappointing. What a shame it is for a wonderful Champagne House like Jacquesson to have their champagne served like this. We are told that, had we ordered a bottle, we would have been given “proper glasses”. Best to avoid this place and leave it to the cocktail crowd.
Siglo
It’s time to return to Spring Street, to Siglo just above the wonderfully opulent leather and wood Melbourne Supper Club 161 Spring St (Tue–Fri 5pm–3am, Sat–Mon 8pm–3am). Pricing matches the first floor opulence (Krug 1996 Clos d’Ambonnay $8,082 – but where else can such a wine be purchased in Australia?) but we settle on the roof–top where it is too dark to see our glass of Vertus 02–03–04 blend, partially vinified in oak, Champagne Doyard Vendémiaire Brut. It’s a truly delicious Blanc de Blancs — elegant, poised, balanced. Despite the heaters, it’s a chilly night.
Society
Society at 23 Bourke have an Aubrey Beardsley inspired upstairs bar, but there’s nobody serving Pol Roger NV ($22) so we head back to finish in the warmth, friendliness and professionalism of The Collins Quarter. The men buy red wine (current vintage Olivers Tauranga shiraz $50), and I have a glass of Taittinge … again. The pig on the spit has long been devoured, but a wood fire, Hervey Bay prawns ($15), fontina and ham croquettes (3 for $9), delectable charcuterie with sour dough ($7 – $10 depending on the choice), mini Wagyu burgers ($9 each) and warm green salad ($12) nourish us.
The Belle Epoque Lounge, Spice Market, Melbourne
Lavishly-appointed Spice Market is a melting pot of striking interiors – rich colours and decadent trappings, inspired by both Middle and Far-Eastern style; the kind of place that would impress a Pharaoh. And nowhere is the sumptuousness more apparent than in Spice Market’s dedicated champagne lounge, Belle Epoque – so named after Europe’s most celebratory period, in which champagne was consumed like never before. Sit on a plush, rounded couch, raise your glass to the ceiling of the internal temple (really) and give thanks to the God of bubbles. Created in collaboration with Perrier-Jouet champagne, this is how champagne was meant to be enjoyed.
Go for: The mix of music, glamour and the chance to seclude yourself away with friends in your own champagne temple.
The Champagne & Oyster Bar, The Atlantic, Melbourne
Open since mid-2011, The Atlantic has more recently added a dedicated champagne and oyster Bar. Designed by the Melbourne-based designer Blackmilk, Atlantic (and its underground bar, The Den) mixes classical elements with modern touches and the result is a streamlined interior that exudes a warm and welcoming atmosphere – the perfect environment for a glass of France’s best. The new addition centres around the ‘thrill of the oyster’ (all shucked to order). Matched with the Atlantic’s dedicated wine program you’ll be able to enjoy premium quality seafood and champagne well into the night.
Go for: Open till 1am seven nights a week, the Champagne and oyster menu on offer is an absolute treat.
The Collins Quarter
1 Pink Alley
Melbourne Victoria 3000
t +61 3 9650 8500
e not available
w www.collinsquarter.com
open Monday to Thurday 7.30 pm till 11.00 pm
, Friday 7.30 pm to 1.00 am
, Saturday 12 noon till 1.00 am,
Sunday Parties by Request
The Collins Quarter, 86A Collins Street, Melbourne. Always welcoming, the friendly barman informs us that Taittinger NV can be poured for a mere $15. Glassware perfect, and the champagne responds accordingly. Moreover, we’re told, a weekly Wednesday piggy is cooking on the spit in the courtyard, becoming ready for later consumption. For its bottled champagne, The Collins Quarter likes Taittinger, and features Comtes de Champagne 1999 ($460), Prelude ($255), Rosé ($280), Recolte 2004 ($215). Dom, Billecart, Bollinger and Perrier–Jouët list at modest mark–ups (e.g., Dom Pérignon 2000 $270).
The Lyall Hotel, Melbourne
The Lyall is one of Melbourne’s boutique five-star hotel offerings situated in South Yarra. Everything you could possibly need is in-house, turning this small hotel offering into its very own destination hotspot. Included in this ‘everything’ is the Lyall champagne bar, a cosy lounge that transforms into a welcome retreat for the avid shopper after a day out.
Take a seat at the bar and enjoy a glass of champagne from the menu, or settle in with a friend at a table for two and rehash the day’s events over a bottle.
Go for: The chance to enjoy some classic Melbourne hospitality without the hassle of a bigger volume hotel. And your own, dedicated champagne bar.
The Spring St Wine Room
The Spring St Wine Room is packed for a special red tasting, but usually this is a great place to more than one style of champagne by the glass, and often a chance to try a Cuvée de Prestige. We have spent many an afternoon there, and they always seem to be open.