Saturday afternoon wandering the streets of South Melbourne looking for the right place to stop for lunch and a glass of wine, Bellota was fully booked and the South Melbourne Markets in full swing (which meant La Central Spanish Bodega was also out of the question). Wandering up Coventry Street we noticed Casa De Vinos and decided it was definitely worthy of investigation.
Immediately apparent was the huge range of spirits available to drink or buy to take away and slightly less obvious was the excellent wine list of carefully selected fine wines available mostly by the bottle but also by the glass using the Coravin system.
The food was light but ideal for our purposes olives, bread, terrine, pickles, truffle chips all in generous serves and a very reasonable price.
Reviewing the website it became clearer that the business has definitely taken a pivot away from wine towards spirits with a big focus on whiskey from all parts of the world. There is an extensive range of Scotch, Irish, Japanese and American Whiskey as well Rum and Agave (Mescal & Tequila).
Upstairs they have a additional seating and a smart dinning or tasting room that would be a great place for private event.
The staff were great and checking in apparently they moved from Bay Street Port Melbourne to Coventry Street South Melbourne nearly 2 years ago, which goes to show we are clearly no longer local to the South Melbourne community. Catching up with a former colleague outside (who was enjoying a whiskey tasting flight) explained that this was a great spot to drop in and watch the world pass by and that seems ideal to me.
Casa De Vinos is actually much more of a whiskey lounge than it is a wine bar with an outstanding selection of whiskey, rum, agave and other spirits on offer. Its a warm space that you are sure to enjoy.
LINKS
https://www.casadevinos.com.au
REVIEW
Food | 12/20 (great snacks but not a big feed)
Wine List | 17/20
Service | 16/20
Atmosphere | 17/20