Punch Lane’s long-delayed wine wonderland opens with 150 drops by the glass

Punch Lane newcomer Circl, which opens on Friday after a lengthy delay, is a place for curious wine-drinkers to broaden their horizons.

The wine list, with 150 by-the-glass options, is novel-thick, and there’s a gorgeous glass-wrapped cellar with 4000-plus bottles, says head sommelier and manager Xavier Vigier, formerly of Mornington Peninsula winery Ten Minutes by Tractor.

With “people drinking less, but better”, Vigier says, Circl is out to help democratise wine. Glasses range from $17 to $220, all poured via Coravin. Patrons can opt for reduced pours of rarer wines (such as the Wittmann Brunnenhäuschen riesling), and on Tuesdays, a bottle of “something almost impossible to get” will be opened after it’s announced on Instagram.

Traversing the world’s heavy-hitting wine regions, the list takes an “ultra-deep dive into champagne” and its emerging growers, says Vigier. Thirty pages are dedicated to burgundy.

Circl is billed as a “wine-centric restaurant”, not a wine bar, so food is part and parcel. Executive chef Elias Salomonsson’s (ex-Scott Pickett Group, Vue Group) menu covers a lot of ground in a page, weaving his Swedish heritage with broader European influences

Playful snacks include Circl-branded tins of Yarra Valley Caviar with plump brown-butter crumpets; goat’s cheese and beetroot eclairs; and smoked-eel tarts. More substantial are ’nduja-tossed squid “noodles” and a tri-tip of prized Blackmore wagyu.

March Studio has magicked the former Bar Saracen site into a double-decker with warm copper hues and timber flourishes throughout, and statement burgundy-leather chairs.

Open Tue-Wed 6pm-late; Thu-Fri noon-3pm, 6pm-late; Sat 6pm-late from Friday, August 16.

22 Punch Lane, Melbourne, circlwinehouse.com.au