Dear Sainte Éloise

5/29 Orwell St, Potts Point, NSW
(02) 9326 9745

dearsainteeloise.com

cuisine European
WINE LIST Matthew Swieboda/Nathanial Hatwell/Jasmin Natterer
Wines on list 470 (25 by the glass)
Wine prices $$

Dear Sainte Éloise has been humming since she re-opened her doors. Her owners’ experience and aptitude for running small bars shows in the detail. It feels like a proper wine bar with a terrific list run by people who know what they are selling.

The cellar is wall-to-wall, each bottle carefully categorised in an elegantly presented list. Friendly notes coax readers through 400 (well-priced) bottles, with a strong emphasis on ‘experimental winemakers of the present – those who will help define wine’s future’.

That said, it’s not just ‘orange’ savoury whites from the Jura, or ‘natural’ reds from the wilds of Georgia. Celebrated Australians, such as Cullen and Grosset, are well represented. There’s also a succinct range of aperitifs and quality spirits for those with stronger tastes.  

What is most enjoyable about this colourful list is that the authors’ enthusiasm for wine is palpable. As a reader you really want to try everything. This is a rare quality in a wine list, but exactly the reaction an excellent and diverse wine library should elicit.  

Dear Sainte Éloise makes writing a wine list look easy, but so does any well researched and time consuming piece of work.  
sophie otton