Time to Vino

LOCATION
Hidden on the corner of Kings Cross Road and Pennys Lane.

PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIA
One’s perception of wine is much like that of friendships - there are old favourites who will never let you down, and new personalities who are interesting and of the moment. Potts Point’s Time to Vino knows that good wine is best enjoyed with great company (and brilliant food helps too). Wine buff Clint Hillery, having come from Sydney’s Wildfire and various Gazebo Wine Garden, has a refreshing attitude towards vino, promoting the unpretentious appreciation of all kinds of drops.

A love of wine is timeless, and so too are Vino’s new digs that tie snippets of different periods together with contemporary class and quirky wine artefacts. Two vintage chesterfield leather lounges create a charming pocket by the front window, while ‘50s milk bar stools line the bar and old records dance across the wall. Meanwhile, wooden wine crates frame the entrance and a pool of corks lies at the bottom of the main-street window.

Whether waiting for your date or simply after wine-friendly snacks, the ‘Waiting for Friends’ menu offers tasty morsels such as puffy empanadas stuffed with chicken and dipped in herby mojo verde, as well as rich duck and green olive sausages with braised onions and peppers. White wine-cured salmon served with hen’s eggs, asparagus and tarragon mayo makes a compatible match with the dry, blush-coloured 2009 Spinifex Rosé from the Barossa Valley.

‘Freinds are Here' dishes out hearty meals, such as beef cheek slowly braised with confit garlic, pancetta and thyme, served with potato purée. The delicate dish has a companion in the subdued 2007 Salomon Estate syrah/viognier from the Fleurieu Peninsula of South Australia. Ricotta gnocchi buttoned with Swiss brown mushrooms, sweet caramelised leek and heirloom tomatoes has a palatable affaire with the dry 2007 Denis Pommier chardonnay from Chablis, France.

Finally, friends really aren’t necessary when you have adult-style sundaes that feature date and quinoa biscotti affogato spiked with espresso and Pedro Ximenez, best indulged in individually.

Time to Vino will introduce you to acquaintances that might just end up true loves with many a glass, carafe, or bottle to choose from. All good friends share and, at Time to Vino’s new, larger digs, the more the merrier.

Edwina Storie