Wurundjeri Country
Victoria
Vinesmith City Cellar Door brings the essence of a traditional wine cellar to Melbourne’s heart, offering curated tastings and elevated dining without the need for a regional escape. The space combines retail, wine tasting, and a bistro, creating a seamless experience for urban wine lovers. Inspired by classic cellar door design, the concept introduces a contemporary minimal, yet warm interior wrapped in Australian timber. Wine displays are integrated into timber walls, highlighted by feature lighting that transforms bottles into art. Retaining the original coffered concrete ceiling, the design echoes this detail with a timber interpretation on the ground floor. Overlooking Treasury Gardens, the restaurant extends the cellar door experience as a destination for shared moments, in a calm, intimate dining and wine tasting environment.
The design of the venue is integral to its functions – downstairs wine tasting and wine shop, upstairs French-inspired bistro and wine bar. All coming together in an ambiance which works throughout the seasons and different times of day. Key to the ambiance is the architect’s use of materials – precious woods, subtle lighting and an overall simplicity that is both elegant and memorable.
 The overall design references cellars and French oak barriques – a visual narrative that embraces the Vinesmith group’s award-winning product range and its winery facilities in Avoca’s Pyrenees foothills.
Kei Kitayama, Design Architect
Acoustic Logic Consulting Pty Ltd, Acoustic Consultant
Anthony Middling Building Surveyors Pty Ltd, Building Surveyor
WebbConsult, Engineer
WSP, Engineer
Electrolight, Lighting Consultant