New wine bar opens at Redcliffe

The doors are open and the wine is chilled at Redcliffe’s newest meeting place, Arcade Wine.

The venue, which had been based at Ashgrove for the past three years, has moved to Comino’s Arcade and will host an official opening event on Sunday.

The space, at shop 6, has been transformed reflecting the vision of owner-operators Matthieu Rabiet and Danilo Duseli, who wanted to create a warm and comfortable place in which to offer a unique experience.

See the photo gallery at the end of this story

It quietly opened on September 20, trading last weekend, and already receiving positive feedback from locals.

“There’s been a short amount of time to do all of this, but I’m very happy. There have been lots of potential guests coming through and enquiring about what we’re doing and really interested. We can see some huge potential for us,” Matthieu says.

The new venue follows similar theming to Arcade Wine Ashgrove.

“People are still coming from the city to here. We’ve seen that already. We wanted to have a really warm environment for adults to reconnect with minimal distraction,” Matthieu says.

“It’s really that ... focus on the wine, focus on the person next to you and have a good chat with us whether that’s myself or Danilo when he’s in. It’s really important to have a good connection with your local community and have a bit of the wine.

“We have wine education with some special nights coming through as well, that will be themed, so people can have some wine education, have a bit of a chat with their partners or their friends or whoever.

“It’s a good special occasion (venue) as well. You don’t have to go to the city to have a bit of fun and good wine, you can come here.

“It’s a nice, warm environment, elegant without being too sophisticated ... casual elegant without the snobbiness.”

The venue has already taken bookings for special occasions for locals who had planned to go into the city but would prefer to hold their events locally.

And there are already plans to expand, with Matthieu and Danilo taking on the tenancy across the arcade to create a ‘wine hub’.

“The original idea was to have a wine hub just here and then we got the tenancy across that’s going to be a wine lounge, which will offer an alfresco area, private dining room for 10-12 people, and more sophisticated tapas-style menu with a full kitchen. It will be a very elegant environment for adults,” Matthieu says.

Opening celebration

Arcade Wine will host an official opening celebration event on Sunday, September 29, from noon.

“Danilo and myself will be here as well as his wife Pia. We will have a little more tapas than normal – oysters, some terrines, cheese, charcuterie, little meat balls with capsicum sauce, arancini,” Matthieu explains.

“I hope as many people as possible can come ... everyone comes in and says hi, has a glass of wine, and gets to know us and we’ll get to know them. Arrive as guests and leave as friends. That’s what we try to do in Europe.”

Arcade Wine is open now from Wednesday to Sunday from 2pm-late (7pm on Sundays).

Guests can book via the website or just walk in.

Matthieu Rabiet and Danilo Duseli outside the site for Arcade Wine before it was renovated.

About the owners

“Danilo is Italian and I am French. We have been looking at a partnership for three years and we finally have found the right location and opportunity for our idea to develop,” Matthieu explains.

“Danilo was GM of an Italian institution in the city for many years, before starting his own business Arcade wine and also Dvino in Woolloongabba. He is a formidable sommelier and has a great warm personality.

“I have managed high-end restaurants all my life, working and curating wine lists for 20 years. I am also a sommelier with a GM background, including the coveted 3 Hats awards (from the Australian Good Food Guide).