At College Hill Wine Room in Auckland’s Freemans Bay, budding wine collectors can make the most of state-of-the-art private wine cellars, and enjoy their top drops in a new wine bar. Creator David Nash tells Johanna Thornton everything at the Wine Room has been designed to ‘elevate the wine that’s
It’s not the most obvious location for a swish multi-use wine bar from some of Auckland’s top hospitality minds. The definition of business at the back, party at the front, College Hill Wine Room is an unlikely new addition to the Storage King facility on College Hill Rd in Freemans Bay.
Set to open on November 22, this impressive new space combines a wine bar that spills out onto a sunny deck, a wine shop containing New Zealand and international bottles, a private dining room and state-of-the-art underground wine storage (which is where Storage King’s facilities come in, but not like you’ve seen them before).
It’s the vision of David Nash, who believes the moment is right for not only cellaring private collections of fine wine but also having somewhere suitable to drink them, alongside a stellar food menu designed to pair beautifully with wine.
“The idea is for College Hill Wine Room to be a multi-use site that can cater to all sorts of celebrations, all centred around wine,” says Dave, “Think of it as your neighbourhood wine bar.” He hopes people will not only drop in for a glass of wine and a bite but also use the space for meetings, gatherings, events and private dinners. He’s designed a membership service offering wraparound services and perks included for “residents” storing wine in the underground vaults.
“When I was thinking about the space, I asked myself, ‘What problem are we solving?’,” says Dave. “Every wine list in every bar around town is getting more and more expensive and the wines younger and younger. We’re just not able to have access to great wines to go with a great food experience. There are loads of people with amazing wine cellars at home. They can put a portion of their cellar, or their entire cellar, downstairs, with the ability to take a few bottles out, come up [to the private dining room], have the chef do a bit of food matching. It creates a pretty unique experience.”
After a decade in the wine industry, Dave has experience with all facets of wine, from making it to selling it to bringing people together over a great bottle. Wine has been the glue to much of his previous and present ventures, which include the Britomart-based events and activations business Atelier Nash, and its creative arm Studio Nash, both of which see Dave work with various New Zealand brands on projects big and small, from The Wine Libraries at Hotel Britomart to activations at The Northern Club and The Landing in the Bay of Islands. He also co-owns wine brands Helio, Alpine Rift, The Marlborist, and Bluff Distillery gin.
The College Hill Wine Room is a combination of his passions and experience, designed as a one-stop-shop for people who love wine. He’s worked on the interiors with Space Studio, who “got the concept straight away”.
They’ve transformed the lofty street-front space into a luxe open-plan wine bar, retail store and private dining room, adding depth and texture in the form of dark timber furniture and wine shelves, marble counters, and flowing floor-length curtains. Outside there’s a covered deck with furniture by Nelson-based Woodrights, where, come summer, there’ll be a grill fired up on warmer nights. Inside are couches and chairs for enjoying a glass or two, with the retail space a few footsteps away.
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Advertise with NZME.The private dining room seats up to 20, with an open kitchen positioned behind it. Dave says it’s ideal for wine dinners, winemaker events, tastings, team events, and bespoke experiences, “orientated around great food and wine”. The room is equipped with a screen and audio for presentations for corporate events and meetings. Closed off with sliding glass doors softened with curtains, when not in use the private dining room and wine bar area combine to host 75-100 people for standing events.
Dave has assembled a dream team to work at College Hill Wine Room, including executive chef and business partner Ryan Moore, who has been a friend for many years. He was the first port of call when Dave was formulating the plan for the Wine Room 18 months ago. “If you’re going create that wine bar experience, the food’s got to be classic European – executed perfectly. I knew Ryan was the guy.” Previously head chef at The Grove and most recently consulting on the menu at Bivacco and Darling on Drake, Ryan has designed the menu for the Wine Room and will run the kitchen too.
“Ryan’s got a great palate and knows great wine too and I think having a chef that has that kind of understanding is what’s going to make the food here make the very best out of that special bottle of wine.”
On the wine bar menu are small plates such as smoked trout rillette with pickled cucumber and linseed crackers; comte cheese tart with celery and walnuts; wagyu beef tartare prepared tableside; and duck liver profiteroles with a Cumberland gel.
Another familiar face in Auckland’s hospitality scene is Joe Costello, previously Sidart’s longstanding sommelier, who’s been brought on as general manager and wine director. “He’s someone I have a huge amount of respect for and he’s got an incredible palate and just an amazing way with people,” says Dave. “Wine can be a pretty daunting thing and to have people who can actually be approachable and talk you through things in plain English, it’s just ideal.”
Also joining the team are Shenae Anderson as head of operations, Lauren Clapcott as marketing director and Tori Haysom as the wine and guest experience lead, specialising in private client sales, cellar curation and En Primeur programmes.
The retail and bar operations of College Hill Wine Room are fully integrated, says Dave. “So someone can grab a bottle of wine off the shelf, they can drink it at the bar or they can take it home.” If visitors want to sit down and drink a bottle of wine they’ve purchased in the retail section, they can, with no corkage. “We want to encourage that experience of people being here to enjoy some food and to stay a bit longer, to use the space as their own.”
On the wine shelves will be New Zealand’s “greatest hits” and “an international lineup of wines that people will really appreciate, plus a fantastic Champagne lineup. We want to take people on a journey of these great wine regions.” There will be wines at every price point and Dave says each will be a terrific example of their variety.
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A joint venture with Storage King, the subterranean wine vaults are accessed down a set of black-painted stairs, leading to an underground cellar containing 450 climate- and temperature-controlled modular units.
The experience begins with a “speakeasy-style” private waiting room decked out with a marble bar and brick walls, called the Residences Barrel Room, before entering the wine cellar area, open to members 24/7. A mix of walk-in cellars for larger collections and bespoke cellars for those with a smaller or growing selection, vaults have a ladder with a hydraulic lift, as well as optional wine racks, expertly lit for ease of access.
A concierge programme managed by the specialist team at The Wine Room in collaboration with Storage King includes cataloguing, caring for and managing ingoing and outgoing stock from individual cellars, and retrieving and chilling wine ahead of a special event. There’ll be an online inventory allowing “residents” (those cellaring their wine) to request their wine be sent to their homes, or to have it ready and waiting in the wine bar area or private dining room, like a bougie form of BYO.
If there was any doubt there’d be an audience for storing wine in subterranean vaults in Auckland, that’s been put to rest with Dave and the team pre-selling a dozen of them ahead of opening day.
“You’ve got to be a pretty serious collector to be storing wine at any other wine facility in the country,” says Dave. “Whereas this is much more about wine culture. If we can be part of elevating New Zealand’s wine culture ... that’d be a really great thing to look back on.
“I think it’s happening at the moment when you look at the auction houses selling off amazing bottles of wine. People are paying great money for them – we’re at this point of people getting a great understanding of wine, they understand the value. So if we can close the loop and make it accessible to drink those great wines in an amazing dining room with a Michelin star chef hanging over your shoulder – it should be fun.”
Find The College Hill Wine Room at 43 College Hill, Freemans Bay. Open 11am until late. Visit Thewineroom.co.nz
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