Take a look inside Winnifred’s – Brisbane’s grand new temple to grower Champagne
This Saturday August 2, Winnifred’s will officially open to the public. A decade in the making, this groundbreaking new venue is celebrating the diversity, terroir and craftsmanship of Champagne’s independent growers. With more than 14,000 bottles sourced from all corners of the storied region – from ultra-rare bottles to effervescent party starters that beg to be uncorked immediately – Winnifred’s selection is the largest of its kind in the southern hemisphere. Matched by an elegant bistro-style menu of classic French dishes, Winnifred’s is undoubtedly one of the most remarkable openings to arrive on the scene in some time. Come and take a tour inside …
If you ask Megan Nunn to name her favourite Champagne, she’ll tell you she doesn’t have one. She’s dead serious, too. But Megan doesn’t demur in order to avoid showing favouritism – it’s just that she is so intimately familiar with Champagne and its complexities that, for her, picking a favourite is essentially impossible.
“They’re all so unique and special in their own way and they all have their own character,” says Megan. “I just love them all, but for different reasons and in different moments.”
That said, one thing Megan can do (and happily so) is offer some recommendations. In fact, there are very few people in Brisbane that could offer the same level of insight into the diverse realm of Champagne – or, more specifically, grower Champagne – than Megan, who has spent the past decade visiting Champagne and absorbing all she can learn about the intricacies of the region’s most famous export.
It’s a good thing for us, then, that Megan has chosen to funnel her encyclopaedic knowledge and unabashed love for the bubbly stuff into her brand-new, jaw-dropping venture Winnifred’s.
Officially opening to the public on Saturday August 2, Winnifred’s is a multifaceted haven for all things Champagne nestled on the fringe of Fortitude Valley. It’s a venue of impressive scope and ambitious vision, an entity unlike any other in Brisbane – or Australia, for that matter.
For the past few years, Megan has worked alongside Tim Stewart Architects and Bespoke Constructions to transform a multi-level structure on Arthur Street – previously a furniture store – into what is best described as a Champagne maison. The painstaking build and fit-out process has come up beautifully, with a veritable wonderland for oenophiles now ready behind the building’s recycled brickwork facade.
Designed and built by Tim Stewart and Bespoke Constructions, Winnifred’s boasts several distinct areas named after Champagne’s five key regions | Credit: James Frostick
When we catch up with Megan the week of Winnifred’s official opening, we pull up a few stools at Vallee de la Marne, the venue’s 18-seat Champagne bar and cellar. The sleek space – a seductive amalgam of green marble and timber – is one of five named sections, each dubbed in honour of a different sub-region of Champagne.
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At Winnifred’s entrance you’ll find 16-seat Champagne garden Coteaux du Petit Morin, beyond which sits Marchand de vins, the venue’s concierge and Champagne store. A 60-seat bistro, Montagne de Reims, occupies the remainder of the ground level, while two event spaces – the 14-seat Cote des Bar (also known as the Blue Room) and the 22-seat Cote des Blancs (White Room) – can be found upstairs.
Though grand in scale, Winnifred’s is also a venue rich in detail, from the triptych artwork from Champagne-based artist Sarah Launois and the framed lithographs by Emmanuel Lassaigne, to the bespoke spittoons from Laetitia Fauchere, docket dishes from Atelier Blanc, Tom Fereday furniture and Luna Ceramics tableware, and staff attire designed by Shilo Engelbrecht and Lydia Pearson. The fact that everything has come together as envisioned is a marvel to Megan, who still can’t quite comprehend the notion that, for all intents and purposes, Winnifred’s is complete.
“I keep pinching myself, because I just can’t believe that we’re finally days away from a vision that’s been ten years in the making – and a build of two and a half,” says Megan. “I am very emotional that we’re getting so close now.”
Winnifred’s boasts one of the largest and most diverse collections of grower Champagne in the southern hemisphere | Credit: James Frostick
No doubt excitement is healthily represented in Megan’s mix of emotions – especially at the prospect of finally getting to share her carefully curated and diligently assembled collection of Champagne.
Weighing in at more than 14,000 bottles and 363 cuvees (sourced from 63 independent growers and storied Grande Marque houses), Winnifred’s cellar is one of the largest collections of its kind in the southern hemisphere.
For the uninitiated, grower Champagne refers to the independent producers and small-scale makers that account for the majority of Champagne’s vineyards. As opposed to the Grande Marque houses (big-name labels like Charles Heidsieck, Louis Roederer, Moët & Chandon, Veuve Clicquot and the like), which use grapes from many different vineyards to produce a consistent house style, grower Champagne grapes are sourced from a single vineyard or closely located vineyards.
At Winnifred’s, guests can sample grower Champagne in all of its forms – a broad spectrum of sips that vary from cuvee to cuvee, domaine to domaine.
“I’m so devoted and so passionate about grower Champagne because it really is all about that key word – diversity,” explains Megan. “The way growers craft wine is a beautiful collaboration between the single plot or vineyard, the character of the winemaker and also mother nature’s influence on the vintage year. And when you blend all those three elements together, you have a luxury product that is so different from its neighbour.”
Winnifred’s 60-seat bistro, Montagne de Reims, is helmed by head chef Antoine Potier | Credit: James Frostick
A considerable portion of Winnifred’s grower Champagne selection is viewable in the cellar near the bar, or in the banks of EuroCave wine fridges along the rear wall of the bistro. When it comes to her curatorial ethos, Megan reveals that her selection is driven by the connections and relationships she has formed with growers and distributors over her many visits.
“There’s a balance, because I’m open to all Champagne,” says Megan. “A lot of the growers here I’m personally friends with and I stay at their houses when I go over to Champagne. Other ones I’ve met and they’re fortunately imported into Australia, but I still have a close relationship with them. There’s also some I don’t know as well, but I personally just love their taste, their flavour and the emotion they bring to me.”
The vast majority of the collection is biodynamic and sustainably made, reflecting the broader environmentally friendly ethos that is widely adopted amongst Champagne’s grower scene. This approach is mirrored by Winnifred’s own ambitions to become the first net-zero energy hospitality venue in Australia through the use of a 96-panel solar array and twin batteries.
While the majority of Winnifred’s cellar will only be available by the bottle, the venue is pouring five c=Champagnes by the glass, including Charles Heidsieck, a blanc de blanc from Jacques Lassaigne, a 100-per cent meunier from Georges Laval, a sweeter rosé-style Champagne from Jeaunaux-Robin and a rotating fifth option that will regularly spotlight a new grower.
“This building is just so unique because we have so many different styles of Champagne and I want to educate customers and Champagne lovers about that,” says Megan.
You’ll even be able to sample some of Champagne’s other products at Winnifred’s, including Coteaux Champenois (a still wine), ratafia de Champagne (a fortified aperitif) and whisky. The Winnifred’s beverage menu will also feature two beers from FICK Brewing (a pale ale and a collaborative lager), a clutch of French wines and a few cocktails.
Winnifred’s market fish with turnip, Champagne sauce and oyster | Credit: James Frostick
Helming the bistro kitchen is Antoine Potier (previously head chef at e’cco Bistro and sous chef at Restaurant Dan Arnold), who is utilising fresh, seasonal produce to fashion a dinner, lunch and bar snack menu drawing influence from regional French cooking. His debut menu features renditions of bona fide classics, from entrees like gnocchi ‘a la Parisienne’ and steak tartare, to barley risotto with comte, local mushroom and black garlic, duck with cumquat and carrot, and steak with onion, potato and bearnaise (be sure to order frites on the side).
“I think it’s really exciting because we’ve tied the offering back to what you’d traditionally experience in France,” says Megan. “The dinner menu has influences and the spirit of France – Antoine’s heritage of Brittany and Champagne, of course. Antoine’s a hugely talented chef and he has his own style – it’s his kitchen and I’m letting him have a bit of fun.”
Though Champagne and French gastronomy are central to Winnifred’s offering, the venue rests on the foundational pillar of joyful hospitality instilled in Megan by her grandmother, after whom the venue is named. To Megan, Winnifred’s geniality mirrors that of the warmth of Champagne’s independent growers, whose open-armed (and open-hearted) amiability Megan looks to replicate here in Brisbane.
“She was always so generous and giving, and always just so happy,” recalls Megan. “She used to say, ‘Those who laugh, last the longest’. She just always wanted to have a good time – and that’s what Champagne is.
“It’s not just the warmth and hospitality of the producers who welcome you with open arms as Winnifred did – they all want to have a good time and a good party, as well. Yes, you can feel [my grandmother’s] spirit here but the spirit of region Champagne also resonates.”
Winnifred’s officially opens to the public on Saturday August 2. For contact details and booking info, head to The Directory.