WINE LIST OF THE YEAR Kisumé

Melbourne

There are three wine lists at Kisumé. Each is very good; together they provide a wine experience you want to sink into and savour. A core list of 30 pages features a range of drinks: wine on tap from some of Victoria’s top boutique producers and a lovely selection by the bottle, mostly Australian, most under $100. If you feel like splashing out, there’s a more serious list: 30 pages replete with verticals of big-name wines from Australia and around the world.

Then there’s the Chablis Bar, with a booklet of wines from the famed Burgundian region, from Petit Chablis to Grand Cru. It’s a quirky idea, but it has paid off: Chablis now accounts for a third of all wine sales at Kisumé.

The wine team is headed by some of the best in the business: GM Philip Rich, late of Prince Wine Store, and group somm Jonathan Ross, formerly of Eleven Madison Park in New

York. It helps that their boss, Chris Lucas, also has a passion for wine, particularly Burgundy – a passion that’s infused throughout the list.

All three of them. Kisumé, 175 Flinders La, Melbourne, Vic, (03) 9671 4888