Ask anyone in Melbourne’s hospitality scene if they have a drinks guy, and there’s a reasonable chance you’ll hear the name Sam Peasnell. He’s the man behind such excellent venues as Dexter in Preston, Clifton Hill’s Takeaway Pizza and Melbourne’s unofficial home of Lambrusco, Dom’s Social Club. But that’s not all. Peasnell is also behind the drinks lists you know and love – consulting for the likes of Etta and the Peninsula’s Barragunda Dining – and now leading the drinks program at Brunswick East’s excellent new public bar, Daphne. It’s here that his intrigue with local vermouth is trumped only by his pursuit of the perfect two-ingredient Dirty Martini.
Here’s Peasnell now with what’s pouring well around Melbourne and Victoria.
My guilty pleasure at the bar is Fizzi Boi Pet Nat cans by Fin Wines of the Yarra Valley. Little 250ml silver bullets of absolute joy. We always have some on hand at home and as soon as the sun comes out, so do the Fizzi Bois.
As far as I’m concerned, the defining place to get a drink in Victoria is Pendant Public Bar! The team down there have nailed it. Guinness on tap, $10 pints for happy hour and a small but concise list of perfectly calibrated classics. Plus they play country music, allow dogs and are just super nice people.
When someone hands me a drinks list, I immediately flick to the aperitif section looking for a vermouth or sherry I haven’t tried yet.
The last three delicious Victorian things I drank were…
Sierra Reed’s ‘Knowing’ 2025 Riesling from her home vineyard in Torquay. An off-dry riesling with such complex minerality – it’s so good.
Reed & Co’s brand new koji shochu spirit, just with soda as a deliciously refreshing Highball.
Patrick Underwood’s 2021 Colbinabbin Nebbiolo. Complex, bright, savoury – it’s an amazing expression of one of my favourite grape varieties.
The Victorian spirit I’m loving most right now is Itinerant Spirits Vansetter Vodka. Batch 11 is out now and it’s their best so far. It’s textural vodka with savoury spice and a subtle fruitiness that is so moreish. It’s the star ingredient in our two-ingredient Dirty Martini at Daphne.
There’s no better value on a wine list or in a bottle-shop in Victoria than Pyrette Shiraz by Michael Dhillon of Bindi fame. It’s quintessential Cambrian soil shiraz from Heathcote from my favourite Victorian winemaker. It’s in the $30 range at good bottle shops and it’s worth every cent.
My favourite place to buy booze is Sweet Nectar Inn. It’s in Coburg and features exclusively local drops at seriously good prices. It doesn’t hurt that you can sneak in a quick schooner of the coldest Love Shack beer on tap for 10 bucks. It’s part bar, part bottle-shop, part deli run by some amazing sweet people. It’s my go-to.
I’d love to see more wine regions experiment with alternative varieties. What Mark Walpole and others have done in the King Valley has been transformative. It’s so exciting to see what new varietals can do in our conditions – there is a whole world out there beyond pinot and chardonnay.
The best or most important change to the way people drink in Victoria in recent years has been… There is certainly a shift towards drinking less and making health conscious choices. Producers like NON, TINA and Heaps Normal are leading the way in ensuring that people can drink deliciously without drinking alcohol. I love their products and I’m excited to see where the category goes.
For me, the most inspiring person in the Victorian drinks world is Dave Verheul from Saison Aperitifs. His vermouths have done so much for the category. I love vermouth and have amazing memories from Spain and Italy, but Dave has put Victorian vermouth on the map, championing seasonality and provenance. I love everything he makes, but the White Flowers vermouth is my all-time favourite. As an aspiring Vermouth producer, I’m constantly amazed by what he does.
Catch Sam Peasnell leading the bar at Daphne, 52-54 Lygon St, Brunswick East, daphne.melbourne, @daphne.3057.