13 January 2025

Suburban secret Cork & Glass is more than your average bottle shop

| Lucy Ridge
A man stands in a bottle shop

Robbie from Cork & Glass explains that the store is focused on rare and aged wines. Photo: Daniella Jukic, We Are Found.

Cork & Glass in Yarralumla is an independent bottle shop that has also become a local favourite for evening drinks. The business expanded its offerings in 2021 to include wines by the glass with cheese and charcuterie boards made from its selection of deli goods.

The shop focuses on a classic offering of wines from the Canberra region and beyond, and the team can help you find the perfect drop for any occasion.

Part-owner and general manager Robbie O’Dea told Region the shop is affiliated with longtime Canberra brand Jim Murphy, so there’s a deep cellar with plenty of esoteric wines (plus plenty of gin and whiskey, too!)

“We’ve got a fairly classic wine offering,” said Robbie.

“We’re less concerned with trends and prefer to focus on good value wines with a strong sense of place.”

There’s an excellent selection of champagne, which Robbie said is stocked with “stuff we love to drink”, and he’s also a fan of Tuscan wines like chianti.

A charcuterie and cheese board

Cork & Glass has a small but well-curated deli selection that is available for charcuterie and cheese boards. Photo: Lucy Ridge.

I dropped in for an evening drink with my grandparents – who live locally and are regular customers – and we ordered the cheese and charcuterie board. The plate came with a wine-aged cheddar, an oozy brie, sliced saucisson salami and wafer-thin mortadella with a generous serving of pickles, fruits, quince paste and a variety of crackers.

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Wines by the glass rotate monthly, according to the seasons and what the team is excited about. They also have a wine storage business and regularly stash cases of wine to age at a precise 14 degrees Celsius before releasing them. These wines feature regularly by-the-glass, but you can also pick anything off the shelves to drink by the bottle: Rob reckons that gives them the best wine list in Canberra!

Mural of people drinking wine.

The speakeasy room at Cork & Glass features a mural of politicians, Canberra celebrities and well-known wine world figures. Photo: Lucy Ridge.

Customers can sit in the sun outside or perch on a plush bar stool inside among the bottles. There’s even a snug hidden out the back, accessed through the cool room in true speakeasy style. With room to seat around 12 guests, Robbie says the room is often booked for private functions, but they also use the space for overflow seating when the rest of the tables are full.

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The crowd is mainly made up of Yarralumla residents (they amassed a loyal clientele of locals during the pandemic) and people popping in for after-work drinks.

“We’re very much a local suburban secret,” Robbie said.

“But with Lamsheds next door and Minima opening up, I think we’re a pretty exciting little suburb now. The more the merrier!”

Shelf of wine.

Pick a bottle off the shelf to enjoy in-store or at home. Photo: Lucy Ridge.

They’ve recently hosted a couple of pop-up pasta nights with chef AK Ramakrishna (who recently opened AK’s Diner), and they’re open to doing similar evenings in the new year.

Follow Cork & Glass on Instagram, or visit their website. Drop in for a drink at 25 Bentham Street, Yarralumla, between 10 am and 7 pm Monday to Saturday and from 10 am to 5 pm on Sunday.

Original Article published by Lucy Ridge on Riotact.