Baedeker Wine Bar
Fortitude Valley
Baedeker Wine Bar in the cellar of the old Mill on Constance Street, Fortitude Valley is like stumbling across a lost bar from another century, with a bookcase that revolves to reveal a secret room*.
Featuring handmade brick walls, cobbled flagstone floor, careworn Chesterfield couches, wine barrel on the bar, luggage racks of old steamer trunks, taxidermy and 1920s chandeliers, Baedeker is evocative of the time when its German traveller namesake wrote the world’s first travel guide.
Here you’ll find not just what would have to be the Valley’s most atmospheric bar, but a must visit for serious wine buffs, and an interesting spirits collection to boot.
Owner of the bar is Brisbane wine guru Darren Davis, who has put together a carefully curated wine list from around the world, available mostly by the bottle, but with a small selection by the glass.
The latter includes Sparkling Wines from the Mornington Peninsula and Orange, NSW, with Rose from the Granite Belt, Whites from SA, Vic and NZ and Reds from Italy, Spain, Vic, ACT and SA.
The rest is like a mini-encyclopaedia of great wines picked up on Darren’s travels – think Rieslings from France and Germany, NZ and Oz, Sparkling Wines from Sicily and Spain, Moscato from Italy and Vic, Sav Blanc from the Loire Valley, Red or White Pinots and selections of ‘Italian Style and ‘Spanish style’ Reds and a section devoted to ‘Crazy International Wine Styles’.
There’s also a variety of Louis Roederer champagne on offer and worth a look is the Baedeker Cellar Selection.
Spirits drinkers will find plenty to like with an eclectic round the world offering including Hakush Whiskey, Laphroaig whisky (10 and 18yrs), Russian Standard Vodka, Cruzan Dark Rum, Sauza Tequila and Courvosier Cognac.
*The bookcase revolves just like in an Agatha Christie novel to reveal a secret dining hall/function room.
Need to know - Like any great bar the entrance to Baedeker is not easy to find. Either walk around the back of the mill to the small car park where some stairs lead to heavy black doors or take the entrance off the street through the Baedeker coffee and wine room.
