Doom Juice Cellar Door

Doom Juice's Cellar Door is officially back — and this time, it’s permanent.

If you caught the original 2022 pop-up, you’ll remember it: a courtyard out the back of an old pub off the Princes Highway, IKEA folding tables, visiting chefs, natural wine poured from a garage, and a setup held together with ply and a steady stream of Facebook Marketplace finds. Four chaotic months later, it wrapped up, and Doom Juice returned to what it does best — making and selling wine.

Now, co-founders Zac Godbolt and Sebastian Keys are reopening the Cellar Door in a long-term home, taking over the former Poor Toms Gin Distillery site in the heart of Marrickville’s Ale Trail.

“Concept wise, this was always going to be a space that celebrates the inherent chaos that the Doom Juice brand embodies,” Zac tells Urban List. “Our aim is to be accessible, and hopefully a space where people do not feel intimidated by wine.”

The new venue sits next door to Primary Espresso and across from Ester Spirits, placing it squarely within one of Sydney’s most concentrated drinking pockets. While the address may be familiar, the fit-out is taking a different direction. The team is leaning into Doom Juice’s gothic visual language — but without turning it into a theme.

“It definitely won't feel over the top, haunted house vibes,” Sebastian says. “It's a beautiful space that will be visually friendly, as much as it may be dimly lit.”

He adds that the goal is to create something unexpected for the area. “We are putting a fair bit of effort into some quirks and the fitout. I hope people are transported into a small little Doom Juice-esque planet.”

On the drinks front, the headline is straightforward: every Doom Juice wine will be available by the glass. Beyond the grape, the team has hinted there will be additional offerings, along with an al fresco element that nods to the original pop-up’s courtyard energy.

While details on the broader menu are still under wraps, Zac says the venue will lean into the kind of individuality that defines smaller bars across the city.

“I'll always be a fan of the artistic quirks that smaller bars provide to the landscape,” he says. “We are definitely hoping to have a few quirks here ourselves.”

The building itself carries weight in the neighbourhood. As the former home of Poor Toms Gin Distillery (a long-time fixture of the Ale Trail) the site already sits firmly within Marrickville’s hospitality circuit.

With final touches underway, Doom Juice Cellar Door is set to open in mid-April.

Image credit: Doom Juice | Supplied