Doom Juice Cellar Door

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 have reopened the Cellar Door in a long-term home, taking over the former Poor Toms Gin Distillery site at 66/6 Chalder Avenue, Marrickville—right in the heart of the Ale Trail. The new address sits next door to Primary Espresso and across from Ester Distilling, placing it squarely within one of Sydney’s most concentrated drinking pockets. 

“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.”

While the address may be familiar, the fit-out is taking a different direction—and a much bigger swing. The team is leaning into Doom Juice’s gothic visual language without tipping into full theme-bar territory, layering in theatrical, highly personal details across the space.

“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.”

That “planet” includes everything from vintage church pews turned into booths to communal tables at the sunlit front, plus a moody red velvet section set over salvaged 1960s Axminster carpet. The walls double as a rotating gallery—currently featuring a six-metre oil painting by Sydney artist Shane Salvador, alongside ceramics and works from local artists, all available to purchase and set to change every six months.

And then there’s the centrepiece: a custom skull island disco ball inspired by the Scooby Doo live action film, created by local artist Taz Mackay—a detail that leans fully into the brand’s offbeat personality.

Out front, large picnic tables spill onto Chalder Avenue, bringing back that courtyard-style energy of the original pop-up, with planes overhead and Marrickville’s industrial rhythm rolling past.

On the drinks front, the headline is straightforward: every Doom Juice wine will be available by the glass and bottle, spanning their full range of natural reds, whites and new releases. Beyond the grape, the offering expands into beer taps pouring Reschs, Grifter Pale and Young Henrys cider, alongside a tight list of non-alc options including Heaps Normal and Doom Juice’s own ZZVINO.

Behind the bar, you’ll also spot a dual drink dispenser set-up—prepped and primed to pour a neighbourhood collab between Doom Juice and Ester Distilling. The result is an exclusive vermouth, made using the Doom Juice Shiraz/Grenache filled red.

In a hyper-local move, the team has also partnered with Ester Distilling on an exclusive Ester x Doom Juice vermouth, made using their Shiraz/Grenache chilled red. It stars in the venue’s signature spritz, topped with Doom Juice pét-nat and finished with a raspberry sherbet rim.

While details on the broader menu were once under wraps, the food offering has landed as a tight, wine-first selection: imported Italian sardines with crisps, a charcuterie “flat salad” featuring meats from nearby Black Forest Smokehouse, and loaded potato crisps layered with guindilla peppers, prosciutto and aged manchego.

“I'll always be a fan of the artistic quirks that smaller bars provide to the landscape,” Zac 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.

Image credit: Doom Juice | Supplied