SPON

A reimagining of Odd Culture’s boundary-pushing King Street bottle shop, SPON is a Newtown wine bar and retail space that shakes up the traditional format of perusing and purchasing wine to encourage discovery.

Rather than offering a fixed by-the-glass list, SPON’s list is decided by consumers, with any bottle in the store available to be selected to be opened and served over the course of the day.

Wines feature alongside large-format ales and ciders and two staff picks (a red and a white wine), with Odd Culture’s focus on spontaneous and natural fermentation remaining a focus.

The unique system fosters an exploratory environment where you never know what you might be able to try, with plenty of new, rare, or hard-to-come-by products that you’d rarely see on by-the-glass lists guaranteed to be in the mix at any point.

“While there will always be a few sessionable and approachable wines on pour that won't break the bank, I can guarantee there will be depth to the glasses available,” says Odd Culture group beverage manager Jordan Blackman.

“We’ll also be able to open and pour some epic beer and cider by the glass that would normally only sit by the bottle—everything from local favourites such as Wildflower to international cult brewers like Brasserie Fantome from Belgium and the extremely rare Brasserie Ammonite hailing from Burgundy, France.”

Simple snacks from the Odd Culture kitchen like charcuterie, cheese, and tuna crudo with potato chips are on the menu, which can be enjoyed at the bar or French oak communal table inside, in the front window overlooking King Street, or on four streetside tables.

In addition to the unique by-the-glass concept, everything in store is available by the bottle (with corkage diplomatically priced according to variety and bottle size), to take away, or purchase online.

Check out more of the best bars in Newtown here.

Image credit: SPON (Yusuke Oba)