Wine Republic has opened its new retail bottleshop at 226 High Street Northcote, expanding Australia’s largest range of boutique wine, beer and spirits northwards from their existing Fitzroy store.
The vibrant, creatively designed space stocks over 2,000 unique wines, hundreds of artisanal spirits and 800 varieties of craft beer. “If you purchased a different bottle from us every week, it would take an entire adult lifetime to try everything in store,” says co-owner Tom O’Mara.
Building on its enormous wine range and reflecting the craft beer trend sweeping the country, Wine Republic Northcote stocks the largest selection of refrigerated craft beer in Australia. “Craft beer has a limited shelf life, so keeping the bottles chilled is critical to maintaining freshness and flavour,” says O’Mara.
After the fantastic response to Wine Republic’s Fitzroy store, owners and local residents Fiona Lim and Tom O’Mara were hearing a common refrain from their customers. “We found a lot of people were coming from around Northcote and commenting on the lack of great quality bottleshops with a wide range,” says Lim.
Featuring work by local artists including Sarah Hotchin and Cameron Holmes, Wine Republic Northcote features an engaging, market-leading design, reflecting the laid-back approach of the store and strong connection with the local community.
Husband and wife, Tom O’Mara and Fiona Lim left their careers to establish Wine Republic with a mission to connect the community with the country’s best boutique wine, beer and spirit producers. Rather than purchasing mass-produced liquor products, for the same price customers can enjoy handmade, small production products of superior flavour and quality.
After two years of operation Wine Republic has been highly awarded, including winning Independent Wine Store of the Year 2014, New Australian Small Business of the Year 2015 and placing highly in nearly every major Australian retail design award in 2014.
