From the team which brought you the hugely-successful Broad Bean Organic Grocer, Act of Wine will launch its wine, beer and spirits retail shop right next door at 22 Fanning St in early October.
To complement Broad Bean’s incredible range of organic produce, meals and healthy products, Act of Wine now gives locals access to a selection of more than 500 sustainably produced alcoholic beverages right in the heart of Southbank.
Having already launched its online store (actofwine.com.au), the shop’s manager Sam Fitzsimmons said the retail store was about showcasing Australian producers and educating the community on the growing market of sustainably made products.
“The overarching framework of the business and products we stock is sustainability so we’re focusing on and showcasing producers who are working with sustainable practices,” Sam said.
“We’re passionate about products which use more natural farming practices to grow the grapes and then, in the winery, not adding anything to the wine and letting it express the land and the fruit.”
With organics proving a hit in Southbank since Broad Bean opened its doors four years ago, Sam said owners Paul and Andrew felt expanding the offering to alcohol was a natural fit for the area.
Having grown up in a wine region in NSW and forged his passion for hospitality and wine over many years, Sam has been a part of Broad Bean’s journey for more than three years.
In that time, when not behind the coffee machine, he said he had been busy working at a natural wine bar and travelling to different wineries, breweries and distilleries to build his product knowledge for the new business in his spare time.
“It’s a passion project for the three of us,” Sam said. “The guys (Paul and Andrew) have had the store for a little over four years now and with my product knowledge and their business knowledge it’s a really good fit.”
“Initially I was unsure how it would be received but the beauty of the industry is that everyone is so eager to get on board and they’re just happy that their product is being represented. The reception has been amazing.”
While the new store will be unveiled with a small launch party in early October, locals can jump online in the meantime and start shopping.
Stressing the importance of the store as a space for education as much as anything, Sam said Act of Wine looked forward to regularly featuring as many producers as possible to raise awareness about the industry.
“We’ll have winemakers, brewers, distillers and distributors in as often as we can because we want to focus on education,” he said.
“We understand that the organic natural sphere of wines isn’t the most widely accepted or understood at the moment so we want to bridge that gap and make it a bit easier for people to get their heads around it. I’ll have bottles open every day so people can come in and try!”
https://www.southbanklocalnews.com.au/businesses-in-southbank_7831/