Images by Neely Karimi
There’s been a few sleepless nights for LOC Bottle Bar owner Olivia Moore over the past couple of weeks, that’s for sure. Moore, who also runs online-based LOC Bottle Shop, opened her bricks and mortar lo-fi wine bar this week in Hindmarsh Square. She looked tired but satisfied after what’s been a tumultuous weekend for Adelaide hospitality, let alone a brand new bar.
On her second day of trading Moore was flying solo, after a staff member forgot to show up for their shift, and handling it with all the grace of someone who’s owned their own venue for years, not two days. The space, which she came about via Renew Adelaide, already feels worn in thanks to industrial styling. The warm glow of satisfaction hung in the air.
The venue itself is tiny. A long, blue table runs up the left hand side of the room towards a wall of minimal intervention wine, stacked by region. Simple bench seating and small round tables up the other.
Square tables and low white tools spill out into a courtyard area overlooking Hindmarsh Square. The neighbouring green space is currently bordered with metal fences, providing a smoking and recreation area for the COVID-19 medi-hotel next door, but it doesn’t dull the good vibes.
LOC’s founder Olivia Moore says LOC Bottle Bar has been designed to give wine enthusiasts the chance to discover otherwise overlooked lo-fi wines.
“I always wanted to create a physical store selling kind of organically farmed, or sustainably cultured and minimal intervention wines,” Olivia says.
“There’s a lot of wines that people may not be familiar with, but it’s not meant to be intimidating.
“The bar is an avenue to show the wine because if they are unfamiliar to people it’s good to be able to pull it out and have a chat about it.
“It’s about serving wines which I think people should have a go at trying.”
The wine bar stocks a selection of wines from producers who work their vineyards organically, ethically and work with minimal additions, proving to both do good and taste good.
Olivia says her interest in sustainably farmed and minimal intervention wines is what inspired her to launch LOC.
“[Lo-fi wines are] something that I’ve enjoyed drinking for a few years now,” Olivia says.
“There are many wines which are mass-produced across the world that have a lot of tampering and taste manipulation to create a more commercially viable product.
“But the wines that I enjoy drinking and sharing, have kind of a little bit more honesty and more truth to their original form.”
To complement the drinks selection there are house-made pickles, cured meats and bread and butter served on handmade white plates, brushed generously with cobalt blue swirls. The simplicity of the food allows Moore to operate without a large fully functioning kitchen while reflecting the unadulterated wine she serves.
Find LOC Bottle Bar at 6 Hindmarsh Square.
For more information, connect with LOC Bottle Bar and LOC Bottle Shop.
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