Inside Fountainhead Winehouse – the Newstead haunt demystifying wine, one bottle at a time
Hidden beneath a Newstead warehouse, Fountainhead Winehouse is quietly rewriting Brisbane’s wine rulebook. Founded by longtime friends Chris Banham and Dan Wilson, the subterranean space blends thoughtful design, a broad selection of vino and a spirit of genuine hospitality. More living room than retail shop, Fountainhead invites drinkers to slow down, ask questions and discover wine on their own terms.
Discovery. Difference. Diversity. If there are three words that encapsulate Fountainhead Winehouse, that trio probably does it best.
The recently opened Newstead wine shop is unlike most venues of its ilk – especially in Brisbane. But that was exactly what Fountainhead’s operators, longtime friends Chris Banham and Dan Wilson, were aiming for when they decided to team up on the project.
For Dan, fresh from a decade-long stint in London, there was a yearning to bring pieces of his life abroad back home. As for software designer Chris, the wine-shop format was something that he believed was ripe for refinement or, at least, a tasteful reconfiguration.
Noting the overwhelming success of Dan’s first homecoming endeavour, Tarragindi’s L.P.O. Neighbourhood Wine Store (which Dan owns alongside Matt Okine), Chris spied an opportunity to create an outlet that was more than just the typical grab-and-go pit stop.
“L.P.O. showed me that there was a market for people who want to learn about wine and discover more than what’s currently available – there’s an appetite for it,” says Chris. “But I wanted to do things a little differently.
“I knew that Dan approached wine in a different way, in terms of how he spoke to people about wine and the types of wines he selected. So, it started there – combining Dan’s knowledge of wine with my wanting to try a different approach to wine-shop design and asking, ‘How can we do a wine shop that’s a bit different from what you normally see?’”
For first-time visitors, Fountainhead Winehouse can be a little bit tricky to find. That’s somewhat intentional, according to the crew.
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“It doesn’t have a frontage, so you have to know where it is – there’s this element of discovery for it,” says Dan. “For me a little bit of hidden magic is always nice.”
To find the place, first locate MANIAX on Doggett Street. You’ll spy an inconspicuous driveway running down the side of the building – follow it. If you can hear the thud of hatchets striking wood next door, don’t worry, you’re on the right track. Soon, you’ll come across the entrance to the beguiling basement-bound haunt.
For the past quarter century, Fountainhead Winehouse’s subterranean home had been a storage space. With input from interior designer Julia Cox, the team set about turning the disused gem into something special – a hideaway that doesn’t look or feel like a wine shop or a wine bar, but something more.
The Fountainhead team responded to the rawness of the space and made it a key ingredient of the overarching aesthetic. Chris and Dan scoured Brisbane for appropriate decorative elements to fill each nook, sourcing textiles, furniture and art from local makers and creatives to give the venue a sense of tasteful comfort – think the living room of an ultra-cool friend.
“The idea of a wine house – a space that feels like a living room that you want to be comfortable in – just really made sense,” says Chris.
“We wanted to create a place that was also a bit more democratic,” adds Dan. “It’s equally our home, but also a place where people can make the space their own, because it feels comfortable no matter where you are in the room.”
Naturally, the most prominent decorative element is the wine, with bottles arrayed across shelves affixed to the building’s foundations and an additional custom display near the entrance housing a range of alluring options to peruse off the rip.
When it came to Fountainhead’s selection, Dan pivoted his curatorial ethos from L.P.O.’s unabashed love of wildness more towards a focus on tradition and elegance, with an overarching goal of aiding customers in discovering exactly what it is they are looking for.
“Here, I want to try and find the wines that I want to be drinking in the future – wines where the focus isn’t on their strangeness,” explains Dan. “We definitely have weird wines, of course, but we have more of a focus on offering the best example of one thing, the layers of that best example across different price points, and also the breadth – what’s adjacent to it.”
As of writing, Fountainhead Winehouse’s cellar is nudging approximately 1000 cuvees, with plenty more on the way over the next few weeks. Perhaps the easiest way to get a snapshot of the diverse selection is by looking at the drink-in, by-the-glass and bottle list, which rotates often, but is always filled with gold.
If seeking something domestic, you’ll find a pinot gris from BK Wines in the Adelaide Hills, a cabernet sauvignon from Josh Cooper in the Macedon Ranges, and a chardonnay from Marco Lubiana in the Derwent Valley. Opening up the scope to international makers? Top drops include a passerina from Castrum Morisci in Italy, a Burgundy pinot noir from Domaine de Thalie, and a listán prieto from Envinate in Spain.
Infused within Fountainhead’s ethos is a desire to remove the mystique around buying wine, helping guests find what they are looking for in a friendly, stress-free environment.
“We got sick of going into places, even knowing a lot about these things, and still feeling somewhat intimidated by the process of how to ask for help or how to find that right thing,” says Dan.
“You see it in other industries like tailoring, for example,” adds Chris. “You book in and tell them what your requirements are and you have a dedicated person to get you to that goal. You walk out with something that you absolutely love. Why not allow people a space to do that with wine?”
With that in mind, Fountainhead Winehouse offers face-to-face sessions and group tastings intended to give drinkers a chance to expand their palate, ask questions, and find something to fit a budget or an occasion.
“We wanted to define wine here as an experience, rather than just a grape varietal or a region,” explains Dan. “We want to try and help people meet briefs. What are people doing? That really is the most important factor in thinking about what you want to drink, because each and every bottle on the shelf here feels like something – both in shape and expression. They’re evocative. There’s energy and emotion in them.”
Fountainhead Winehouse is now open to the public. Head to The Directory for operating hours and contact details. Want more? Join thousands of Brisbane locals that plan their weekends with us regularly – click here to subscribe to our newsletter, filled with Brisbane’s best food openings, culture news and weekend escapes.