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State Winner Queensland: Isis Brasserie, Brisbane

Putting an owner in charge of the wine list can have dire consequences if he or she’s too tight with the purse strings to buy anything good or too narrow in their tastes to list anything but their own favourites.

But leave it to a dyed-in-the-wool wine tragic such as Simon Hill and you have a document that’s justly recognised this year as Queensland’s best.

Since opening Isis in Fortitude Valley a decade ago, Hill has shaped a list that has drawn many accolades and reflects a clear wine philosophy.

“It actually wouldn’t be all that hard just to draw up a massive list that covered all the great wines of the world. Expensive, but not that hard,” Hill says. “What takes more skill is crafting a list that’s relevant to the food you’re serving, gives your customers what they want and has scope to take them somewhere new that they may not have been before with wine.”

That founding philosophy informs the current wine list, now passed on to sommelier Matt Brooke, and holds it in very good stead.

An excellent by-the-glass selection shows that the willingness to guide customers down different paths is as strong as ever. A deep pool of aged Aussie classics holds plenty of temptation and an extensive collection of imports leaves no Burgundian village, Bordelais bank or Piedmontese hillside unplundered.

Isis Brasserie, 446 Brunswick St, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane, Qld, (07) 3852 1155, www.isisbrasserie.com.au.

TEXT NICK RYAN

This article appeared in the August/September 2008 issue of Gourmet Traveller WINE.