Fred's

· Plush Fred's downstairs bar — Charlie Parker's, technically, though most regulars use the parent name — is where Merivale finally got its wine programme right. Sommelier Mike Bennie's list runs to nine hundred bottles weighted toward Burgundy and the Rhône but with serious depth on Margaret River Chardonnay and a tightly defended Hunter Semillon vertical.

The by-the-glass programme is twenty-two options, refreshed monthly, and remains genuinely fair given the room. The kitchen runs out of Danielle Alvarez's wood-fired hearth — bone marrow flatbread, dry-aged duck, the city's best vegetable plate.

Paddington's most expensive bar earns its keep because the list goes deep without padding and the staff actively discourage Bordeaux trophy ordering. Sixth because the price ladder is high but the programme intent is real.

For the full ranking, see our editorial round-up of the 10 best wine bars in Sydney, the broader Sydney wine bars guide, and our category index of wine bars worldwide.