From fine wine to sake and smoked salmon, Mt Eden’s Normanby Fine Wine & Spirits is an exciting new destination steered by an industry expert.
If anyone can sell the dream of wine retail’s future in New Zealand, it’s Liz Wheadon – a leading force in the industry. Next
“It’s essentially wine retail, but wine retail done differently. What we’ve done is combine a cafe and a wine bar experience within the retail space. This allows us to create a shopping experience but also an experience in trying new things, introducing customers to new wines, and taking them on a journey,” says Liz.
Her vision for Normanby Fine Wine is a retail space with a difference – and with slick design by CTRL Space, a sharp curation of wines and spirits, food from Butter Butter’s Petra Galler and Catroux, and a team of top New Zealand wine talent on service and curation, it’s well on its way.
“This is not about making an intimidating, stuffy environment for wine,” says Liz. “It’s somewhere that we want people to feel really relaxed and comfortable, and similarly with the service that we provide.”
Liz has a vast career in wine retail, having spent 30 years at Glengarry, working her way from the shop floor to general manager. She’s also renowned for her advocacy and commitment to the wine industry in her role as president of Retail NZ. More recently, Liz has taken on the role of director of fine wine at Webb’s auction house. While Normanby Fine Wine is an independent venture, it shares a natural synergy with Webb’s – both are located in the same Mt Eden precinct on Normanby Rd. The wine bar will feature a rotating selection of furniture from The Estate at Webb’s (all available to purchase) and maintain a close connection with the auction house’s fine wine and whisky department.
When Liz briefed award-winning design studio CTRL Space on the fitout for Normanby, she had a clear goal: to create an experiential retail space that felt as good as it looked – and she thinks they’ve nailed it. What was once the Artisan showroom has been transformed into an elegant, timber-and-tile-lined haven for wine lovers. There’s a bar with seating for 50, handsome custom shelving showcasing a curated wine selection, and tucked away at the back, La Cave – a temperature-controlled tasting room with sheepskin-draped chairs and walls lined with premium bottles, designed for intimate events and serious sipping.
On Liz’s design moodboard was Berry Bros & Rudd’s flagship wine store in London’s Saint James, with its Georgian facade and interior, creaking floorboards, antique weighing scales, and a rich patina that speaks to centuries of fine wine and spirits trading. It’s the inspiration behind Normanby’s timber-lined ceiling, made from wood reclaimed from Auckland villas, designed to look like old wine barrels. And the curved wooden counter lined with white Japanese tiles and hung with a French linen pleated curtain. It’s elegant, yet homely.
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Advertise with NZME.Normanby will operate as a cafe by day, serving Eighthirty coffee (in cups hand-stamped in a custom green logo by Wellington Rubber Stamp Co, just one of many considered details), salads from Catroux, as well as pastries and sandwiches. A delicatessen fridge stocked with cheeses and pate from Sabato; smoked salmon and green-lip mussels from The Smoke House in Nelson and a selection of cured meats is available to take away but can also be enjoyed in-house with some bread and wine or a cup of coffee.
Normanby has partnered with Ponsonby florist Greenpoint to offer beautifully presented dried bouquets, meaning visitors can stop in for a bottle of wine, and pick up flowers and gourmet goods too.
The wine bar menu has been designed by author and caterer Petra Galler, with “a focus on taking good ingredients and putting them on a plate”, says Liz. That means quality anchovies in their tin with focaccia, and truffle chips with caper berries. There’ll be gildas served on wooden blocks crafted to Liz’s specifications by cabinet maker and furniture designer Michael Salmen. For dessert, there’s Basque cheesecake made by Sabato’s Kate Fay (ex Cibo chef), all served on Temuka pottery with vintage cutlery from Webb’s Estate.
In lieu of a traditional wine list, there’ll be a rotating selection of six wines available by the glass. Visitors can also choose any bottle from the shop to enjoy on-site, with a $20 corkage fee. “So if you’re buying a bottle of Krug, it’ll be the most cost-effective place in town to enjoy it,” says Liz. There’s also a short list of batch-made cocktails by Theo Tjandra (formerly of Panacea bar), and an extensive spirits offering – particularly whisky (with 200 options in store) and cognac – all served in Riedel glassware, which is also available to purchase.
As for the star of the show, Liz says the 1300 wines, spirits, sakes and craft beers represent “the best you can get”. Many of the bottles are exclusive to Normanby, brought in through long-standing relationships with producers. Prices range from $17 to $8000, with Liz defining a “fine wine” as one that delivers a story. “There’s a purpose, there’s some reason why it’s been made. It’s not something that’s been crafted by a marketing department and bulk-produced. There’s a producer that’s crafted it, there’s a story, and the wine speaks to that.”
Expect wines from Champagne, Bordeaux and Burgundy, where Liz has direct relationships with suppliers and an affinity for the regions. New Zealand wines make up about 15% of the selection, and cover everything from “iconic wines, such as Jules Taylor’s sauvignon from Marlborough” but also “a whole lot of smaller producers that I know are making great wine that don’t get the time of day on retail shelves”.
Another focus is sake, a category Liz is particularly interested in but one not always done well in New Zealand, she says, with bottles often left to languish on bottom shelves. At Normanby, there’s a special sake fridge organised by hot and cold, and categories like “fruity umami”, “full” and “savoury”. The team is excited to be importing Iwa sake crafted by Richard Geoffrey, who was the winemaker at Dom Perignon for 28 years. Liz has always been fascinated with Japan and has been invited to judge its national wine (and sake) competition, The Japanese Wine Challenge, seven times.
These specialist spirits and wines require a knowledgeable team and Liz has enlisted Anthony “T” Sorensen as head of client services and Zane Winskill as specialist, wine sales, both of whom she’s worked with at Glengarry. Sommelier Andrea Martinisi was previously at The Grove and brings extensive wine knowledge, having worked at Vue Du Monde, The Fat Duck and for the late Gerard Basset.
Liz and her team’s industry knowledge has been put to great use at Normanby, where every detail has been considered with the customer top of mind, from the flow of the store to the navigation on the swish new website. “I’ve spent just over 30 years working in retail and I know what works. This opportunity [to open Normanby] sparked all those ideas and thoughts and has drawn together all that experience to go ‘right, how do we actually do wine and spirit retail and do it sustainably into the future?’”
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Normanby Fine Wine & Spirits opens Thursday, May 15, and will be open Monday to Friday from 7.30am and Saturday-Sunday from 8am. Find it at 31a Normanby Rd, Mt Eden. Look out for a Wellington iteration of Normanby in August.
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