Tap a pin to open the venue. Gold pins are Exceptional venues.
Discover the top wine bars nestled in Sydney's historic The Rocks and Circular Quay, an area that boasts sweeping views of the harbour. At these 10 remarkable venues, sip on exquisite wines by the glass, including Hunter Valley Semillon, Tasmanian and Adelaide Hills Chardonnay, Barossa Shiraz, and grower Champagne, demonstrating that this iconic district values its wine as much as its scenery.
The Coravin Guide
Explore the Full Sydney Wine Guide
Discover every wine style and neighbourhood across Sydney in our complete city guide.
View the Sydney Guide →Exceptional
Aria
Restaurant · 1 Macquarie St, Circular Quay
Aria occupies one of the best addresses in Australia: 1 Macquarie Street, at the top of the Circular Quay steps, with the Opera House sails on one side and the Harbour Bridge on the other. It has long been Sydney's benchmark for the special-occasion dinner, and the room is run with the composure that reputation demands. The wine programme is narrow by choice and deep where it matters, built around Burgundy — white and red — with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir traced from their Côte d'Or homes through to the Australian regions that have made the varieties their own. Champagne runs the length of the list and is poured generously by the glass, which is precisely what a table with that view calls for.
View Full Details
Oborozuki
Restaurant · Level 3, 71 Macquarie St, Circular Quay
Oborozuki layers Japanese-French fine dining over Sydney Harbour at Circular Quay, its one-hat kitchen matched by intimate private teppanyaki rooms. The award-winning wine and sake list ranges from Burgundy, Bordeaux and Alsace to biodynamic finds and rare varietals from further afield, with premium sakes poured alongside. The by-the-glass selection is chosen with unusual care — each pour set against a specific dish rather than left to chance.
View Full DetailsOutstanding
6HEAD
Restaurant · Campbell's Stores, 7-27 Circular Quay W, The Rocks
6HEAD occupies the heritage Campbell's Stores at Campbell's Cove, one of the most photographed corners of The Rocks. The wine list arrives as an interactive application on iPads — filter by varietal, region or price and every bottle appears with flavour profiles and regional maps — a clever way into a cellar built around Australian Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, with sommeliers on the floor ready to bookmark their own recommendations.
View Full Details
Altitude
Restaurant · 176 Cumberland St, The Rocks
Altitude, the Shangri-La's flagship restaurant above Cumberland Street, keeps its wines by the glass defiantly Australian — Barossa Shiraz, Margaret River and cool-climate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from small growers and icons alike — reserving Champagne for the celebratory moments. Wines born of sustainable, organic and biodynamic farming lead the way, each chosen to sit alongside chef Jason Huynh's local, native-driven cooking.
View Full Details
Bennelong
Restaurant · Bennelong Point, Sydney Opera House
Bennelong puts one of the country's most distinctive dining rooms inside its most famous building, under the sails of the Sydney Opera House. The cooking is robust and direct rather than technical, and the wine list follows suit — a reflection of the best of Australia, from the Adelaide Hills and the Yarra Valley to Tasmania, with serious Shiraz throughout — a celebration that never takes itself too seriously.
View Full Details
Le Foote
Restaurant · 101 George St, The Rocks
Le Foote understands its role in the grand, timeworn ritual of eating well. Set among the cobblestones of George Street, where the salt air still drifts up from the harbour, the bistro pours across the old world and the new — Barolo and Barbaresco, Bordeaux, Barossa — with a soft spot for biodynamic growers, in a room that feels stitched into The Rocks itself.
View Full Details
The Collective
Restaurant · 12-18 Argyle St, The Rocks
The Collective ranges across a set of spaces on Argyle Street, with The Dining Room at its heart pairing modern fine dining with Sydney's historic charm. Sommeliers walk guests from iconic regions to hidden gems — Champagne, Shiraz and Hunter Valley bottles among the strengths — and the seasonal menu is written to complement every glass rather than the other way round.
View Full DetailsExcellent
Grappa The Rocks
Restaurant · 107-109 George St, The Rocks
After more than 26 years on Leichhardt's Norton Street, Charlie and Virginie Colosi have brought Grappa's spirit of hospitality and generosity to one of Sydney's most iconic sandstone buildings — originally built as a bakehouse — on George Street, where Barolo and the Italian classics share the list with Barossa and Burgundy.
View Full Details
Saké Restaurant & Bar - The Rocks
Restaurant · 12 Argyle St, The Rocks
Saké brings contemporary Japanese cooking to Argyle Street with an extensive sake list and a wine selection built to match it — cool-climate Australian bottles from renowned and artisanal producers alike, traditional-method sparkling, and key references from benchmark regions further afield, each chosen for the nuances of the cuisine.
View Full DetailsGreg's Hidden Gems
Bistecca
Restaurant · 3 Dalley St, Circular Quay
Bistecca celebrates old-world Italian hospitality on Dalley Street with candle-lit tables, a bottle-lined enoteca and steaks cooked over the fire. The award-winning list is a purist's document — exclusively Italian grape varieties, drawn from both Italy and Australia, with Barolo and Barbaresco at its core alongside biodynamic finds — built for slowing down, engaging the senses and losing track of time.
View Full DetailsFrequently Asked Questions
Where can I drink wine by the glass in The Rocks and Circular Quay?
This guide covers 10 wine bars and restaurants across The Rocks and Circular Quay chosen for their wine by the glass. Aria and Oborozuki on Macquarie Street lead the Exceptional tier, with 6HEAD, Altitude, Bennelong, Le Foote and The Collective rated Outstanding across the sandstone laneways and the harbourfront. Grappa The Rocks and Saké on George and Argyle Streets round out the list, and the Hidden Gem is Bistecca, the fireside Italian steak specialist on Dalley Street.
Which wine bars in The Rocks have harbour views?
Aria looks straight at the Opera House and Harbour Bridge from 1 Macquarie Street, Oborozuki overlooks the harbour from Circular Quay, Bennelong sits under the Opera House sails, and 6HEAD faces the bridge from the heritage Campbell's Stores at Campbell's Cove.
What wine styles are The Rocks wine bars known for?
Expect Australia at full stretch — Hunter Valley Semillon, Barossa Shiraz, and Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from the Adelaide Hills, Tasmania and the Yarra Valley — alongside Burgundy and grower Champagne at Aria, all-Italian cellars at Bistecca and Grappa, and sake-friendly cool-climate pours at Saké and Oborozuki.
What counts as "by the glass" at these venues?
Typically 100–150ml pours, often alongside tasting flights or carafes. Many ambitious wine programmes use Coravin technology, which pours rare and prestige wines by the glass without opening the bottle — so a Coravin pour tastes exactly as the winemaker intended, and benchmark wines appear by the glass far more often than they once did.
Wine by the glass turns a single evening into a tasting flight, and the wine bars in Sydney above show how far a thoughtful by-the-glass programme can travel — from grower Champagne to bio-dynamic reds. Use the map to plan a crawl by neighbourhood, and open each venue for opening hours, the current pour list, and booking details.
The Coravin Guide reviews each venue independently, focusing on the ambition and depth of what they pour by the glass. No venue pays to be included.