The deepest Italian regional list in Sydney, served in a room that refuses to take itself seriously.
· Modern Vasco is the closest Sydney has to a serious Italian regional wine bar, and the Crown Street room has been carrying the city's Nebbiolo-and-Aglianico flag with quiet authority since 2014. Owner Andy Tyson built the list around small Piedmontese and Etna growers — G.D.
Vajra, Cornelissen, Cantine Marisa Cuomo — with a stubborn refusal to import anything available at supermarket scale. The by-the-glass programme runs to twelve options, weighted heavily toward Italy but with an unfashionable defence of southern French Cinsault and Carignan.
The kitchen is short Italian-American: a single excellent meatball, fritto misto, garlic bread that has appeared on every best-of-Sydney list for a decade. The room is loud, lit by neon, and runs late. Third because no other Italian-leaning room in the city goes this deep with this little posturing.
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.