Septimus House of Cheese and Wine is a love letter to collectors
A wine bar focussing on cheese pairings and high-fidelity sounds will soon open in the East End.
When we walk inside Septimus House of Cheese and Wine on a 34-degree day, we are instantly cooled by the working air-conditioner, despite the place being a worksite.
Owner Ian Coker offers us a glass of Rieslingfrieak No. 7 – a dessert wine. It’s sweet from the very first sip, and the perfect 3pm Tuesday treat.
Septimus is a “labour of love” for Ian, set to open on Grenfell Street at the end of this month.
“I’m a collector of things, collector of wine, collector of Hi-Fi and music and collector of the arts,” he says.
Ian says he began collecting wines when he was 18 years old, many of which will be on offer at Septimus.
“I got a phone call when I was 18 years old during a wine boom period with somebody trying to sell me wine as an investment,” he says.
“That was the early 2000s when wine investing was a thing before the dot.com crash. I never actually bought anything, but it piqued my interest.
“I started looking at wine and started buying books… and here we are.”
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Our interview arrangement
Ian says his collection mainly consists of South Australian wines.
“Wendouree is probably the most interesting and relevant wine. It’s a very collectible wine within the wine industry,” he tells CityMag.
“In order to be considered to buy their wine, you need to write a handwritten letter to Lita Brady and her husband [Tony Brady],” Ian says.
“They operate out of the Clare Valley. Their wine is a limited release, incredibly powerful, beautifully made wine, and the fact that you need to have that personal interaction with them – they don’t have an email address, it’s all traditional mail – is really unique.”
Septimus – Latin for ‘seventh born’ – will have a “seven cheese and wine pairing” as a core item on the menu.
“There’s three white wines, three red wines, and a dessert wine, each paired with the cheese [from Say Cheese] so that people can understand a reference point,” Ian says.
“Rather than people coming in and thinking that if they’re a bloke, they need to have a Barossa Shiraz, they can maybe reference something a little bit different.
“For example, a Sancerre from the Loire Valley in France pairs nicely with goat’s cheese. It’s a nice way for people to understand the place and the reference and try something different.”
Although the wine and cheese pairing will be the “centre of the menu”, Ian says there will also be a range of wines by the glass or bottle, along with light snacks like olives, nuts and bread ready to order.
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“A good representation of South Australian wines, primarily with some French wines and lastly, a museum release,” he says.
“So I’ve got an offsite underground… and I’ve got about 850 bottles of aged wine which we’ll bring in and cycle through in this aging fridge and another aging fridge upstairs.”
Ian Coker
Ian recognises that while the space is set up to educate people on food and wine pairings, he says “music is a great accompaniment to that”.
“So Japanese listening bars is something which came up in the 50s, post-World War II Japan. People couldn’t afford to buy records, couldn’t afford to buy Hi-Fi setup and so they would have bars which people would come to, and they’d either bring their own music or listen to the music,” he says.
“Japanese listening bars in the 1950s really celebrated that community, bringing neighbourhoods together to enjoy a shared experience, and that’s what we’ll seek to do here.”
Ian says his set-up is “very reminiscent of that era” by intentionally including white, not black, traditional JBL speakers.
“And then a turntable [and] CD player. I’ve got a big collection of CDs, a smaller collection of records, and obviously, these folks have been a good supporter as a local purveyor of records,” he says as he points to his electric blue Clarity Records t-shirt.
For Ian, “art, design and colours are really important”. There will be lilac walls paired with Australian Tasmanian oak timbre.
“It’s also a great studio backdrop for artwork. I’m good friends with a lot of local artists, so I’ll cycle their work through. I’ll also cycle some of my own collection through,” Ian says.
“There will be a green marble bench top on top of the bar to pair and contrast with the gloss white and the vintage lilac.
“There’ll be flower boxes with lavender on the window sills, outdoor seating and outdoor benches, for a very neighbourhood, relaxed vibe – the French influences.”
Septimus House of Cheese and Wine is located at 220 Grenfell Street, Adelaide and is set to open at the end of February.
Connect with the business on Instagram for more.