First Look: DeVINO Wine and Salumi serving Italian aperitivo in Woden

Posted on 28 March, 2025

Did Furzer Street just get a little bit Firenze?

New enoteca DeVINO absolutely reeks of Italian style and taste, bringing an authentic European experience to the good people of Woden, and is likely to become a must-visit shopping pitstop and wine bar for the rest of the city’s committed foodies.

Most obvious as you walk in the door is the vast selection of imported Italian wines and beers handpicked by the team, with a colourful wall of spirits featuring new and exciting imported drink options for those sick of the usual suspects (we couldn’t help but notice the bottles of Crema Alpina in flavours including hazelnut, wild strawberry and melon).

DeVINO can serve you a platter of whatever you want, to have there or take away.

There are some intriguing mixers and spritzes in cans and a good range of alcohol-free options (including Crodino Biondo which is a new obsession for our non-alcohol drinking Associate Editor Emma Macdonald).

Opened in January by wine importer and distributor Gabriel Volpato his wife Alice Anzanello (with Alice’s sister Nicole managing the store), and their partners Braedan and Rachael Kidd, the store’s origins are steeped in Italian passion.

When Brisbanites Braedan and Rachael moved to Canberra with their work, they met Alice and Gabriel who are both Italian-born but have been living in Canberra since 2011.

When Braedan and Rachael got engaged they expressed their dream of a wedding in a winery in Italy. Never ones to shy from a challenge, Gabriel and Alice organised the wedding in the idyllic Franciacorta wine region and the friends realised how much an authentic Italian enoteca was needed in Canberra. Once the nuptials were over, plans for DeVINO were born.

Don’t know what wine to buy? Gabriel is an expert

In line with the owners’ collective obsession for wine, the store carries a good international range, specially selected labels from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, and, as with the beers, some beloved local favourites as well.

But DeVINO doesn’t just serve alcohol. Once inside the dark and modern interior, shelves stretch in every direction. There’s a chilled cheese, salumi and dip selection on one side; dried pasta, Italian biscuits, olives and tinned fish down the other. There’s even fresh bread at the counter for shoppers to grab with their cheese and white anchovies.

Shop or sit down and taste, the choice is yours

But if you can’t be bothered conceptualising your own charcuterie board, here is where DeVINO steps in. There’s a kitchen out the back and a small row of tables along the back wall to encourage people to stop awhile, taste one of the three weekly rotating glasses of wine and tuck into a platter, full to bursting with the store’s best-selling ingredients. If that looks a bit much to get your mouth around, you can select to partake of some smaller bites. And it goes without saying you can order a platter of any size or description to take home or to an event.

This corner venue is one block down from Space Kitchen in Phillip and promises to broaden the palates of all who pop in. The whole point is to immerse yourself in authentic Italian tastes and learn about some specialty food and wines you may not be aware of.

Nicole and the shelves of interesting looking tipples

Some of the products that caught our eye included the viral Pistachio Papi spread (including a giant pistachio-and-savoiardi-filled Easter egg we may or may not have cracked open well before Easter…), premium olive oils and balsamic vinegars, a colourful selection of pastas and fresh-baked biscuits and biscotti that look like Nonna just turned off the oven.

It is the sort of establishment where you stretch your meal preparation and cooking to accommodate something a bit more special than a supermarket brand.

Indeed, for those enjoying apartment living in Woden, this would be a perfect stop on the way home from work. They’re lucky to have it on their doorstep.