The demise of the Reserve Wine Bar: How the Hunter's premier wine bar failed

Landmark buildings in the city had been purchased by governments with the promise of being restored back to their former glory.

The lock out laws had been in full effect for some five years, successfully attempting to curb late night loutishness while gently nudging the city's night-time economy towards a more sophisticated offering.

"Small bar licence" was the phrase of the day. It conjured imaginative thoughts of inner city Melbourne, and trendy parts of Sydney; hole-in-the-wall watering holes serving small plates and tapas with craft beer, artisanal spirits, and boutique wines.

There were places like this already open in town, right up and down the streets of Hunter and King; Bar Petite, Cazador, Red Baron, Le Passe Temps, and The Terrace Bar.

Related: Last drinks as the Reserve Wine Bar announces closure (July 16, 2019)

There were even rumours going around about the construction of a new light-rail line, which would only add to the excitement and revitalisation of inner-city Newcastle.

Started by three wine-loving friends, Tim Bohlsen, Justin Oliver, and Patrick Haddock, Reserve couldn't have timed its opening any better.

"The CBD was at the point where you would come in not knowing which place you were going to go to, but there were plenty of great options to explore," Tim Bohlsen recalls.

Reserve was emblematic of an ambitious cultural shift from within Newcastle. At last, there was a place that took wine seriously; a place that put wine first, and front and centre; a place beyond the pub, where people could have a great wine and food experience, here, in Newcastle.

Located on the corner of Bolton and Hunter streets, inside a heritage-listed former bank, built in 1914, Reserve impressed and intimidated in equal measure thanks to the beautiful sandstone facade, granite and marble portico and dramatic Romanesque columns above and beside the entrance.

Entry was via two heavy timber doors with pearlescent glass porthole windows.

Inside, Reserve was just as resplendent, with the coloured lights of the great wall of wine bottles, the tall timber partitions that reached all the way up to the magnificent floating ceilings, and the imposing bank vault door, set smack bang in the middle of the dining room.

This was a $300,000 dollar fit-out, which included all the necessary compliance and the all-important liquor licence.

In terms of scale and ambition, Reserve was something to behold.

SIX swift years later, however, on August 10, 2019, Reserve shut its grand old bank doors for the last time.

"Hospitality can be vicious game, it takes no prisoners," Bohlsen says.

"Closing was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. It feels like you're putting down your baby. I knew we should've done it a year or two before, but we kept thinking things would get better. We were told that Newcastle was being revitalised."

"Buzzing", is how NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian described Newcastle's Hunter Street in May 2018...

"Hunter Street was dead, dying, it was gone. Now it's the exact opposite. It's full of hope and aspiration... Hunter Street is now buzzing, and the streets around it are buzzing," she told the Newcastle Herald.

"We hung out for that, we took it, hook, line, and sinker," Bohlsen says. "Then, what followed was completely counter-logical. After the light-rail opened trade was even lower by about 20 per cent than what it was when we were right in the middle of its construction."

Related: Inside the Reserve Wine Bar (August 4, 2015)

Numbers and narratives notwithstanding, and while a decent amount of the blame can certainly be attributed to the way various major construction projects in the city were managed or mismanaged over the years, the reality is that Reserve never seemed to feel comfortable in its own skin. It always felt like a square peg in a round hole. The wine bar simply struggled to define itself in the Steel City.

"I look back on it now and think we probably read it wrong by being a bit too formal, particularly in those first years," reflects the public face of Reserve, Patrick Haddock.

Before Reserve opened, word on the street was that it was going to be a wine bar, not a restaurant. Envisioned to be a place to pop into after a day of work and unwind with a glass of wine; a place to bring a date to impress with one's mystical wine knowledge; a place to relax with friends, a bit of food to share, and, a bottle or two of the good stuff.

Instead, Reserve was much too formal than informal. Guests were greeted at the door. Tables were set with expensive-looking dishware, silverware, and glassware. Napkins were draped over laps, and orders and interactions were conducted with a sense of fine dining etiquette.

"It was a bit confusing, wasn't it," Haddock says. "There was always that weird, slightly confused sense of us trying to sort out who or what we were. People often asked me, 'are you a wine bar, or are you a restaurant?'... Maybe we should have called it Reserve Restaurant? I don't know."

Many chefs manned the pans throughout the life of Reserve. Most notable was three-hatted chef Cory Campbell, in 2016. Campbell created an ambitious menu that matched Haddock's impressive wine list. The native Novocastrian served spanner crab and quail eggs with dried apple leaves, smoked bone marrow and mushroom dust, and winter pumpkin with fresh truffle. Unfortunately, Campbell's gastronomic ambitions were not matched in enthusiasm by the diners of Newcastle. So, Reserve switched chefs again, and again, eventually signing Sam Alexander (Yellow Billy) who impressed the hungry, humble diners of the city with magnificent 800-gram T-bone steaks on Tuesday nights.

Still, as Weekender noted in 2016, Reserve remained a great place to explore the world's myriad of nigh-on infinite vinous possibilities. Initially, there were 400 bottles on the list, which were refined over time, though they never fell below 200. Wine lovers were spoilt for choice.

"If you were a wine drinker, I think you were always poured something interesting or engaging," Haddock says. "Our most popular wine across the six years would've been Pinot Noir. Due to my predilection, it was always on by the glass and we had some 40 bottles in the cellar as well."

Of course, the usual suspects were always listed too; from Sauv Blanc to Pinot Gris, Shiraz, and so on, but rarely ever Merlot.

"I barely listed Merlot, and I would often get into trouble from people who said I should have one by the glass. I often just shrugged and said, 'No I shouldn't. You should try something else'," Haddock recalls. "Invariably, they'd discover something new that they liked."

Sadly, owner Justin Oliver passed away part-way through the middle of Reserve's spirituous residence in the city. For four years, Oliver was the handsome and welcoming smile that eased the daunting grandeur of the imposing old bones of the former bank. His death was a painful and unexpected shock to all who knew or had ever met him.

"Justin was a key part of Reserve's early success. His enthusiasm and hard work, and smile really left a strong imprint on the place," Bohlsen says.

Above the highs and lows of running a small business, particularly a wine bar in Newcastle, and beyond the political machinations that occurred well outside of Bohlsen and Haddock's control, Reserve often set the stage for some wonderful moments in time and wine. From the initial excitement of opening night, wine dinners with some of the best chefs and winemakers in Australia, lock-outs until six in the morning, to right up until the final night, late last year, when Reserve swelled with the joy of food and wine one last time.

"I used to love taking people for a tour downstairs, into the cellar, and telling them the story of how it all started," Bohlsen says. "There were nights where I would be pinching myself because I couldn't believe what we'd achieved in this space... transforming it, as we did, from an old bank into a wine bar."

"I do miss that wonderful feeling of people banding together, which is such a unique thing, only people in industries like hospitality understand. There were nights where we would have just the most amusing time, sharing stories and forging friendships, while drinking so many brilliant bottles of wine... and it was always about the wine, for me," says Haddock.

When you think about it, there's no reason why Newcastle shouldn't have a world class wine bar, like Reserve. We're a world class city full of world class people with a world class wine region that makes world class wines, right in our own back yard. Actually, there's absolutely no reason at all why Newcastle shouldn't have a world class wine bar.

Perhaps, in the end, Reserve was the wine bar Newcastle needed, but not the one we deserved.

MANY chefs manned the pans throughout the life of Reserve.

Most notable was three-hatted chef Cory Campbell, in 2016. Campbell created an ambitious menu that matched Haddock's impressive wine list. The native Novocastrian served spanner crab and quail eggs with dried apple leaves, smoked bone marrow and mushroom dust, and winter pumpkin with fresh truffle.

Unfortunately, Campbell's gastronomic ambitions were not matched in enthusiasm by the diners of Newcastle.

So, Reserve switched chefs again, and again, eventually signing Sam Alexander (now at Yellow Billy in the Hunter Valley) who impressed the hungry, humble diners of the city with magnificent 800-gram T-bone steaks on Tuesday nights.

Related: The Reserve Wine Bar's third birthday (October 19, 2016)

Still, as Weekender noted in 2016, Reserve remained a great place to explore the world's myriad of nigh-on infinite vinous possibilities. Initially, there were 400 bottles on the list, which were refined over time, though they never fell below 200. Wine lovers were spoilt for choice.

"If you were a wine drinker, I think you were always poured something interesting or engaging," Haddock says. "Our most popular wine across the six years would've been pinot noir. Due to my predilection, it was always on by the glass and we had some 40 bottles in the cellar as well."

Of course, the usual suspects were always listed too; from sauv blanc to pinot gris, shiraz, and so on, but rarely ever merlot.

"I barely listed merlot, and I would often get into trouble from people who said I should have one by the glass. I often just shrugged and said, 'No I shouldn't. You should try something else'," Haddock says. "Invariably, they'd discover something new that they liked."

SADLY, one of the owners, Justin Oliver, passed away part-way through the middle of Reserve's spirituous residence in the city. For four years, Oliver was the handsome and welcoming smile that eased the daunting grandeur of the imposing old bones of the former bank. His death was a painful and unexpected shock to all who knew or had ever met him.

"Justin was a key part of Reserve's early success. His enthusiasm and hard work, and smile really left a strong imprint on the place," Bohlsen says.

Above the highs and lows of running a small business, particularly a wine bar in Newcastle, and beyond the political machinations that occurred well outside of Bohlsen and Haddock's control, Reserve often set the stage for some wonderful moments in time and wine.

From the initial excitement of opening night, wine dinners with some of the best chefs and winemakers in Australia, lock-outs until six in the morning, to right up until the final night, late last year, when Reserve swelled with the joy of food and wine one last time.

Related: Newcastle chef Jeremy Salmon makes move from Rascal to Reserve (February 6, 2019)

"I used to love taking people for a tour downstairs, into the cellar, and telling them the story of how it all started," Bohlsen says. "There were nights where I would be pinching myself because I couldn't believe what we'd achieved in this space ... transforming it, as we did, from an old bank into a wine bar."

"I do miss that wonderful feeling of people banding together, which is such a unique thing, only people in industries like hospitality understand," Haddock says. "There were nights where we would have just the most amusing time, sharing stories and forging friendships, while drinking so many brilliant bottles of wine ... and it was always about the wine, for me."

When you think about it, there's no reason why Newcastle shouldn't have a world class wine bar, like Reserve. We are a world-class city full of world-class people with a world-class wine region that makes world-class wines, right in our own back yard.

Actually, there's absolutely no reason at all why Newcastle shouldn't have a world-class wine bar.

Perhaps, in the end, Reserve was the wine bar Newcastle needed, but not the one we deserved.

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