What drink to order The great thing about the Corella list is you get the sense the staff care about their cocktails and wine in equal measure. Let’s start with the cocktails: it’s a short, creative list, with an Australian twist – every entry includes at least one native ingredient. The Clementine Sour, with its fluffy ruff of egg white and splash of Davidson plum bitters, is a pretty fistful, but the pick is probably the Wax On, a blend of Archie Rose Sunrise Lime Gin Harvest, Geraldton wax and a clarified milk wash, studded by three transparent dots of fresh lime. To wines, and the list doesn’t have an obvious focus, but that’s part of what makes it interesting – there’s a lot to explore. The prosecco from Mada in the Hilltops region of NSW is a modern, super-fresh take on this classic style, while the list of whites marches you everywhere from France’s Loire Valley to the Yarra Valley and Adelaide Hills. It’s a bit of a shame there’s not more Canberra on the menu – a local riesling or a shiraz wouldn’t go astray – but the Ravensworth Sangiovese represents the hometown well. And you can always ask if there’s anything new and interesting open behind the bar for an off-menu pour.
