The Art Syndicate
Surry Hills, Sydney
The Art Syndicate is a late-night NSW wine bar in Surry Hills shaped by art, collecting, and conversation.
Less a venue you visit once, more a room you come back to when you want things done properly.
Award-winning NSW wine beer and spirits, vintage posters, and conversations that run late.
Hidden just off Taylor Square on Bourke Street, The Art Syndicate is an intimate late-night wine bar shaped by art, collection, and culture. Built around an award-winning NSW wine program, the space brings together rare bottles, vintage posters, local producers, and the kind of atmosphere people tend to tell their friends about quietly.
See What's Pouring
The Wine Program
Discovery, Not Prestige
Everything we pour is connected to NSW. That does not mean safe or predictable.
Benchmark producers, cult favourites, tiny experimental releases, and archive bottles that may never appear again. Some wines arrive in single allocations. Some exist only because of years spent building the right relationships.
Serious about wine. Not serious about itself.
The Art Syndicate is run by husband-and-wife team Saxon and Lisa Strauss.
Lisa leads the wine program — WSET Diploma (Level 4) and Certified Sommelier — buying, shaping, and maintaining the list. Saxon handles the room itself: the pace, the events, and the way the space evolves night to night.
The Archive List
Hidden within the menu is our archive collection.
Older vintages. Rare bottles. One-offs.
Many exist in single quantities. When the final bottle is ordered, the guest who drinks it gets to strike it permanently from the menu using a redaction pen.
The Space
Collected, Not Decorated
The Art Syndicate began life as a gallery, and that history still shapes the room.
Vintage posters, rotating works, books, music, and collected objects sit naturally alongside the wine list. Nothing is treated like decoration. The space is designed to feel layered, lived in, and discovered over time.
All artwork is available for purchase, both in-venue and online through our webstore.
We offer one of Australia's largest collections of original vintage posters.
Food
Beyond The Bottle
Our food menu stays intentionally simple.
Excellent cheese toasties. Thoughtful bar snacks. Things designed to support another glass and a longer conversation.
Or bring your own — external food is always welcome.
Events
Most Nights, Something Is On
Some nights are fixed. Monday is film night — a 1999 screening with a cryptic riddle to guess the title before it plays. Thursday is board games, taken more seriously than you might expect. Sunday evenings lean into international cultural exchange — food, culture, conversation.
Beyond that, tastings, salon nights, and industry gatherings fill the gaps. Some are listed publicly. Others spread by word of mouth. If you want to know what's on, following us on Instagram is the fastest way in.
Most weeks, there is something worth turning up for.
Host Your Next Event in Style
The room works for forty people. It also works for six.
We've hosted seven-course dinners, brand events, boardroom sessions, birthdays, weddings, and at least one divorce. The space lends itself to occasions that need atmosphere rather than a function room — things worth doing properly, with wine chosen to match.
A full AV suite, loudspeakers, and projector are available. Minimum spends apply and vary by day and time — we'd rather have a conversation than send you a rate card.
Tell us what you have in mind.
Inquire NowCraft Your NSW Beverage Journey
Plan your visit to our Wine Bar and Art Gallery in Surry Hills. Reserve your table or find our address below.
