There’s no confusing what’s on offer inside new Moscow bar, Big Wine Freaks.

The freshly opened drinking hole sits close to Kudrinskaya Square on the city’s Bolshaya Nikitskaya Street. And don’t let the name fool you – it’s more refined than its name might suggest, with moody, bohemian-inspired interiors designed by Italian practice B-Arch.

Says practice co-principal Sabrina Bignami: ‘The project’s philosophy is a cultural mix between a club atmosphere and the Russian traditions, done in a contemporary way.’

Red brick walls have been teamed with blue stucco panels, while hints of the Moscow building’s past can be read in the timber slatted ceilings, now hung with chandeliers – a nod to the bar’s St Petersburg sibling, explains the architect.

A dramatic brass chandelier, custom designed by the practice, also hangs above the bar, casting the lounge in a moody glow.

Big Wine Freaks is the second Moscow outpost for entrepreneurs Vladimir Basov and Artem Tskhakaya, and they’ve picked a district popular with the city’s well-heeled. Views of the Kudrinskaya Square building – a Stalinist-era skyscraper designed by Mikhail Posokhin and Ashot Mndoyants – are framed by the bar’s tall windows.

Sumptuous textures come from crushed velvet sofas and chairs, which sit atop enormous floral rugs designed by Jan Kath that are also used as wallhangings (a nod to Russian tradition).

As you’d expect from the name, Big Wine Freaks is big on grapes, and serves an impressive list of imported wines curated by sommelier Andrey Larin.

[Via Superfuture / Afisha]

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