A new wine bar will open in Durham City this weekend - fronted by a former sommelier from top venues including Rockliffe Hall and the Raby Hunt. 

Crush Wine Bar will open its doors at 76 North Road in the city on Sunday (August 25) - welcoming guests for a grand opening event. 

Despite having a 'soft launch' all this week, the owner of the new wine bar, Daniel Jonberger, has said he's looking forward to seeing how the business will progress moving forward. 

Mr Jonberger, who has worked in wine for 28 years, through his time at Rockliffe Hall in Darlington and the two Michelin-starred restaurant, the Raby Hunt, made the decision to open his own place after conversations with other top names in the world of food and drink in Durham.

The bar area of CrushThe bar area of Crush (Image: CRUSH)

The sommelier is a fifty per cent owner of Crush Wine Bar, with Craig Lappin-Smith, who owns Coarse restaurant in Durham City, having the other fifty per cent share. 

Mr Jonberger said: "It's great for me to have this partnership with Craig. I can do the wine side and the front of house side and Craig can do the business side of things - it's great.

The wall of wine area in CrushThe wall of wine area in Crush (Image: CRUSH)

"I've had a great partnership with Craig after doing wine pairings for Coarse and Isla by Coarse - so it was the next step to do my own thing. 

"I think there's a real gap in the market for a place like this in Durham City - I'm looking forward to starting."

As part of its offering, Crush will have a 'wall of wines' for customers to choose from, with wines available by the bottle or by the glass. 

The sign outside CrushThe sign outside Crush (Image: CRUSH)

Mr Jonberger hopes that by offering people wine by the glass he can "push the comfort zones" of some people, and introduce people to new wines they might not usually try.  

Moving forward, the owner of Crush wants to invite winemakers into the venue for a ticketed event, as well as inviting top chefs to a pop-up food and wine evening.

But, for now, Mr Jonberger is looking forward to welcoming guests.

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He added: "I have thoroughly enjoyed setting this place up.

"We've got plenty of plans about wine tasting, pop-up events and lots of other things coming.

"We want people to have a relaxed wine experience in Crush, and look forward to seeing where things go."

Crush Wine Bar will be open Wednesday to Sunday midday to 11pm.