Overlooking the imposing Kudrinskaya Square Building, a Stalinist neo-gothic edifice in central Moscow, Big Wine Freaks is a new champagne & wine bar by Real Authentic Wine, Russian purveyor of organic, biodynamic and natural wines, whose live d.j. sets aim to inject the venue’s nostalgic glamour with contemporary gusto. Designed by Italian architect Sabrina Bignami and Alessandro Capellaro's practice b-arch studio, the bar is an abode of bohemian elegance that contrasts an urban vibe with a vintage, plush refinement to elicit the 90s laissez-faire, anything-goes atmosphere of post-Soviet Russia or, as Bignami describes it, “sexy chaos between people and music”.

Stepping into Big Wine Freaks you are engulfed in an energizing mélange of contrasting textures. Timber slatted ceilings of unvarnished wood, metallic ceiling ducts, exposed brick walls and blue stucco panels provide a stark and sombre background for the more sumptuous, rich textures and exuberant colours of the velvet-clad chairs, the elongated corner sofa by Blå Station and the silk carpets by German designer Jan Kath that adorn both the floors and walls in an abstracted floral pattern—the latter a nod to the Russian practice of hanging rugs for decoration.