Grognoscenti - MCV - Melbourne Community Voice for Gay and Lesbian Readers

Written by S.M. King

Wednesday, 20 August 2008 20:17 - Last Updated Monday, 22 December 2008 13:51

Been to a wine bar lately? Why not, asks S.M. King?

The young; the brash; the Bacardi Breezer buff. This column has long encouraged you to avoid
them all. And what better place to spurn fast youth and fizzy pleasure than a wine bar?

All things being equal, a good wine bar contains the following: decent, preferably
Mediterranean, fare; a wine list long enough to edify but short enough to read; and, importantly,
patrons who all act like they’re middle aged. Even if they’re not.

One of Melbourne’s first wine bars has abided by these simple rules for over 70 years. Jimmy
Watson’s Wine Bar in Carlton might even be held responsible for some of Melbourne’s more
flattering stereotypes. To wit: the wearing of black; the discussion of Important Literature and
the demand for quality grape.

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Grognoscenti - MCV - Melbourne Community Voice for Gay and Lesbian Readers

Written by S.M. King

Wednesday, 20 August 2008 20:17 - Last Updated Monday, 22 December 2008 13:51

Jimmy Watson’s has long entertained Melbourne’s grognoscenti. I like to imagine, shortly after
its Robin Boyd redesign in the early 60s, that the place hosted readings of Allen Ginsberg to the
accompaniment of bongos. When I ask punters who were there at the time if such Happenings
took place, they answer “possibly”. Through the mists of time and local Shiraz, they can’t
remember much. They just remember that they had a good and gentle time.

And this is the feeling that a great wine bar, of which Jimmy Watson’s is the local antecedent,
should leave you with. You should just remember that you had a good and gentle time.

While it does not adhere strictly to the Anglo-Australian parameters of a wine bar, MoVida
always leaves me with the memory of a good and gentle time. Actually, it leaves Partner with an
even dimmer memory. After enjoying a bottle of Roda 1 Reserva on her own, she (a) proposed
marriage to me (b) made lewd suggestions to Michael the waiter (he has since moved to the
new MoVida Next Door possibly as a result of this indiscretion) and (c) threw up over two
hundred dollars worth of wine into her repro 50s handbag in the taxi on the way home.

It should be noted, however, that all of her louche behaviour was confined to a mere five
minutes. For the staff and patrons of great wine bars engage in an unspoken contract: have a
good and gentle time, or out you go.

Thanks to the late Jimmy Watson and dozens of other local hospitality providers, Melburnians
continue to enjoy this pact. Beyond superb tapas bars like MoVida and Fitzroy’s Anada, there
are Italian wine bars of great quality to enjoy. The Gertrude Street Enoteca and the Enoteca
Vino Bar in Lygon Street have been buzzing since 2005. As our household tends to prefer
Tempranillo to Sangiovese, I’m yet to be asked for my hand in these places. They’re both lovely
nonetheless.

And a range of other beauties grow in the wake of Mr. Watson. There is the sleek feel of Jwow;
the clubby Punch Lane and the queer-friendly, shabby chic of Cabinet.

Importantly, there’s always a place in our town to savour decent wine, bang on about the last
novel you read, and scurry away from the moment bad behaviour threatens.

Anada

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Grognoscenti - MCV - Melbourne Community Voice for Gay and Lesbian Readers

Written by S.M. King

Wednesday, 20 August 2008 20:17 - Last Updated Monday, 22 December 2008 13:51

197 Gertrude St Fitzroy

ph: (03) 9415 6101
www.adada.com.au

Cabinet
11 Rainbow Alley Melbourne
ph: (03) 9654 0915
www.cabinetbar.com.au

Enoteca Vino Bar

920 Lygon St Carlton North
ph: (03) 9389 7070
www.enoteca.com.au

Jimmy Watson’s
333 Lygon St Carlton
ph: (03) 9347 3985

Jwow
243 Little Lonsdale St Melbourne
ph: (03) 9663 5986
www.jwowbar.com.au

Gertrude Street Enotecha

229 Gertrude St Fitzroy
Ph: (03) 9415 8262
www.gertrudestreetenoteca.com

MoVida
1 Hosier La Melbourne
ph: (03) 9663 3038
www.movida.com.au

Punch Lane
43 Little Bourke St Melbourne
ph: (03) 9639 4944
www.punchlane.com.au

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