Natural Science Wine & Liquor opened in 2022 as Melbourne’s first all-Australian wine store and bottle shop. Helmed by Tristan Jallais and Joyce Chua, their mission has always been to showcase a curated range of exceptional drinks from family-owned Australian producers and share them with the eastern suburbs. More recently, the shop has grown to also become Blackburn’s only neighbourhood bar, a warm and welcoming space that acts as an extension of the Natural Science ethos.
Here’s Jallais with what’s drinking well at their Blackburn bottle-o and beyond.
The last three delicious things I tasted were…
All three current Obstgarten Rieslings (T, K and Selection) from Schmolzer & Brown. This might be cheating slightly but I love these wines, and I love what Tess and Jeremy are creating. Year on year, the way they work with riesling is really something special to taste. There is so much finesse and structure, and the combination of German inspiration and King Valley fruit makes for some very impressive drinking.
Sunny Arvo non-alc Negroni – Joyce and I have been going fairly light on the alcohol front so we’re always on the lookout for well-made non-alcs. This new release from Three Foxes is a perfect booze-free Negroni: plenty of bitterness, plenty of complexity, very convincing. You could even add gin to it if you were so inclined.
Kinglake Distillery Goodbye Popeye Single Malt Whisky – Sam and Chantal are producing some of Victoria’s best whiskies from their off-grid distillery in Kinglake. We recently hosted a masterclass with Sam and the latest release, Goodbye Popeye, was the centrepiece. Big, jammy and rich, this whisky spends its time in ex-bourbon, ex-rye and ex-tawny casks, and is just wildly delicious.
As far as I’m concerned, the defining place to get a drink in Victoria is City Wine Shop has always been really important in my wine life. A welcoming space, strong team, great wine list, that wall of wine to get lost in, the hours can pass by pretty quickly here. I’ve discovered many great wines here over the years, there are always interesting pours, and they support so many smaller producers which we both love to see. The standard for the wine store/bar was really set here and has help pave the way for businesses like ours.
When someone hands me a drinks list, I’m immediately heading to the by-the-glass page and cocktail list to see how much love is going to local producers. This gives a little glimpse into the ethics of the venue and to what extent they’re willing to support local. Local produce is frequently referenced in relation to food but often gets forgotten about when it comes to drinks and it kills me to read lists that seemingly ignore the wealth of high-quality local drinks in favour of imports and corporate booze.
Beyond that, I’m always looking for producers I haven’t had the chance of trying yet. I’m lucky enough to be exposed to a lot of great producers but there are still so many out there I’m yet to come across.
The Victorian spirit I’m loving most right now is vermouth. I’ve been on the vermouth wagon for years. I started drinking it as a lower alcohol meal starter and as a tribute to my mum who had a soft spot for a vermouth and soda. As a drink there is so much to love, it’s complex, it’s versatile, it’s delicious, and it is seemingly something that Victoria does very well. Maidenii were pioneers in the space and continue to make impeccable drinks but more recently there’s great vermouths hitting the shelves from Soma, Saison and Allies just to name a few.
There’s no better value on wine list or in a bottle-shop in Victoria than… At the moment I’d say modern, Murray Darling wines. This is a region that’s been shunned for a long time but producers like Chalmers, MDI and Gill Estate are pumping out a long line of delicious and affordable wines, plus the embrace of climate appropriate, Italian varieties is helping keep things interesting.
I’d love to see people distilling more high-quality bourbon-style whisky. It’s a category that doesn’t seem to get the attention it deserves, and I’d love to see distilleries really having a proper go at producing. It feels like distillers are either turning their nose up at the category or it’s being branded too hard but there is a gap in the market.
My guilty pleasure in the fridge is a really simple, clean, lightly flavoured lager or pilsner. Sometimes you just need refreshment without any hint of complexity.
The best or most important change to the way people drink in Victoria in recent years has been an increasing appreciation of just how impressive the quality of drinks and how broad the spectrum is in Victoria. Drinkers are looking closer to home for many reasons and are making a considered effort to support independent local producers. People are actually interested in who owns the beer, wine or spirit they are considering purchasing and we love this, we embrace this. It’s so nice to see, though we do hope that more retail and hospitality (especially from the larger scale) can also throw more love towards our independent, Victorian producers. There has never been a better time to drink local, and the industry has never needed more support.
For me, the most inspiring person in the Victorian drinks world is not one person but the whole Chalmers family. What that family has done for the wine landscape over the last 3 decades is impressive. The foresight, the ambition, the drive and the gumption to pursue the long list of Italian varieties that have been their focus is something to behold. Plus, the sheer amount of interesting wines out there making good use of Chalmers fruit also deserves a mention.
On Saturday 2 August from 2pm until 5pm, Natural Science Wine & Liquor will launch its first Everyday Wine Fair – a relaxed afternoon of tasting that celebrates great Australian wines made for everyday enjoyment. Featuring a stellar lineup of producers including Yarrawood Estate, Muto Wine, Gill Estate, MDI Wines, Chalmers Wines, Kooyonga Creek and Patrick of Coonawarra, the event showcases five to six wines per producer, priced between $15 and $27.
Natural Science Wine & Liquor, 9a Salisbury Ave, Blackburn, naturalscience.shop, @natural.science.shop