I have read several articles recently claiming that Jimmy Watson’s in Carlton was Melbourne’s first wine bar. This is not true. Watson’s establishment opened in 1935, but was preceded by many other wine bars (termed wine saloons), dating back to the 1860s. The Colonial Wine Licence, established in 1864, allowed for the sale of up to two gallons of wine, to be consumed on the premises (!) in any “house or premises of the rent or value of ten pounds a year”.
Taking advantage of the new regulations, Melbourne’s first wine bar was established by Alinant de Dollon, known as the Count de Dollon, in 1865. He had emigrated from France in 1858 and established a vineyard in Upper Hawthorn, now the Melbourne suburb of Glenferrie. With a partner, M. La Moile, he opened cellars in William Street, Melbourne, wholesaling his own and other growers’ wines. In 1864, their cellars contained more than 12,000 gallons of varieties described as Hermitage, Burgundy, Muscat, Claret, Chasselas, Sauterne, Barsac, Tokay and Pouillac, although they cautioned that these wines were not similar in all respects to those bearing the same names in France.
The partners applied for a bar licence, but it was refused by the city bench of magistrates. De Dollon continued to agitate for the establishment of a wine licence that would allow him to sell his wines by the glass, arguing that it would promote the sale of locally made wines. When the new licence was established in 1864, the first wine bar de Dollon opened was 47 Swanston Street, where he offered “‘Luncheon, with tumbler hot spiced wine, 6d.” Its success prompted him to open a second establishment at 30 Collins Street. The Geelong Advertiser reported that:
The consumption of colonial wine during the coming summer, in Melbourne, will probably be much larger than it has ever been before. Mr De Dollon, the wine grower, has met with so much success at his colonial wine saloon in Swanston street, that he has taken the extensive premises in Collins street, next to the Criterion hotel, recently occupied by Gemmell, McCaul & Co. The new Collins street Colonial Wine Saloon will do much to educate the taste of the public and help to reduce the consumption of imports.
De Delon’s ventures were short-lived. He sold his vineyard in 1873 and moved to New Caledonia in 1874, where he lived for the rest of his life.
Over the following decades, many more wine saloons were opened in Victoria, both in the city and in country areas. In 1895, one of many wine halls in Northcote was opened by a Miss A H Foley. After a succession of owners, it was bought by an Italian immigrant, Frank Lanteri, and continued to operate as Lanteri’s wine hall until 1962. A notable establishment was the Colonial Wine Saloon, bought by Samuel Wynn in 1913. Wynn’s Wine Saloon later became the Cafe Denat and, in 1928, Cafe Florentino.
As liquor laws were updated in the 20th century, colonial wine licences were renamed “Australian wine licences” and eventually phased out. Most of the wine saloons have disappeared, but Jimmy Watson’s continues today. Although it wasn’t the first Australian wine bar, it may be the most enduring.