Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar is a Melbourne institution, having operated since 1935 in Lygon Street, Carlton. At a time when wine drinkers were viewed with suspicion and the press spoke disparagingly about “plonkos” and their “fourpenny darks” (cheap, heavily fortified wine), James Calexte Watson set out to introduce his customers to fine vintages. Over the years, he played host to celebrities and impoverished university students, diplomats and pensioners.

Watson’s first occupation had nothing to do with wine. He played the flute in a cinema orchestra, accompanying silent movies. When the “talkies” arrived, it put an end to that profession, and he decided to open a wine saloon. Through his Italian mother, he was connected to people well known in the hospitality industry, including the Denat, Virgona and Massoni families. Watson’s middle name honoured his uncle Calexte Denat, a noted French-Swiss restaurateur.

In 1935, he opened his wine saloon at 333 Lygon Street, living above the business. The terms of Jimmy Watson’s licence allowed him to sell only Australian wines—no imports, no beer and no spirits. He introduced quality fortified and table wines, visiting Victorian wineries and buying wine by the barrel to bottle himself. If a vintage was especially fine, he would lay bottles aside to serve to friends and special customers, and he encouraged others to “lay down” wines, allowing them to develop with age.

During World War II, the wine bar was a favoured gathering place for servicemen and women. By the 1950s, Jimmy Watson’s had become an institution. It was a familiar haunt of academics and students from the nearby University of Melbourne who, on sunny days, gathered in the wine garden at the rear of the premises. Dubbing him Carlton’s high priest of Bacchus, The Argus wrote, in 1952:

Jim is landlord of Melbourne’s most unique wine house and his life is dedicated to fine vintages. A “Mine host” who could have stepped from a medieval tavern, Jim is bright-cheeked, bustling and robust; he smiles easily and wears a chest-high leather apron. He’ll talk of wine, or foods to combine with it, at the clink of a glass.

For many decades, Jimmy Watson’s did not have a kitchen, and patrons brought their own food, often purchased from Lygon Street’s delis. Licensing laws changed in 1962, requiring the installation of a kitchen and restaurant. Watson approached one of his regular customers, the architect Roy Grounds, to redesign his establishment to comply with the new laws, but Grounds, busy with other commissions, passed the task on to Robin Boyd. Jimmy did not live to see the project completed; he died in 1962. His son, Alan, oversaw the execution of Boyd’s new, dramatic design, which combined three shops into a single ground-floor space and created the distinctive façade.

While the main dining room has changed little since 1963, in 2012 a second back bar, the Wolf’s Lair, was added, along with the Treetops rooftop bar. These days, Jimmy Watson’s serves aperitifs, beers, ciders and spirits as well as wine, and their extensive list offers imported as well as local wines.

In 1962, a group of friends established the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, which is awarded each year at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show to the best one or two-year old Australian red wine.