There are large anonymous wine shops, acres of floor space heaving with booze and then there are stores like Seddon Wine Store: tightly knit, intimate and carefully stocked with wines, spirits and beers.
While the bulk-buy option has a place in the market, never underestimate the personalised experience that can be had in a boutique, privately owned business such as the Seddon Wine Store.
Proprietor Jeremy Honisett opened the store after selling wine wholesale to various businesses in the area. He saw a gap in the market for a small wine shop to serve and sell the interesting wines he enjoyed and liked tasting.
Five years have passed and Honisett has created a drop-in space and attractive shop that stocks wines not from large commercial wineries but from the small boutique ones mostly in Australia, New Zealand, France and Italy.
From the front to the back of the shop, reds, whites, beers and spirits seem to burst from the wall, every space taken up with more boxes and bottles – although there’s still room given to a handful of benches and stools for those who like to accompany their drink choices with a friendly chat and something to nibble.
The menu is practical for the set-up, with dishes that “we can plate up in 60 seconds”, says Honisett.
This means a board of cured meats, perhaps bresaola, pancetta and salami dotted with fennel seeds with slices of Zeally Bay sourdough and a dollop of mustard, or smoked salmon next to goat’s curd and capers. Rabbit rillette from Kyneton’s Piper Street Food Company and Cuca Spanish sardines, served in their tin, also prove smart foils to the constantly changing wines by the glass
House Specialty
Selling interesting wines and drinks is the modus operandi here and they argue that it is what they do best. You might want a chardonnay that’s “minerally, not full of oak” and they’ll pick up a bottle from a little-known winemaker in the Yarra Valley who “happened to drop in last week”.
Ask about spirits and they’ll hand you a bottle of boutique Australian-made gin. “Our customers are really open to trying new things and supporting the local industry,” says Honisett.
They hold the occasional specials and tastings. On our visit it was all about riesling and oysters on a Friday afternoon: four different rieslings with half a dozen oysters. Unfortunately the oysters weren’t shucked to order but such are the limitations of the space.
The Seddon Wine Store is the store you can walk into knowing nothing about wine, or think you know everything, and the staff will give you the advice you need in the style you need it.
Seddon Wine Store
2/101 Victoria Street, Seddon
Meals | Share plates, charcuterie, antipasti
Food | Eat in and/or take away
Phone | 9687 4817
Open | Sunday to Wednesday 11am-8pm; Thursday and Friday 11am-10pm; Saturday 10am-10pm
