Bespoke Wines and Spirits

Owner Phil Gray built this High Street shop around the boutique and the hard-to-find: small-run wines, rare spirits and craft beers picked out for character rather than shelf appeal. The shop is also home to its own label, Bespoke Thornbury Gin, distilled locally and blended with a botanical mix Gray selected himself, alongside a house whiskey and other spirits developed exclusively with local distillers. Customers are encouraged to taste before they buy, and if something isn't on the shelf, Gray will track it down. The stock leans toward Australian producers and lesser-known imports, with a standing relationship with small local makers — recent additions include an artisan Italian vino cotto. In a strip increasingly dominated by supermarket-owned liquor barns, it remains an independent pouring real knowledge into every recommendation. Worth a stop for Melburnians building a serious home bar, not just picking up a six-pack.