Fitzroy North

Paul and Jessica Ghaie opened their first wine shop on Windsor's Punt Road in 2006, naming the venture after nicknames their youngest sister gave them — Blackheart for Paul's early habit of overworking, Sparrow for Jess's small frame. A second store followed on Lygon Street, but it was the third, on Scotchmer Street in Fitzroy North, that built the name into something Melbourne drinkers now treat as an institution. The Ghaies built the business around minimal-intervention and natural wine well before it was a mainstream category, alongside a rotating range of craft beer and spirits, and the approach has since carried them to further stores across Melbourne, into North Hobart and Canberra. The Fitzroy North shop keeps the same unfussy, well-briefed service the siblings started with — staff who will talk through a skin-contact white or a pet-nat without any pretension attached. Open daily from late morning, with trading past 8pm most nights.

An inner-city plant nursery serving the local community since 2000, stocking a broad range of indoor and outdoor plants, native varieties, cacti, succulents and citrus alongside pots in terracotta, Mexican ceramic and glazed finishes. Beyond plants, the shop carries garden supplies, tools and giftware including terrarium figurines, with staff offering horticultural advice and free pest and disease identification from a sample. Open daily, with local delivery available for a small fee.