Local Cellars

A side street just off Queens Parade in Clifton Hill holds this small liquor retailer built around a simple brief: sustainability and locality over volume. The shelves favour small Australian producers and imported bottles chosen for character rather than brand recognition, with staff steering customers toward wine and spirits from makers doing something genuinely interesting rather than whatever's on special. It sits apart from the area's bigger hotel bottle shops by keeping the range tight and considered, the kind of shop where a five-minute conversation at the counter usually turns up something better than what you walked in looking for. For Clifton Hill and Fitzroy North residents it has become a go-to for a last-minute dinner bottle that isn't off a supermarket shelf, and a stockist worth checking before assuming the big chains have the better range.