In a small strip of shops in Melbourne’s east, a quiet revolution has been building over a couple of years. Blackburn’s Natural Science Wine & Liquor first opened as bottleshop dedicated to Australian-owned and independent beer, wine and spirits in early 2022 but, since June, it's doubled as a neighbourhood bar.
Tristan Jallais, who runs the venue with wife Joyce, says it makes their watering hole the first of its kind in the area since the turn of the century. Indeed, Blackburn and its surrounds are dominated by huge, pokie-filled pubs and big box retailers owned by major chains; as such Tristan hopes their community-minded bar will be a catalyst for change.
“I hope that, in time, we will be one of many,” he says.
“There’s a huge gap, not just for us, but multiple bars really. There's a real shortage of adult drinking establishments in the eastern suburbs.”
While they always hoped to offer locals the chance to drink in, the council initially wasn’t sure about granting them a general licence. But once their doors were open, that soon changed: Whitehorse City Council was appreciative of Natural Science Wine & Liquor’s approach to top-quality local drinks.
“When they could see what we’d done with the shop,” Tristan says, “what our focus was, and how much we were trying to become a part of the community, it put us in a good position.
“They are looking at what modern amenities will be for the area and the night-time economy and social spaces are a part of that.”
From day one, locals have embraced the store too; since introducing the venue side of the business, the owners have been overwhelmed by the response.
“It’s a really strange feeling when people are really thanking you for opening a business and doing something you really want to do,” Tristan says. “People are really appreciative and it’s just super nice.
“We did set out to make this as community-minded as possible and a real neighbourhood place. so you really want to be embraced by your local area and beyond.”
Indeed, local is at the heart of what the couple provides for their community as they’ve maintained their policy of pouring and selling purely Australian-owned and independent drinks. You won’t find a bottle of bourbon on a shelf, nor a bottle of StrangeLove tonic to mix with a Four Pillars gin now the former is owned by CUB/Asahi and the latter by Lion/Kirin.
It’s an approach that makes them a minority of one in Melbourne, which came as something of a surprise to Tristan.
“When we went all in on Australian, I didn’t know that no one else was,” he says. “There’s a lot of stores with great ranges of Australian but it’s always peppered with imports and corporate.
“It’s often spirits and mixers but there’s still an element of the craft beer community that fetishises imported beer, whether it’s European classics or American craft. That’s true for parts of wine and spirits too and no industry isn’t guilty of that.”
For Tristan, who’s long worked in hospitality across a range of roles, including many years running the Post Office Hotel in Coburg, stocking local and carefully curating what they offer is a point of pride.
“In terms of what we’re going for, there will be zero deviation from what the mission is,” Tristan says. “The core of what we’re doing will always be Australia-owned, Australian-made and curated.
“There’s nothing on tap I wouldn’t have a glass of, and there’s nothing in the fridge that we don’t back.”
He says such an approach matters more than ever, due to both the quality of Australian booze and the cost-of-living crisis.
“There has never been a better time to drink Australian in terms of beer, wine and spirits,” he says. “There’s never been better quality, there’s never been more of it, and these industries have never needed the support more than now.
“There is something to be said for helping pay someone’s mortgage over paying a company’s shareholders.”
As for the Natural space itself, such as the four taps and many bottles and cans that fill the store, it’s a bar that’s lovingly curated. Indoor plants and natural light fill the shopfront while vintage furniture and an orange glow give the bar a constant warmth. The chairs form another point of pride: Joyce found them second-hand and they don’t just suit the store’s orange hue – they’ve proven popular thanks to a certain muscle memory.
“These chairs are so comfy, even if they’re a little daggy,” Tristan says.
“They’re Sebel school chairs that all of us would have sat on at one point. They’re iconic, they’re Aussie-made, and I’m sure everyone would have sat on one at least once in their life.
“There were certain things we avoided like bentwood chairs because we wanted to avoid anything that resembled too much of a Melbourne wine bar or a craft beer dive bar.”
From chairs to booze, the couple behind Natural Science Wine & Liquor has certainly built a local their own way. So we asked Tristan to join us for an entry in our Behind Bars series...
Tristan Jallais
What was your intention when you launched Natural Science?
The aim was to bring a beacon of curated good booze to the leafy east, an area awash with big box retail and tired, strip mall bottle-o’s. The mission was to focus solely on independent, Australian-made wine, beer, spirits and non-alc. There’s no imports and no corporates, just a focus on both emerging and established independent Australian producers that we love, alongside exceptional and approachable customer service.
While initially purely retail, the addition of a bar was always the long-term goal, filling a dire need for drinking venues in the eastern suburbs.
How would you describe the vibe of your venue?
Our take is more a neighbourhood bar than a specific craft beer bar or wine bar, though we do have four taps pouring solely independent Australian beers.
It's a place that's warm, inviting, comfortable and friendly yet pouring exceptional drinks – all-Australian of course.
It's a place you can bring your dog, your child or your gran and drink well without any pretence.
Is there anything you’ve learned along the way you wish you’d known earlier?
I didn't really think our shop looked so "nice" but plenty of people did and this niceness was sometimes linked to a perception that we must be selling only premium options which couldn't be further from the truth. I wouldn't change the way the shop looks though I would have tried to communicate the range better.
I think I also didn't communicate the all-Australian aspect of the business clearly enough in the first 12 months as this is actually one unique selling point for Natural Science – we are the only all-Australian bottleshop in Melbourne.
My last surprise was learning that some people and organisations in our industry simply don't care about all-Australian. Given the financial climate and also the ridiculous quality of Australian drinks, it doesn't make sense to me to not be conscious of what we are buying.
It has definitely been tough to get noticed by a lot of food and drink media – not The Crafty Pint obviously, haha!
How do you go about selecting your tap offering?
The taps follow a bit of a formula; there is always something crisp and easy (lager/pilsner/draught), something pale, something hoppy, and something seasonal.
Obviously, everything is Australian and independent but I'm also trying to support the breweries that I love and respect, especially those that have had a place in our fridges over the last two-and-a-half years.
The other mission with the taps is to make sure there is always value in the glass, so I'm very conscious of pricing.
What beers are proving popular with punters at the moment?
On tap, all four have been pulling their weight, though I have noticed the dark/er beers have sold far better than I thought.
I feel there has been a real return to the classics of late, well-made traditional styles are getting a lot of love.
In the fridges, core range beers are really key at the moment. Customers are grabbing four-packs left and right with the occasional limited or two.
What styles and trends do you see taking off? Or, for that matter, fading away?
I'm definitely seeing an appreciation for maltier beers coming back and European styles having a bit of a moment. Anytime I have reds, browns and ambers in the fridge they always seem to get jumped on.
Crisp and fresh has never gone away, with well-made lager, pilsner and kolsch always finding homes as well as classic West Coast IPA.
Smaller format limited releases (375ml/250ml) are doing well due both to a lower price point and the fewer standard drinks – I think many drinkers are more conscious of how much they are drinking these days.
Triple IPAs are pretty much dead in the water.
What are you – or your staff – enjoying after a shift?
To be honest, I'm not drinking a great deal at the moment, so I'm definitely getting my refreshment from non-alcs. As for the team, everyone seems to be chasing refreshing as opposed to challenging drinks lately.
You can read more entries in our Behind Bars series here.
Will Ziebell is a history graduate who knows more about The Wire than he does about beer. He was awarded the AIBA Best Media trophy for 2018; HBO have told him to please send his fan mail elsewhere. He can be found on Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.
The beer(s) or moment(s) that turned you on to good beer:
Spending time living in the UK (and backpacking across Europe) when I was 21 certainly gave me a better understanding of the beer and different styles of the world. But I'd say it was a holiday to the High Country a little while later when lunch and a tasting paddle at Bridge Road Brewers created an obsession with Australian breweries and locally made beer.
You've got three beers to turn someone else on to good beer; what are they and why?
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Boatrocker's Miss Pinky: It's a raspberry-packed Berliner Weisse that neither looks or tastes the way many people conceive of beer.
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Bad Shepherd Hazelnut Brown: A luscious mix of chocolate and hazelnut that can appeal to the sweet tooth within us all.
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Stone & Wood Pacific Ale: As the father of my oldest friend once said to me: "It's the perfect refreshing pint that smells like they've loaded it with the God's herb."
The last beer you enjoyed:
Garage Project's DFA while sitting at the bar at Miss Moses as the sounds of The Rolling Stone drifting in the background.
Three things that represent you:
- Bruce Springsteen
- Ken Burns
- The State Library of Victoria
