In Melbourne and wandered into this cornucopia of fine wines. A wide selection of boutique Australian with a great selection of Spanish and French wines. Knowledgeable staff and attentive service.

Carlton is wine central, possibly because of the Italian influence in the area or because of the mainly well-healed, winebuff residents. Rathdowne Cellars has a Carlton feel, rare wines, knowledgable staff.
You can sign up for their newsletter and find out about tastings and food/wine evetns. In any case, there's usually a tasting on the go at peak times.

For Father's Day just recently I went to Rathdowne Cellars and bought a bottle of 1994 De Bortoli Noble One as a present for the old man. Superb wine, and not the sort of thing you'll see on the shelf at Dan Murphy's.

Rathdowne Cellars have a really good range of wines from boutique Aussie wineries that can be otherwise very difficult to track down (like some of my favourites such as Rockford and Clonakilla). They also have a fascinating and very interesting array of imported wine (French, Spanish, Italian, German).

This is very much a premium wine shop and the prices reflect that. Value may not be the best - one of the big retailers would almost certainly be cheaper for the wines that are available at the big retailers. The charm of Rathdowne Cellars is that a lot of their range is not readily found elsewhere.

The place to go for an iconic, rare or interesting wine for a special occasion.