A “Meilluer Pot” winner and a great story... Jacques Melac’s family is from the Aveyron region of France.

Here you will find a rocky landscape of rustic, jewel-like villages with a strong gastronomic heritage.

Jacques’ father began to serve wine at this very spot in 1938, and when Jacques took over the business in 1977 he added a menu, rich with the traditional, heartwarming foods of his roots. Meats and cheeses come from his favorite producers, and of course Melac is passionate about wine. The vines growing on the outside of the wine bar, he planted in the cellar over 20 years ago.

Every September Melac hosts a neighborhood harvesting event. Children climb the ladders, pick the grapes, and then are invited to stomp them, and thus play a part in the production of about 35 bottles of wine. There is club called “Vignerons de Paris”, an association of the winegrowers of Paris. Jacques Melac is proud to be a member.

If you’re wondering, who’s the guy with the handlebar mustache, that’s Jacques. This is his place.

To find out more about the picturesque Aveyron region, go to www.aveyron.com

Jacques Melac
42 Rue Leon-Frot
11th Arrondisement
Metro: Charonne
Closed Sunday and Monday and all of August
www.melac.fr

Owners of wine bars are passionate about wine. They believe in forging relationships with winegrowers and go so far as to order barrels of carefully selected vintages, which they will then bottle and store themselves, in the caves, beneath their establishments.

Each wine bar has its own personality with one thing in common, the belief that wine should be carefully paired with food.

Traditional charcuterie (cheeses and meats) may be offered along with more substantial specials of the day.

Whatever the fare, the philosophy is unfalteringly, “ Eat, drink and be merry”.