Everybody remembers the pagoda. And for good reason: the distinctive design of the winery tower at Tahbilk, built in the 1880s, is unforgettable, a red-roofed sentinel, gazing out across a wide, slow bend of the Goulburn River. Every first-time visitor takes a photo of that pagoda-like tower before walking into the old cellar door below, stepping back in time.

Wine geeks also gush about glimpsing the old vines at Tahbilk, particularly the few surviving rows of shiraz vines planted in 1860, when this ambitiously large estate was established. For some, it’s like a pilgrimage.