11 of the best wineries in Victoria
Wineries are no longer just picturesque places for simple sip, but delicious destinations where you can eat, drink, play and stay. Here’s our list of some of the best wineries in our fine state.
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Wineries are no longer just picturesque places for simple sip, but delicious destinations where you can eat, drink, play and stay.
Here’s our list of some of the best wineries in our fine state.
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PT LEO
Who would’ve thought that a $50 million winery-cum-modern sculpture park would be Victoria’s most accessible, most exciting, most welcoming and yes, most delicious, venue?
From the sweeping, dramatic entry of the Jolson-designed building to the sweeping, dramatic views across the vines and sculptures to Western Port beyond, Pt Leo is a carefully considered wine-dine good time that has every sense covered.
You can make an occasion of it by dining at Laura, where an elegantly concise, innovatively refined (and accessibly priced) four-to-six course celebration of the region is served. Here you’ll find eye-openingly good Lion’s Mane mushrooms “glazed like a chicken wing”, a curry-sauced fish pie cleverly brightened with mint, and lavender-and-honey glazed duck served Sunday roast-style in the centre of the table with roasted parsnip and grapes.
But for easy, roll-up-your-sleeves, lick-your-fingers fun, the main restaurant is our favourite to return to. It’s where a wood-roasted crumpet comes topped with drunken chicken so good you’ll be ordering another after one bite, and a vibrant carrot souffle cloud comes dressed with arresting scampi roe.
Pt Leo is simply outstanding, and is easily — definitively — Victoria’s most exciting dining destination. The art of dining, reimagined, Pt Leo is a roaring success.
PT LEO
3649 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Merricks
5989 9011
Must eat dish: Wood-roasted snapper, Hawkes Farm braised broccoli, fennel cream
Chefs: Phil Wood and Joel Alderson
Price: $$/$$$
Cuisine: Contemporary
Bookings: Yes
Open: Pt Leo Restaurant: lunch daily; dinner Thur-Sat // Laura lunch Thur-Sun; dinner Thur-Sat
Instagram: @ptleoestate
BYO: No
Separate bar: Yes
OAKRIDGE
Gosh, it’s good. Being seated in the dining room with postcard vine vistas and the light pouring in, deciding on a something-for-everyone estate wine, and then the main act — Matt Stone and Jo Barrett’s brilliant food.
Barrett’s caraway pastry is a thing of swirly beauty, teamed with a salad of smoked trout, caviar, herbs and sour cream that’s as pleasing on the plate as the palate. Ditto the dehydrated persimmon discs hatting the Berkshire pork to lend sweet-tart counter to the just-cooked meat.
Desserts celebrate the sweet-savoury divide, with fried parsnip ‘noodles’ and pear pieces doing wonderful things with a luscious hokey-pokey ice cream.
Team this with service that’s sharp and informed but with country charm, and you’ve got one of the best winery restaurants going.
OAKRIDGE
864 Maroondah Hwy, Coldstream
9738 9900
Must-eat dish: Smoked trout, caviar, cultured cream, caraway croissant
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chefs: Jo Barrett and Matt Stone
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Thu-Mon
Instagram: @oakridgewines
BYO: No
Separate bar: Cellar door — Oakridge Estate wines only
DOOT DOOT DOOT/RARE HARE
Under the bling of Doot Doot Doot’s dramatic 10,000-light installation, Saturday lunch is in full swing as Melbourne takes a mini break.
Like Jackalope, the Mornington Peninsula boutique hotel it calls home, this flagship restaurant is more styled than a Kardashian at the Met Ball, but don’t be put off. Guy Stanaway’s monthly changing five-course menu (with snacks) is elegant yet supremely approachable.
Not every dish lands, but when they do, it’s bang-the-table good. Like the prawns, memorably smoky and charry-fleshed from the grill, paired with a silken pumpkin cream and offset by tangy pops of finger lime. And the fillet of Murray cod given excellent texture from a polenta crust, all the better for being crowned with saltbush crisps.
Staff are plentiful, as are the wines with a 1200-bottle cellar, but happily make the estate’s Willow Creek drops your default.
Enjoy them too at Rare Hare, the property’s more casual on-site eatery with the bonus of vine views.
DOOT DOOT DOOT/RARE HARE
166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North
5931 2500
Must eat dish: Prawn, finger lime, pumpkin cream
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Guy Stanaway
Price: $$$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Dinner daily, lunch Sat-Sun
Instagram: @jackalopehotels
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes
PORT PHILLIP ESTATE
In a gourmet wine region not short on exciting newcomers, Port Phillip Estate is as evergreen and impressive as ever.
Its curved bunker-like digs are Bond movie-cool, and inside, clever design and wowing water and vine views are matched by set-price menus that fly the flag for affordable luxury and beautifully balanced global flavours.
There’s fire-roasted Dory under a doona of smoked mussels and green sea herbs, cut with preserved lemon and capers. Berkshire sucking pig is served as a crispy-skinned square of belly, ready to slick with rich morcilla puree in a crispy-shelled croquette and countered with apple and artichoke.
Desserts are frisky and fresh, prettiest of them the caramelised apple dome housing white chocolate mousse and ringed by an oat crumble.
Guided by staff who excel in relaxed, sharp service, drink well with estate wines, plus a raft of heavy-hitters, with rainwater harvested from the property for the designated driver.
PORT PHILLIP ESTATE
263 Red Hill Rd, Red Hill South
5989 4444
Must-eat dish: Caramelised apple dome
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Stuart Deller
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Wed-Sun, dinner Fri-Sat
Instagram: @portphillipestate
BYO: No
Separate bar: No
PARINGA
Welcome to the Mornington Peninsula’s quiet achiever.
Paringa Estate may not have the big money bling of some winery restaurants nearby, but its recently refurbished dining room overlooking raked vines in a bucolic corner of Red Hill is supremely comfortable and compact. Chef Adam Beckett’s food is quietly impressive, too. It’s as assured and refined in its own way as the McCall family’s impeccable award-winning wines which have guided Paringa since the 1990s.
With the winery itself visible through the windows, there’s a deep bench of talent at the tasting table to guide you through the pinot noir, chardonnay, shiraz and pinot gris, and when you take your seat at the restaurant, the service rarely misses a beat.
Whether you opt for two or three courses, you want to try Paringa’s smoked wallaby tartare with wasabi creme fraiche, the artfully plated roasted duck with crisped taro, and whiting fillets which are deftly layered across creamy potato and a wakame fish mousse.
Best of all, Paringa does all this without denting your budget. It’s a real find.
PARINGA
44 Paringa Rd, Red Hill South
03 5989 2669
Must eat dish: Whiting and Jensens Red potato
Cuisine: Contemporary Chef Adam Beckett
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Wed-Sun, dinner Fri and Sat
Instagram : @paringaestate
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: No
MONTALTO
Vines and vegetables, olives and art … Montalto is a one-stop shop for all things bright and beautiful on the Mornington Peninsula. But the estate’s rustic restaurant is its number one attraction, and rightly so. Chef Gerard Phelan’s high-calibre cooking has a farmhouse freshness about it, no surprise given the luxuriant herb and vegetable garden at his disposal, and on our visit two dishes clearly embody his robust, home style.
One is a tile of beetroot black pudding ornamented with parsnip, carrot and rapini leaves, the other, dry-aged duck in the company of mandarin and purpling radicchio.
A concise wine list encourages the drinking of very fine Montalto chardonnays and pinots, and capable staff rarely miss a beat. All you have to do is sit back and enjoy.
MONTALTO
33 Shoreham Rd, Red Hill South
5989 8412
Must eat dish: Dry aged duck, radicchio, mandarin
Chef: Gerard Phelan Price $$
Cuisine: Contemporary Bookings Yes
Open: Lunch Fri-Tues, Dinner Fri and Sat
Instagram: @montaltovineyardandolivegrove
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Cellar door
MUSE AT MITCHELTON
It might be most famous for the Robin Boyd-designed tower that proudly surveys more than 115ha of vines, but chef Dan Hawkins — along with owners Andrew Ryan and dad Gerry — wants the restaurant at Nagambie’s Mitchelton winery to be as much of a drawcard as those amazing views from up high.
And he’s cooking up a Goulburn Valley storm within the Scandi-handsome dining room that features a roaring open fire in winter and expansive vine-covered terrace in summer.
He’s backing up the local supplier farm-to-fork talk with dishes that include a brilliant Bald Rock pork cutlet swaddled in fennel seed crumb and served with excellent apple mustard, and a standout roast chicken with fat hunks of bacon and crunchy crostini with a few foraged pine mushrooms thrown in for good measure.
Value-forward estate wines are there for the drinking, while a few other interesting Victorians round out the list.
With generous, dexterous cooking that celebrates the region without too much fuss — but with a whole lot of flavour — that’s a bit of a bargain to boot, Muse is making Mitchelton famous. Again.
MUSE AT MITCHELTON
470 Mitchellstown Rd, Nagambie
5736 2225
Must eat dish: Bald rock pork cutlet
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Dan Hawkins
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Breakfast, lunch and dinner daily
Instagram: @mitcheltonwines
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes
POLPERRO
To one of the peninsula’s more subtly picturesque and beautiful dining rooms, chef Michael Demagistris has recently brought his bag of tricks, honed at his short-lived but acclaimed diner, Mount Martha’s East.
At Polperro in Red Hill, he’s adding modern flair — see his signature nitro caramel popcorn that comes ‘steaming’ to the table — and beach herbs and gels to a menu that spans six choose-your-own courses brought by a young but well-briefed team.
While an overuse of decorations can make dishes feel like they’ve come from the florist rather than the kitchen, that prettiness doesn’t come at the expense of flavour, as is proven in the meltingly soft lamb shoulder with hummus and beetroot jam, and beautifully cooked barramundi swimming in a bright tom yum broth.
Along with owner Sam Coverdale’s estate wines, the short but worldly list has a winemaker’s prints all over it, with excellent drinking at all levels.
With fires and blankets for winter and expansive deck for summer, Polperro is a destination for all seasons.
POLPERRO
150 Red Hill Rd, Red Hill
5989 2471
Must eat dish: barramundi with tom yum broth
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Michael Demagistris
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Wed-Mon, dinner Fri-Sat
Instagram: @polperrowines
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes
HOGGET KITCHEN
With its glorious views across the valley of vines to lush green paddocks dotted with Black Angus quietly going about their business, there are few better places to while away an afternoon than at Hogget Kitchen. Here in the stylish country dining room, chef Trevor Perkins champions the best of Gippsland produce, ably backed up by top drops from trailblazing winemakers Pat Sullivan and William Downie.
Start with one of the best charcuterie plates in the state, where deep ruby venison bresaola, smoky pastrami and thick cuts of creamy prosciutto are served with pickled pine mushrooms and fat olives from the winery grove. With house ciabatta hot from the oven, it’s an elegant opener.
Service is smart, value is great (three courses are $65), and that view is unbeatable.
An oft-unsung region has found its hero to deliver a wonderful treat. Set the GPS to Warragul.
HOGGET KITCHEN
6 Farrington Cl, Warragul
5623 2211
Must eat dish: Gippsland lamb
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Trevor Perkins
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Breakfast Sun; lunch Wed-Sun; dinner Wed-Sat
Instagram: @hogget_kitchen
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes
EZARD AT LEVANTINE HILL
The choppers are still out front, waiting to ferry high roller customers back to their city digs, but everyone else reaches Ezard at Levantine Hill by car. Make sure you have a designated driver. Winemaker Paul Bridgeman produces exceptional chardonnays and pinots in this dramatic corner of the Yarra Valley and a meal in Levantine’s Signature Restaurant is incomplete without them.
You have two set menu options — five ($135) or eight ($195) courses (plus matched wines) — and the domes and plinths that defined last years’ degustation have been replaced by stylish ceramics more suited to Teage Ezard’s increasingly Japanese-style fare.
At these prices, and they’re right up there in the valley, we’d also like to see a return to the sharp, well-informed service we encountered previously. Levantine has much going for it, not least its incredible wines, but the whole package needs revitalising.
EZARD AT LEVANTINE HILL
882 Maroondah Hwy, Coldstream
5962 1333
M ust-eat dish: Kingfish, yuzu, edamame, pickled kohlrabi
Cuisine: Modern Australian
Chef: Teage Ezard and Karl Wulf
Price: $$$$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Wed-Mon; dinner Sat
Instagram: @levantinehill
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: No
TARRAWARRA
They come for the art — displayed in a marvellous purpose built museum — and the wine, sampled in a state of the art cellar door. Now visitors to Tarrawarra Estate are embracing its restaurant again.
Handsomely refurbished, with a new chef (Mark Ebbels) making best use of the estate’s expanded kitchen garden, this superbly situated dining room is serving food worthy of winemaker Clare Halloran’s celebrated pinot noir and chardonnay.
Ebbels’ winter menu impressed with its high colour, big flavours and emphasis on vegetables.
Service could be tighter — on a freezing afternoon, staff seemed oblivious to the restaurant’s waning log fire — and techno music struck us as inappropriate for a largely 40 plus crowd. But make no mistake, Tarrawarra Estate is worth exploring.
TARRAWARRA
311 Healesville-Yarra Glen Rd, Yarra Glen
03 5957 3510
Must eat dish: Rare kangaroo, broccoli, celeriac
Cuisine: Contemporary
Chef: Mark Ebbels
Price: $$
Bookings: Yes
Open: Lunch Tues-Sun
Instagram: @_TarraWarra_
BYO: No
Licensed: Yes
Separate bar: Yes — cellar door
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