Melbourne is a great place if you like wine.
There is a multitude of places to drink wine (eg Jimmy Watsons in Carlton) , top wine shops (eg Prince Wine Store in South Melbourne) and the wine regions of the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Sunbury are all within 70 Minutes by car. Many others such as Nagambie lakes and Heathcote is less than 2 hours. These are European distances, not Australian.
The Yarra Valley has recently been hit by some bad vintages as a result of either bush fires, drought or frosts, making the wine maker’s job challenging. 2010 was an exception. For most of us this makes no difference, as it is home to some excellent wineries and good wineries tend to defy bad vintages. This week I visited a few of them.
As with any visit to a wine region, you can really only aim to see 4-5 places at the most in one day. In that case, planning is essential.
I picked out 5 places I wanted to visit: Oakridge/Over the Shoulder, Coldstream Hills, Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander, Tarrawarra and De Bortoli.
As a quick summary:
– The Yarra Valley is famous for great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir (the typical grapes of Burgundy, France) but has some excellent, distinct, cool climate Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon. The quality is generally excellent and the cellar doors are visitor friendly but not as tourist driven as the Hunter Valley.
– Oakridge was on a big estate with a typical winery restaurant, friendly knowledgeable staff and cellar door deals all over the place. Nice place but nothing extraordinary. They probably had the best wines in my general price (below $35) range of the whole day. They insisted I try their Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon 2008…and it was well worth it. You see their Over the Shoulder wines everywhere, and they are widely recognised as excellent value for around $16-$17.
– Coldstream Hills was empty on the Tuesday but the woman at the cellar door was very friendly and made the impression of knowing every nook and cranny of the place. Great view from the hill and some excellent wines at good prices.They do have some wines you don’t normally see so it is worth the visit, even just to see what James Halliday saw in the place almost 30 years ago.
She recommended going to the neighbouring Yarra Yering…”you can’t leave without visiting them”.
– Yarra Yering…amazing.
So far from the commercial cellar doors we all know, this is old school Euro style. When I got there they called up the guy from the cellar to take me through the wines. They charge a tasting fee of $5 (redeemable on purchase), but with the quality of the wines and information given, it is the best deal ever. 
They are very boutique and wine nerds will already know that they have no “entry-level”, ie cheap, wines. The least expensive I tried was a Chardonnay for $78. I was taken through a good 8 wines of theirs, each with its own distinct qualities/personality and including the iconic “Dry Red 1” and “Dry Red 2” wines. The guy insisted on me not leaving until I had tried them all.
The “underhill shiraz” was one of the most distinct wines I have ever tasted,,,it smelt like beetroot and cabbage, in a good way, but then came through with the savoury peppery blackberry of cool climate Shiraz. I had to be assured that it was in fact Shiraz.
With classical music playing, the austere old Victorian interior and the pricey wines, this is for a serious wine experience. Definitely NOT for anybody who just wants to go out for a day on the booze with mates or with the family.
That would be at:
– Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander
This places in the middle of Healesville is like a winery tour groups theme park. Winery tours, young, cool, international, pizzeria,cheese-making, on-site bakery, micro-brewery, a whole glass wall looking into the new age “gravity driven” cellar (they only transfer the wine by gravity…ie they tip it in by crane at the top and let it flow down instead of pumping) and and and. It is very cool and must be out of control on weekends. 
All in all, Giant Steps/Innocent Bystander is a great place to visit with friends and family. They do winery tours twice daily at 11pm and 3pm and have some trendy brochures about their products and program.
– Getting late, I didn’t make it to Tarrawarra, around the corner, nor to De Bortoli on the other side of the valley.
But that list could go on and on: Seville Estate, Yering Station, Punt Road, Train Trak, Balgownie estate, Rochford, Coombe, ahh yes.
But I guess the best part of trips like these are to discover things for yourself anyway, asking for tips at the cellar door, speaking to others.
Best Wines: Yarra Yering
Best Wines with normal prices: Oakridge
Coolest Cellar Door: Giant Steps
Friendliest Cellar Door: Coldstream Hills
- WINEDUCATION - 