Driving into the Yarra Valley, we were blown away by the views of the beautiful green valleys and rows and rows of vines. It’s hard to go wrong when you are visiting a wine region, but this area took our breath away. Being only an hour from Melbourne, it’s easy to access and a perfect place to spend a weekend.
We had the most perfect AirBnB. It was a cozy little cottage with a fireplace, two comfortable bedrooms and more beautiful birds than you could imagine. The bird feeders outside the kitchen window consumed most of our time at the house.
Where to Taste Wines
If you’ve visited any wine regions around the world in the recent years, you may have heard some say that there are international investors buying up a lot of the vineyards. There is a difference between a local family run place and a spot that is owned by someone outside of the region.
Morgan Vineyards – This wonderful family owned place has two small dogs that may greet you if you’re lucky. On top of having a huge variety of amazing wine, they also have some amazing cheese plates. Make sure you get one that has their homemade quince paste. We couldn’t leave without taking some with us to go.
Brumfield Winery (plus SLAQ Brewery) – This small vineyard is a husband and wife operation. They hung out with us and talked us through their history. The husband found an amazing way to use the grapes that aren’t quite good enough to go in their wine (most places toss them). He makes a special bubbly wine spritzer and we bought some for our wedding anniversary celebration. Their daughter also brews beer and they have it available there. A little bit for everyone.
Payne’s Rise Wines – The views at this place were my favorites. It sits a little higher on the hill so you can see more of the valley while tasting wines. It’s also unique because it has buildings dating from the 1800’s on the property.
Whispering Hills Vineyard – This was our last stop of the day and we were lucky enough to get to meet the two owners of this property as well. Their Cabernet Sauvignon was one of our favorites. The tasting area is small, but we just ordered glasses and chatted with her for a while. We were the only visitors that afternoon, so it was extra special.
All four of these are pretty close together and not far from our AirBnB. The tastings are either free or have a small fee (waived when you buy a bottle). We ended up taking a few with us to last us the rest of our trip with mom.
While in Town…
Maybe you like a little variety on your getaways and need something to do other than just drink wine. The Healesville Sanctuary was a great place to spend a few hours in the Yarra Valley. We learned so much about the different animals in Australia and the amazing conservation efforts for some of their threatened species. The animals here can only be seen here, so it’s pretty cool to take a few hours to really learn about these special creatures. Our favorites were the Wombats and the Tasmanian devils.
There is also a great restaurant (that also makes wine) called the Giant Steps. The food was amazing and the interior is gorgeous. It’s located near the sanctuary and would be a great spot for an early dinner.
Extra Details
Here is the link for the AirBnB we used. Remember, if you are new to AirBnB, sign up using this link to get a discount on your first booking.
We used Apex Car Rental company and we LOVE them. They are located a little further away from airports, but provide a free shuttle and you will pay a fraction of the other car companies usually. Check them out here.
Yarra Valley was one of the areas featured in this book and we visited one of the vineyards. If you know someone visiting this region (or just interested in drinking wine on vacation), this book would make a great gift.
Are you thirsty yet?
Let us know if you have any questions. We hope you have Yarra Valley on your list to visit if you’re a wine fan. You can see all of our Australia posts here if you’re planning a trip to the land down under.
