Victorian Cellar Doors Where You Can Spend an Entire Afternoon Drinking Wine

Recently revamped Mornington Peninsula institution Montalto (that’s been hatted 16 times, no less) has reopened, sporting a new celebratory lunch offering by acclaimed chef Matt Wilkinson. Its main restaurant now has a renewed emphasis on sharing plates with friends, enjoying long conversations and soaking up dreamy rural views.

Available Saturdays and Sundays, Wilkinson’s ever-changing menu will showcase locally-sourced ingredients and plenty of Mornington Peninsula seafood, alongside a bounty of delights from the Montalto Estate gardens. Book a table and settle in over the likes of mussels escabeche, beef tartare with horseradish doughnuts, and fire-roasted zucchini matched with dukkah and ajo blanco. Overall, the space has a relaxed, open feel, making the most of Montalto Estate panoramas, dotted with vines, olive groves and sculptures.

And if you’re in the mood for some al fresco vibes, you can slide into one of the tables at the Piazza Cafe, where it’s all about the Mediterranean-style ‘feed me’ menu served up in the leafy courtyard. The venue hosts various sittings every Friday through Monday, while the cellar door is open daily from 11am–5pm.

Images: Karon Photography. 

It’s not every day that you get to sample drops worth 95-plus points in the eyes of premier Australian wine critic James Halliday. But if you venture to Seville Estate in the upper Yarra Valley, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing. Hidden away in the Dandenong foothills, this dreamy spot — which Mr Halliday has consistently awarded five stars — is ideal for an afternoon of top-notch wine and food.

You can now book a table in one of the various indoor and outdoor settings, for a tasting, a feed, or both. Here, you’ll enjoy gazing at idyllic vineyards, backdropped by Mt Donna Buang’s mighty summit while swirling and sipping your way through the entire collection, made exclusively from the Estate’s 26 acres of grapes. Two of the 2017 drops scored a whopping 99 points in the James Halliday Wine Companion 2019, taking home best shiraz and best pinot noir. But they’re far from the only varietals you’ll be tasting — gear up for killer riesling, cabernet sauvignon and chardonnay, too.

Re-landscaping has given the gardens a new edge and there’s now a stunning restaurant with an unbeatable view, open for lunch Friday to Monday, and both lunch and dinner on Saturday. If you’re keen to hang around all weekend, why not stay over? You can choose between the original four-bedroom homestead, built in 1975 by Seville’s original owners Dr Peter McMahon and his wife, Margaret, and three self-contained apartments.

A sunny afternoon spent hanging out in a historic garden, smashing bubbly and playing petanque — it sounds like something out of some European holiday, but it’s a situation you can find under an hour away from Melbourne.

Cleveland Winery’s lush green grounds are located in Lancefield, boasting views of the vineyard and the Macedon Ranges. On warm days you can eat and drink out on the deck, or head indoors to the Carriage House Restaurant, which doles out breakfast daily, dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, and woodfired pizza on weekend afternoons. While there, make sure you head down to the winery’s famous underground cellar door to sample some of its legendary shiraz, chardonnay and sparkling pinot noir. The subterranean space is open every weekend, plus weekdays by appointment.

Yarra Valley winemaker Innocent Bystander may be located in the heart of Healesville, but it holds its own amongst the region’s many culinary hot-spots and cellar doors. The bar and restaurant showcases the label’s own award-winning drops alongside a smorgasbord of other local Yarra Valley delights.

It’s a lofty, relaxed space, with lots of natural timber and a plethora of seating options both inside and out, lending itself to wine-tasting fly-bys and long, lazy lunches alike. A whopping, 15-metre-long stone bar boasts copper wine taps and a KeyKeg system, which means you can sample most varietals by the glass, by the share-friendly carafe or as part of a tasting paddle. There’s plenty of local love on display, too, with liquid treats from the likes of Hargreaves Hill Brewery, Four Pillars Gin and Allpress Coffee balancing out all that wine. Meanwhile, an all-day menu is geared for sharing, running from grazing boards and paella dishes, to classically styled pizzas, fresh from the shiny Marana Forni pizza oven.

Arguably one of the Yarra Valley’s best-known wineries, Rochford boasts a stunning lakeside cellar door, and not one, but two top-notch restaurants. The rolling green expanse of the property is pretty much heaven for greenery-seeking humans and their pups (the winery is dog friendly).

If you visit during the harvest season earlier in the year, you can go on a guided tour of the vineyard, sampling the as-yet unharvested grapes fresh off the vines. Otherwise, head straight to the cellar door where you can sample the vintages before settling on your take-home bottle of choice. Or, settle in for some good old-fashioned feasting. First, there’s the relaxed surrounds of Isabella’s Restaurant, which is open daily, serving a menu of Italian classics and main plates like the roasted pork belly with rhubarb and mustard. Alternatively, wrap yourself in the equally Italian embrace of newcomer Il Vigneto, where you’ll find antipasti bites, signature pasta dishes, and pizza combinations like the Diavola’s hot sopressa, ricotta and pickled chilli.

Each venue has set menu options if you’d prefer to do away with the decision-making, and you’ll find no shortage of expert wine-matching advice to help round out your meal.

Gracing 134 hectares at the Peninsula’s southern tip, this multifaceted family-owned property boasts a 110-seat restaurant, an enormous cellar door and a sprawling sculpture park — the most significant of its kind in the country. With panoramic Western Port Bay views as the backdrop, the sculpture park debuted with over 50 large-scale works from both Australian and international artists and is set to evolve and grow over the years.

Meanwhile, the semi-circular cellar door is the work of acclaimed Melbourne architects Jolson, taking pride of place at the property’s highest point and featuring sweeping vistas across the vineyard, the sculpture park and the Bay. Choose to eat at the more casual Pt Leo Restaurant or go all out with a degustation at the acclaimed fine diner Laura, once it’s reopened its doors. It was our best new restaurant of 2018, after all. Both have serious pedigree, with menus created by Culinary Director Phil Wood (ex-Rockpool and Eleven Bridge). Post-lockdown, there’s also an additional outdoor dining offering, where you can unwind over a two- or three-course feast starring both familiar and brand-new dishes. Matched with some of the winery’s celebrated chardonnay, pinot gris and shiraz, of course.

As the apple belt of Australia, Goulburn Valley may have a place in your heart for providing all that thirst-quenching apple juicy goodness, but it’s also one of the region’s prettiest winery destinations. That’s largely due to Mitchelton Wines, a winery that’s now also home to a $16 million luxury boutique hotel, inviting you to indulge in that second glass and stay overnight. It’s all nestled in a crook of the Goulburn River and surrounded by acres of fertile grape land that produces top-notch shiraz, chardonnay and marsanne.

You can taste them at the cellar door or, if you have more time, over lunch at on-site restaurant, The Muse. The menu here showcases both produce and wines from the Nagambie area, pouring both house drops and the best from across the region. The restaurant opens at 8am for breakfast, and the cellar door opens at 10am. The hotel and adjoining spa was designed by the good folk at Hecker Guthrie and they’ve gone hard on the natural textures — expect a lot of divine linen and exposed timber — and tied it all together with a dark, muted colour palette. With an in-room selection of the vineyard’s finest drops, you may never want to leave your suite but you definitely should to take a stroll through the stunning grounds.

Known as one of Australia’s prosecco pioneers, the King Valley’s Dal Zotto Wines is a full family-run affair spanning the ages. First opened by Otto and Elena Dal Zotto in 1987, the winery and attached trattoria are now run by the second generation of Dal Zottos.

Focused on Italian grape varietals, the winery has a distinctly European feel, with the trattoria dishing up fresh pasta and Italian classics crafted from ingredients grown in the kitchen garden, maintained by Nonna Elena herself. Dogs are welcome to make themselves at home in the sunny outdoor spaces, so book a table on the lawn and settle in for a wine-matched pizza feast while your pup explores. Meanwhile, the cellar door runs 45-minute tastings every hour, with bookings essential. Oh, and since Dal Zotto was the first in the region to make prosecco, you’d better do yourself a favour and enjoy at least one of the several bubbly options available.