If you were a wine lover who happened to be in Melbourne, a private winery tour to the Mornington Peninsula or Yarra Valley wine regions presents a boozy chance. Of course, moderation remains the best discipline so you enjoy the flavour and fragrance of Victoria’s premier wines.
Victoria has been producing the best wines for nearly two centuries.
Yarra Valley, where the first winery emerged, continued to be Australia’s number one provider of world-class wines. Then, there’s Mornington Peninsula.
Mornington Peninsula’s wines
Located a little over 40 kilometres southeast of Melbourne, Mornington Peninsula has specialised in producing Pinot Noir. But the region also has other varieties including Chardonnay, Tempranillo, and Pinot Gris.
The quality of Mornington’s Pinot Noir competes with the best in the region, and remains as one of the top low-tannin red wines made from one hundred percent grapes.
Mornington’s Chardonnay ranges from light to medium-bodied white wine, revealing a complex blend of style and tropical fruit flavour. Its Pinot Gris, a dry semi-sweet or sweet white wine variety, has light citrus and melon flavour with mild floral fragrant, ranging from tangy and light to spicy full-bodied.
The region’s Tempranillo shines as one of the best in its variety, a full-bodied Spanish style red wine from a black grape variety exhibiting plum, vanilla, tobacco, herb, leather, and strawberry flavours.
Yarra Valley’s wines
An hour of scenic drive from Melbourne, Yarra Valley is the cradle of Victoria’s wine industry. It boasts of a 170-year history. The region’s soil composition combined with cool temperature made it an ideal place for growing the vines that produce top-notch wines.
Classic wines
Yarra Valley has been making classic wine varieties.
Its Cabernet Sauvignon is a complex blend of Cabernet Franc and Merlot. The result is a dry medium-bodied to full-bodied wine with silky tannins, fruity and spicy black pepper flavour, and floral aroma.
Chardonnay also thrives in the region’s cool climate. The light to medium-bodied white wine displays a fruity flavour of melon, white peach, and fig.
The Pinot Noir stays around as Yarra Valley’s premier variety. It has a wide range from light to medium-bodied red wine. The variety expresses a blend of fruity plum, strawberry, and cherry flavour with floral and herb fragrant taste.
Mixed with Viognier to give it a certain aroma and texture, Shiraz is on the rise in Yarra Valley. Smaller wineries prefer the label Syrah though.
Other varieties
New varieties are also coming out of the cellar doors of the Yarra Valley.
Gamay is a light-bodied red wine with a fruity flavour and aroma of strawberries, raspberries, lilacs and violets, similar to Pinot Noir.
Nebbiolo is a red wine from the mountains of the northern Italian region of Piedmont. It is considered one of the best in the region. A light red wine with a high tannin content, with aromas of tar and rose, Nebbiolo requires many years of aging. Aging in oak barrels reveals aromas of raspberries, cherries, wild herbs, violets, truffles, tar, tobacco and prunes.
The Yarra Valley also produces Arneis, which expresses a crisp and floral aroma in a dry to full-bodied white wine with pear and apricot flavours. Then there is Grüner Veltliner, a dry white wine suitable for drinking, with a spicy flavour of green pepper, citrus, peach, lime, and tobacco.
Wildlife Tours Australia offers wine tour packages to Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley.
Book our one-day Mornington Peninsula wine tour for $125 (without lunch) or $145 (with lunch) today. The tour includes a visit to two wineries known for quality and excellent service, a cider house, a strawberry farm, a rustic dairy farm, a chocolate factory. There’s also a chance to view the great coastal vistas of the peninsula including the iconic seaside beach boxes.
For our one-day Yarra Valley wine tour, the price starts at $115 (without lunch). You can also opt to upgrade to $135 winery lunch included. The tour includes a visit to two wineries, a cider ale house, a gourmet farm, and a chocolate factory.
Touring around Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley for the cool and temperate wines of Victoria would be a memorable and fascinating experience with tipsy twists and woozy turns.
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