Yarra Valley is an amazing region within the State of Victoria in Australia, and planning a regional tour of this region, would simply add charm, finesse, charisma, colour, spice and diversity into your total experience of Australia, aside from just visiting the familiar city of Melbourne. Less than an hour's drive from Melbourne, the Yarra Valley will have you feeling a world away, offering quality local food and wine, breathtaking scenery, romantic hideaways and indulgent adventures.
The Yarra Valley is recognised as one of the world's premier wine growing regions with over 80 sensational cellar doors, superb restaurants serving fresh regional produce, luxury accommodation and more. Recognised as one of the world's great cool climate wine producing regions, the Yarra Valley not only has a rich history of wineries but also a significant history with beer and cider production dating back to early 1800s. Along with the famous Domaine Chandon (Moet & Chandon's Australian winery), De Bortoli and Yering Station, there are many other mid-size and boutique cellar doors providing an intimate wine experience you won't find in other wine regions.
The Yarra Valley is a cool climate region with average temperatures of:
> Summer : 26.6°C > Autumn : 20.4°C > Winter : 14.1°C > Spring : 19°C
Destination Hopping - Road Trip around the Yarra Valley region
1st Stop - Yering Gorge Cottages
For our visit to the Yarra Valley, we stayed over at the amazing Yering Gorge Cottages - set in the centre and heart of Yarra Valley and Eastern golf course, where the mammals roam freely, from Eastern grey kangaroos, swamp wallabies to wombats and echidnas. Nothing beats see teams of kangaroos, up close and personal, hopping around during dusk and dawn and almost throughout the entire day, right outside our cottages across the 120 acre countryside...roaming freely in their natural habitat! Amazing!
Our coverage of the cottage stay is at this link.. https://www.rosettemedia.com/post/yering-gorge-cottages
2nd Stop - Levantine Hill
Our first stopover is the awesome winery and cellar door of Levantine Hill; it is the perfect merger of two vineyards right in the heart of the Yarra Valley. On the one side, a vineyard producing superior grapes since the 1990s. On the other, lovingly planted family blocks right alongside a truffiére surrounding our Homestead. Together, this combined estate is pure testament to the passion and toil of dedicated human hands and man’s tenuous relationship with the nurturing love of Mother Nature.
We simply adore the way they laid out the estate, the architecture, and the props which are absolutely lovely as a backdrop for social media sharing, a highlight of our visit here, aside from partaking of the wines and food at the cellar door and restaurant. Rising from the shores of the Yarra River at 75 meters and peaking at 225 meters above sea level, Levantine Hill vines thrive in looking out over steep clay loam slopes, at similar elevations to the Grand Cru vineyards of Chablis, France.
This remarkable avant-garde space was created by Fender Katsalidis Architects, the same firm that designed the Museum of New and Old Art (MONA) in Tasmania, recognised as one of Australia’s great architectural achievements. For Karl Fender, given free rein by close friends Colleen and Elias Jreissati, it was a labour of love. In Karl they knew they had someone who shared their obsessed with perfection. And he repaid their faith with a building of timeless grandeur. With glorious views of the vineyard and the Yarra Valley across a spacious Village Green, the building and grounds also feature an array of wonderful paintings and sculptures by Australian artists.
3rd Stop - Healesville Sanctuary
Our next stop is Healesville Sanctuary; we dropped by and met up with Donna and team.
Healesville Sanctuary is part of Zoos Victoria. A not-for-profit, zoo-based conservation organisation dedicated to fighting wildlife extinction. Zoos Victoria is made up of four unique properties Melbourne Zoo, Werribee Open Range Zoo, Healesville Sanctuary and Kyabram Fauna Park, as well as a wildlife conservation team that works outside our zoo walls.
Our coverage of the visit is here.. https://www.rosettemedia.com/post/healeville-sanctuary-yarra-valley-australia
4th Stop - Dominique Portet
We visited this gorgeous winery serving Bordeaux-styled variants as the day progressed - lots of tourist and gastronomic attractions to visit.. Ninth-generation winemaker Dominique Portet chose the cool climate of aptly named Coldstream in the Yarra Valley as home to the eponymous winery he founded in 2000. It was the culmination of a tenacious search for grapegrowing terroir to rival that of his native Bordeaux – but also the start of a new chapter in a winemaking story that has its roots in France in the early 1700s, and so the origins of this awesome lovely wine brand has its humble beginnings liked to the wineyards in France.
Our coverage of the winery is showcase here at this link..
5th Stop - Hubert's Estate
Finally it was time for lunch, and we headed over to Hubert's Estate. In the heart of the Yarra Valley region is this dynamic and refined F&B and Wine establishment termed Hubert Estate, that is led by by the wonderful team of Ryan Hospitality, who is responsible for creating Michelton Winery and Nagambie Brewery & Distillery. This fascinating new Estate is designed by Cera Stribley and it juxtaposes the elements of food and wine together in a cellar-door, boutique wine store, event space and restaurant (heaps of people during lunch time, from even the close-by locals and corporate crowd) along with an art gallery, and with key plans to introduce accommodation and spa-wellness treatments by 2024.
The link to this place
6th Stop - Healesville : The Shire - The Town
The Shire of Healesville was a local government area about 60 kilometres (37 mi) northeast of Melbourne, the state capital of Victoria, Australia and the main town itself is truly a charming place - quaint, calm, peaceful but has the feel of a tourist-centric town, but yet not crowded with tourists or packed with people - it's probably my fave town to visit in the world right now - truly a wonderful place for great coffee, food, shopping and art.
We visited a few of the local stores including the famous Barrique Wine Store, which cuts through the Maroodah Highway in Healesville, and had a great time speaking with the proprietor, whilst he gave me a tour of his store, and spoke with me on the festivities, culture, local-feel and personality of Healesville and the Yarra Valley and township - truly amazing! Walking around town allows me to take on the local stride and experience, and also I pondered around a souvenir-wellness shop and a spice-ingredient store nearby! The locals are so friendly and helpful! Splendid!
7th Stop - Four Pillars Gin
Next on our itinerary was the world-famous Four Pillars Gin, where we were taken on a personal tour, did tons of Gin variant tasting, and spoke with the owners and also the bartenders, they do lots of customized tours and are so friendly!
Four Pillars Gin make their famous gin in Australia; the most delicious, diverse and creative place on earth. And that’s why they get to combine intense creativity around gin with a huge passion for hospitality and gin-fuelled fun. We visited the place at the end of the road leading from the main drag from the Healesville quaint town, on Lilydale Road, and saw tourists, both domestic and international, awaiting to sample and to tour this renowned gin entity.
Our Four Pillars Gin experiential tour is captured here..
8th Stop - Chandon
Chandon was founded in 1986 in the beautiful Yarra Valley on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. Since then, they have been crafting exceptional sparkling wine drawing from the diverse richness of our lands and benefiting from the expertise of their bold and passionate winemaking community worldwide.
A visit to their winery provides an opportunity to immerse one in one of the most extensive collections of méthode traditionnelle sparkling wines in Australia, all while enjoying the breathtaking views of the surrounding Yarra Ranges. As we indulge their bubbly in one single flight of 3 bubblies, it truly immersed me in exploring their craft; one can also savour delectable dining options ranging from a chef's restaurant menu and also share plates in their lounge bar. The place was packed when I visited and I could see tons of well-heeled tourists and locals in their midst enjoying their sparklings, having some nice cheese platter and soaking in the setting afternoon sun!
9th Stop - Joey & Helen Estate
Our final and last stop for this regional trip, before heading back to Melbourne city was Joey & Helen Estate; It's a beautiful story that started in 2010 with the purchase of a 200 acre farm on Spring Lane, in the heart of the Yarra Valley. Their cellar door is open seven days a week, from 10am to 5pm, and we visited them just before they closed, and the wine manager in charge took me on lovely tasting cellar door, and introduction to their wines, store and wineyard.
Helen & Joey owners story is one of grit, determination, legacy, immigration, love of the land and a rich history of farming. To them the unicorn symbolises the softness and elegance they hope is reflected in their wines combined with the courage to have it’s own personality. Much passion, hard work and expertise has gone in to producing premium fruit across this stunning 200 acre farm that brings each visitor a cellar door brimming with unique tastes and diverse stories. As we were taken through the auspices and tasting flight, we enjoyed especially the Alicorns followed by the Wayward Childs, the Re-ems and the Inaras!
RE'EM YARRA VALLEY
Opening December 1st 2023 - Re’em will host the new Helen and Joey cellar door, as well as offering sixteen large, well-appointed suites, plus a new restaurant, with a contemporary fusion cuisine. Sixteen room boutique hotel will offer contemporary comforts and necessities fully equiped to cater for casual to long stays, business conferences, events & weddings. The Re'em Restaurant draws inspiration from southern Victorian produce and the cuisines of Helen and Joey’s birth places in China. Fusing elements of the disparate and diverse regional cuisines of Chengdu and Zhe Jiang with locally sourced seasonal produce.
Yarra Ranges Tourism acknowledges the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the lands and waters of the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges on which they live, work and play. They pay their deepest respect to Elders past, present and emerging.
More information on Yarra Valley can be retrieved at this site.. https://www.visityarravalley.com.au/contact-and-feedback
For more information on Victoria, the city of Melbourne and the surrounding regions in this lovely state, pls visit this link . https://www.visitvictoria.com/
Wishing you a beautiful and rewarding trip and holiday experience at the Yarra Valley!
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