Go Beyond the Cellar Door With These Ultimate Winery Experiences

From full bodied shiraz grown, bottled and blended in South Australia to Tasmania’s award-winning sparkling, Australia’s reputation for world-class wines is well deserved. Across every region, the country’s top cellar doors invite guests to go beyond the glass with curated experiences, from horseback rides through rolling vineyards to gourmet picnics and art experiences. 

Victoria

King Valley

A foraging and dining experience

Immerse yourself in north-east Victoria’s King Valley on a wine and food adventure at the Brown Brothers Milawa estate. Join the onsite chefs to forage for seasonal produce before embarking on a winery and history tour and enjoying a premium guided wine tasting at the cellar door. Then make your way to the hatted Brown Brothers restaurant for an exquisite customised lunch menu featuring the produce you helped harvest, expertly paired with the winery’s own exceptional wines.

For authentic Italian heritage

On the southern side of King Valley, experience an authentic sparkling Italian high tea at Pizzini Wines. Set within the cellar door and grounds, guests can indulge in the winery’s prized Italian varietal sparkling wines alongside a selection of deliciously paired seasonal sweet and savoury delights. Combining fun with a touch of decadence, the experience features local and handmade A Tavola! produce with wine-matching suggestions.  

Rutherglen

For blending your own muscat

Stanton & Killeen in north-eastern Victoria has been perfecting fortifieds since 1875, with the winery now led by the family’s seventh generation. Taste your way through the muscat classification system – from youthful expressions to the globally awarded wine titled Rare – before blending your own bottle to take home.

Mornington Peninsula

For sensory indulgence

Ninety minutes south of Melbourne at the Mornington Peninsula’s Pt. Leo Estate, you can settle in for an immersive afternoon overlooking the winery’s picturesque vineyards, Western Port Bay and Phillip Island. Savour a three-course meal with local wines at Josep Espuga’s two-hatted restaurant, Laura, followed by a wander around Australia’s largest privately owned Sculpture Park. To round off the experience, visit the cellar door for a private tasting of five Pt. Leo Estate wines of your choosing.

For flavour fresh from the vine

Lunch at Montalto doesn’t begin at the table but in the kitchen gardens, where you’ll wander past heirloom tomatoes, herbs and vines before seeing them reappear on your plate and in your glass. After sampling cool-climate pinot noir and chardonnay in the cellar door, dine on estate-grown produce and peninsula-sourced ingredients in a seasonal set menu at The Restaurant.

For wellness and wine

Discover the best of the Mornington Peninsula with Ten Minutes by Tractor’s Tranquility & Terroir experience. Your journey begins with a soothing soak in Alba Thermal Springs’ mineral-rich pools before a visit to the winery’s cellar door near Red Hill for a private wine tasting that showcases three distinct terroirs – red volcanic soil, grey sandy loam and yellow clay – and lunch at the award-winning restaurant.

Yarra Valley

For bubbles and brunch

At CHANDON (pictured), méthode traditionnelle is reinvented with cool-climate Australian fruit. Toast the rolling Yarra ranges with a mimosa and brunch on a spread of smoked salmon, potato rosti and orange-almond cake, before trying your hand at blending Chandon’s Vintage Brut in the Riddling Hall, guided by an expert.

New South Wales

Hunter Valley

For a picnic among the vines

Perched on a hilltop with panoramic 360-degree views over the Hunter Valley, Audrey Wilkinson has welcomed visitors to its picturesque location since the late 1800s. After a wander through the onsite museum and a guided wine-tasting session, collect a hamper and handpicked bottle and slip away to a secluded spot for their Picnic Among the Vines Experience. Or, for extra romance, upgrade to a pre-set picnic styled with flowers and a winemaker-signed bottle.

Orange

For fly fishing and fine dining

At Printhie, four generations of the Swift family have braved altitude and frost to craft crisp sparklings and fine-boned reds. Swap the cellar door for the property’s lake and develop your angling skills with a private fly-fishing lesson before making your way to the winery’s onsite restaurant for a four-course degustation. Don’t miss Sydney Rock Oysters (pictured), shucked to order from Printhie’s own oyster tank, where Clyde River water keeps them tasting as fresh as the day they were harvested.

For intimate winemaker walks

Pinot noir is the calling card of Swinging Bridge winemaker, owner and vigneron Tom Ward, who makes the most of Orange’s cool climate 900 metres above sea level on the Belubula River. On the Immerse with Swinging Bridge private tour, Ward shares an intimate view of the region as you wander through Single Vineyard sites before making your way to Hill Park Vineyard for a leisurely five-course degustation lunch at the cellar door. Sip on rare and highly prized Swinging Bridge wines as you take in the expansive views of the Gaanha-bula (Mount Canobolas) range.

South Australia

Adelaide Hills

For riding horseback through the vines

Before you taste Petaluma’s distinguished wines, see the vines and rolling Adelaide Hills from saddleback on a guided ride with an expert equestrian from neighbouring Hallmark Farm, owned by Olympic equestrian Megan Jones. Back at the cellar door, settle in for a private tasting of Petaluma wines and Croser Vintage, together with a platter of savoury-sweet treats, by the fire or on the deck.

For historical grandeur

For shiraz devotees, a visit to the Penfolds cellar door is a rite of passage. At Magill Estate – birthplace of the iconic Grange Hermitage release – step inside the original stone cottage and underground drives where Grange creator, Max Schubert AM, once hid his experimental vintages. Afterwards you’ll have the chance to taste more of Penfolds’ signature wines during a three-course lunch at Magill Estate Kitchen.

Barossa Valley

For a twist on tradition

Whisky, rum and even tequila barrels give Jacob’s Creek Double Barrel wines their distinctive edge. Discover how the finishing and sealing of spirit casks reshape classic red wines during a vineyard tour and tasting, before sitting down to Harvest Kitchen’s “Feed Me Like a Barossan” menu, where dishes such as mulloway ceviche are brightened with finger limes from the estate’s garden.

For a chef’s table overlooking the vines

In the heart of the Barossa, St Hugo’s Garden to Table experience invites guests to get hands-on with produce. You’ll begin with a glass of sparkling wine before stepping into the estate’s kitchen garden to pick and taste seasonal herbs and vegetables with St Hugo’s chef before settling into the onsite two-hatted restaurant. From your front-row seat at the open kitchen, you’ll watch the chefs transform your harvest into a refined lunch where each course is paired with a glass of St Hugo’s signature cabernet and shiraz, hand-picked by the team’s cellar masters.

For a century in a glass

The Centennial Cellar at Seppeltsfield holds the world’s longest unbroken line of single-vintage wines, dating back to 1878. During the Centennial Cellar Experience, you’ll step inside the historic Seppelt Family Homestead before tasting the 100-Year-Old Para Vintage Tawny – a once-in-a-lifetime sip that has aged in oak through a century of summers and winters.

For heritage in every barrel

At Yalumba, the 170-year history of the country’s oldest family-owned winery is best embodied by the working Cooperage – one of the last of its kind – where the oak barrels for fermenting wine are still made by hand. Kicking off in the property’s Yalumba Wine Room, on the Signature Tour you’ll learn the estate’s winemaking history and be guided through a tasting session – featuring back-vintages, current iterations and even yet-to-be-released blends – of cabernet shiraz before exploring Yalumba’s private museum cellar and unwinding with lunch. 

Clare Valley

For sustainability in every sip

At Taylors, sustainability isn’t a buzzword but a guiding principle – from solar power and water conservation to vineyard practices that protect biodiversity along the Wakefield River. The Trail of Taste and Time experience weaves these commitments into a guided journey through the family’s past and future, beginning with cheese and wine in the original St Andrews winery and concluding with a seasonal lunch paired to Taylors’ premium releases.

McLaren Vale

For a surreal spectacle

With its giant glass Rubik’s Cube (pictured) rising above the vines, d’Arenberg is part winery, part surrealist playground. Begin with a botanically led gin flight tasting and leisurely lunch, then walk among the 25 authentic Salvador Dalí sculptures on display or head to the Alternate Realities Museum. Wrap up your visit with The Dead Arm Shiraz vertical while taking in 360-degree views overlooking picturesque McLaren Vale.

For heightening the senses

At Hardys Tintara, you can discover 170 years of McLaren Vale heritage through new eyes – at least figuratively. While blindfolded in the estate’s private cellars, you'll swirl, sniff and sip in complete darkness, learning how removing sight transforms your taste receptors and unlocks hidden depths in the winery’s expressive shiraz and cabernet.

Tasmania

For art and anarchy

Skim across the Derwent River on a fast ferry ride to Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art – MONA, where subterranean galleries rewire what a day at a winery looks like. After making your way through the eclectic exhibitions, you can descend to Moorilla’s underground cellar for a guided tasting of cool-climate wines.

For sparkling in wild company

At House of Arras (pictured), a 40-minute drive north of Launceston, start with a private tasting of prestige cuvées, then wander the Pipers River vineyard and wetlands that give rise to Australia’s most awarded sparkling wines. Equipped with headlamps and binoculars, you might spot eagles, wombats and even platypuses while traipsing through the grounds – a rare pairing with méthode traditionnelle.

For oysters with a view

It doesn’t get any more Tasmanian than shucking oysters from the back of a ute, two hours north of Hobart, with a glass of Resolution Riesling in hand as you gaze across Moulting Lagoon on the island’s east coast. Back at The Devil’s Den – the subterranean cellar door of Devil’s Corner winery – you’ll be further spoiled with more seafood and a guided wine-tasting session. 

For blending your own bubbles

After leaving Europe in 1950, Josef Chromy landed in Tasmania and built one of the country’s most celebrated wine estates. Today, his legacy lives on through the house’s sparkling wines and now you can learn the art of balancing sweetness with acidity as you craft your own cuvée, before sitting down to a two-course hatted lunch.

Western Australia

Margaret River

For art in every glass

Leeuwin Estate is as much a cultural landmark as it is a winery. The cellar door houses a 150-strong private gallery of works by artists including John Olsen and Sir Sidney Nolan, many of which grace the labels of the winery’s signature Art Series wines. A guided tour through the collection leads into a tutored tasting, before you take a seat in the award-winning restaurant for a seven-course menu of seasonal West Australian plates, each paired to an Art Series release.

For founding legacy

Margaret River’s Vasse Felix is where the Western Australian region’s winemaking reputation originated – and the founding winery’s striking landscape is just as commanding. Walk a short stretch of the 130-kilometre Cape-to-Cape track past granite boulders and limestone cliffs before stepping into the normally off-limits Valley Block to sip cabernet among the vines, before settling into a five-course lunch with matched wines at the award-winning onsite restaurant.

For organic elegance

At Voyager Estate (pictured), sustainability permeates everything – from certified-organic vineyards shaped by Margaret River’s maritime climate to seasonal menus featuring garden produce. On the Discover Voyager experience, you’ll walk among the vines to learn about organic practices, taste straight from the barrel in the winery, and descend into the vaulted underground cellar. Afterwards, linger over a long lunch, which could include Wagin duck and Shark Bay scallops.

Swan Valley

For bush tucker

Raise a glass of sparkling wine in Mandoon Estate’s Maalinup Gallery, where your journey into Noongar food culture begins with Elder Dale Tilbrook. With wit and warmth, she will share stories of Country as you sample native botanicals including wattleseed and quandong – before returning to the cellar door for lush chenin blanc and an Indigenous tasting platter.

Queensland

For hidden heights

Perched on Queensland’s Mount Cotton, a 40-minute drive south of Brisbane, Sirromet (pictured) transforms high-altitude fruit grown on the Granite Belt into award-winning wines in styles that span wild-yeast Le Sauvage chardonnays to LM Assemblage red blends. Take a guided walk from barrel hall to tasting room – then retreat to the property’s upscale Winemaker’s cottage to wake up to magical views of the property.