Yarra Valley wine and food tours pour wine at the cellar doors and put chocolate, cheese, fruit or gin tastings in the same fare. They are the most varied way to spend a day in the valley, and the shared ones carry the lowest fares.
The lowest fare for a guided valley day: fruit at a strawberry farm, St Huberts and Tokar Estate, then a guided chocolate tasting. Lunch is bought at Rochford Wines, and a host-driver takes you from Federation Square.
From $70 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Fruit and jam at a farm gate, tastings at Yering Station and Yering Farm, and up to 12 chocolates at the Chocolaterie. You buy lunch at Hubert Estate, and children from four can come along.
From $84 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Wine at Soumah, St Huberts and Balgownie Estate, beer and chocolate in the fare, and 75 minutes for lunch at Hubert Estate or Chandon. It leaves the Ian Potter Centre on Flinders Street at 9:00 sharp.
From $91 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two wineries, a gin paddle at Four Pillars in Healesville and a private tasting of 10 to 12 chocolates. Lunch at the winery restaurant runs about A$25 to A$35, and the bus leaves Spring Street at 9:00.
From $92 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Collected from a central Melbourne hotel, you taste wine at Rochford, cheese at Coldstream Dairy, and gin with wood-fired pizza at Stag Lane Distillery. An hour in Healesville and an hour at the Chocolaterie follow.
From $133 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Sparkling wine at Chandon, cheese, a Yering Station tasting and an hour at the Chocolaterie, starting at 11:30. It ends with an hour at a kangaroo spot at sunset, and children from three are welcome.
From $138 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Your group alone, from two to ten, collected at 9:30. A sparkling brunch at Chandon with oysters comes first, then cheese at Yarra Valley Dairy, three wineries and a gin paddle at Four Pillars.
From $493 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours on the rail trail, then a vineyard tasting with wood-fired pizza, Soumah, Yarra Valley Dairy and Yering Station. Eight riders at most, meeting at Woori Yallock at 10:00 or collected from Lilydale station.
From $253 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Soumah, St Huberts and Balgownie Estate, with beer and chocolate tastings in the fare, from the Ian Potter Centre at 9:00.
Check availabilityIt is a valley day where the wine shares the table. Between the cellar doors you taste chocolate, fruit, cheese, gin or beer, and those tastings are in the fare. A wine-only tour spends the same hours at three or four wineries instead.
These days are also the cheapest way to see the valley with a guide. The shared tours cost $70 to $138 per person. Most of them leave lunch out of the fare, so you choose where and what you eat. The bike tour costs $253 with lunch in the price, and the private day costs $493 per person.
Most of these days stop at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie in Yarra Glen, where a tasting is part of the fare. Others add fruit and jam at a farm gate, cheese at a dairy, or a gin paddle. You taste more kinds of thing in one day, and you drink a little less.
Not everyone in your party has to love Pinot Noir. A friend who does not drink still gets chocolate, cheese and coffee from the fare. Several of these tours take children: from 3 on the 11:30 Chandon tour, from 4 on the chocolate and gin day, from 6 and 7 on two others.
With lunch left out, the shared tours start at $70. The lunch days start at $126. If you eat lightly, or you would rather pick your own table, you keep the difference.
Four Pillars in Healesville pours a gin paddle on the wine, cider, gin and chocolate tour, and the grazing tour pairs gin with pizza at Stag Lane Distillery. On most other days, gin is an extra you pay for on the day.
Here is what each fare puts on the table besides wine, set against the wine-focused days. Fares are per person and move with the date you choose.
| Tour | Tasted besides wine | Lunch | Group | Fare |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Food, wine and chocolate tour | Fruit, chocolate | Bought at Rochford | Not listed | $70 |
| Wine, chocolate and gin tour | Fruit and jam, up to 12 chocolates | Bought at Hubert Estate | Not listed | $84 |
| Wine, gin, whisky and chocolate tour | Beer, chocolate | Bought at Hubert Estate or Chandon | Not listed | $91 |
| Wine, cider, gin and chocolate tour | Gin paddle, 10 to 12 chocolates | About A$25 to A$35 at a winery | Up to 22 | $92 |
| Grazing tour with hotel pickup | Cheese, gin with pizza, chocolate | Pizza with the gin | Up to 24 | $133 |
| Chandon and kangaroo tour | Cheese, chocolate | Bought at Chandon | Up to 11 | $138 |
| Wine-only: four wineries with lunch | None | In the fare | Up to 24 | $134 |
| Wine-only: half day, three wineries | None | Not in the fare | Up to 15 | $90 |
If you taste wine seriously and want four cellar doors, choose a wine-only day. If you want a varied day at a lower fare, choose one of the food days above it.
A gin paddle at Four Pillars, a private tasting of 10 to 12 chocolates and two wineries, leaving Spring Street at 9:00.
Check availabilityStill choosing between chocolate and a four-winery lunch? Compare every fare on Yarra Valley Tours.