Yarra Valley Wineries: The Cellar Doors the Tours Pour At
The valley has over eighty wineries, and a day tour reaches three to five of them. Comparing each winery tour Yarra Valley? Look at where it pours before you look at the price.
The cellar doors a tour actually pours at
Most tours return to the same short list of estates. Soumah, Yering Station and Chandon appear most often. Balgownie Estate is where the two four-winery lunch days eat. Helen & Joey and Payten & Jones belong to the half-day route, and Coldstream's estates fill out the full days.
A cellar door is the tasting room of a winery. You stand or sit at a bar and the staff pour a flight of small tastes. On a tour the tasting is arranged for you; on your own you walk in, or you book ahead where the winery asks you to.
| Cellar door | Address | Open |
|---|---|---|
| Yering Station | Yering | 10am–5pm daily |
| Chandon | 727 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream | 11am–4:30pm daily; closed 25 and 26 December |
| Soumah | 18 Hexham Road, Gruyere | 10am–5pm, seven days |
| Helen & Joey Estate | 12-14 Spring Lane, Gruyere | 10am–5pm, seven days |
| Tokar Estate | 6 Maddens Lane, Coldstream | 10:30am–4pm Mon–Fri; 10am–5pm weekends |
| Greenstone Vineyards | Yarra Valley | 10am–5pm, Thursday to Monday |
Yering Station, Victoria's first vineyard
The Scottish-born Ryrie brothers planted Victoria's first vineyard at Yering Station in 1838. Paul de Castella bought the property in 1850 and built the Old Winery in 1859. It won the Argus Gold Cup in 1861 and a Grand Prix at the Paris World Exhibition in 1889. The Rathbone family has owned it since 1996.
You taste inside the Old Winery, which is now the historic cellar door. The chocolate and gin day, the two-course lunch day and the Chandon and kangaroo tour stop here for 50 minutes to an hour. The bike tour ends its day here.
Chandon and the sparkling wine of Coldstream
Chandon was founded in the Yarra Valley in 1986, on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. Its cellar door stands at 727 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream. It opens at 11am, later than most of the valley, and closes at 4:30pm. It shuts on 25 and 26 December.
Chandon makes sparkling wine, and that is what you taste. It does not publish a tasting price, so ask at the bar. The Chandon and kangaroo tour builds its 11:30 start around the late opening. Two full days offer it as a lunch stop, and the private day holds a sparkling brunch here.
Soumah and the Italian grapes of Gruyere
Soumah is a family-owned winery at 18 Hexham Road, Gruyere, under the Warramate Hills. It pours seven days a week from 10am to 5pm, ten minutes from Healesville. Beside Chardonnay and Pinot Noir it grows northern Italian varieties: Brachetto, Nebbiolo, Marzemino, Savarro and Pinot Grigio.
Its two vineyards, Hexham and Upper Ngumby, sit 90 to 150 metres above the valley floor. Lunch is at its restaurant, Ai Fiori Trattoria. More tours stop at Soumah than at any other estate, from a 30-minute pour on the bike day to a two-hour lunch on the redwoods tour.
The half-day estates: Helen & Joey and Payten & Jones
Helen & Joey Estate: 12-14 Spring Lane, Gruyere. The cellar door opens seven days, 10am to 5pm. Its restaurant, Re'em, serves contemporary Chinese Australian food at lunch from Friday to Monday. There is a 16-room hotel among the vines.
Payten & Jones: the second stop on both half-day listings. The two-course lunch day also offers it, with a gin or beer tasting as the swap. Confirm its hours with the winery before you go on your own.
Time at each: 45 minutes on the half-day tour from the Arts Centre, or an hour on the small-group version. Both finish at Soumah.
The Coldstream and full-day estates
St Hubert's: 1-3 St Huberts Road, Coldstream. It has a long record with Cabernet Sauvignon, and pours Chardonnay and Pinot Noir too. The wine, gin, whisky and chocolate day spends an hour here.
Tokar Estate: 6 Maddens Lane, Coldstream, family owned. The cellar door opens 10:30am to 4pm on weekdays and 10am to 5pm at weekends. Tempranillo sits beside its Pinot Noir and Shiraz.
Rochford Wines: 878-880 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream. It has restaurants, a pizzeria and a gin and whisky tasting. The fruit, wine and chocolate day stops here for lunch, and a gin tasting costs extra.
Greenstone Vineyards: open Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm. It farms one vineyard in the Yarra Valley and another in Heathcote. Both four-winery lunch days start here.
Balgownie Estate: the lunch stop on the two four-winery days, for an hour or an hour and a half. Balloon flights over the valley also meet here before dawn.
Yering Farm Wines: a 45-minute to one-hour tasting on four of the full days. Check its hours with the winery if you plan to visit on your own.
The grapes: Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet
The Yarra Valley is a cool-climate region. Its vineyards run from 17 metres to 1,338 metres above sea level, and nights stay cool. That suits grapes that ripen slowly. Wine Australia and Wine Yarra Valley name the same four as the region's own:
- Chardonnay, the white you meet at almost every cellar door.
- Pinot Noir, the red the region is best known for.
- Shiraz, which Wine Yarra Valley calls Australia's best-kept secret.
- Cabernet Sauvignon, the grape St Hubert's built its name on.
Some fruit goes into sparkling wine, which is why Chandon is here. Grapes are picked from mid-February to the end of April. When that falls on your visit is covered on Yarra Valley weather.
Which tour stops at which winery
Find the winery you want, then read across to the days that stop there. Times come from each listing's own itinerary. A lunch stop may be at a second estate, so check the card before you book.
| Winery | Where | Tours that stop there, and for how long |
|---|---|---|
| Soumah | 18 Hexham Road, Gruyere | Wine, gin, whisky and chocolate day from Flinders Street (45 min) Half day, 45 minutes at each of three wineries (45 min) Small-group half day, an hour at each of three wineries (1 hour) Four-winery day with lunch, from the Immigration Museum (1 hour) Four-winery day with lunch at Balgownie Estate, CBD pickup (1 hour) Warburton redwoods, then a winery or the sanctuary (lunch and tasting on the winery option) Rail trail bike ride with a pizza lunch (30 min) |
| Yering Station | Yering; the Old Winery of 1859 | Fruit, wine, chocolate and gin day from the Arts Centre (50 min) Two-course lunch day with a gin or beer option (1 hour) Chandon, chocolate and kangaroos at dusk, 11:30 start (1 hour) Rail trail bike ride with a pizza lunch (45 min) |
| Chandon | 727 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream | Chandon, chocolate and kangaroos at dusk, 11:30 start (sparkling and lunch stop, 1 hour) Wine, gin, whisky and chocolate day from Flinders Street (lunch stop, 75 min, or Hubert Estate) Wine, cider, gin and chocolate day from Spring Street (lunch stop, 75 min, or Hubert Estate) Private day with a sparkling brunch at Chandon (sparkling brunch) |
| Balgownie Estate | Yarra Valley | Four-winery day with lunch at Balgownie Estate, CBD pickup (lunch and cellar door, 1 h 30) Four-winery day with lunch, from the Immigration Museum (lunch and tasting, 1 hour) Wine, gin, whisky and chocolate day from Flinders Street (45 min) |
| Helen & Joey Estate | 12-14 Spring Lane, Gruyere | Half day, 45 minutes at each of three wineries (45 min) Small-group half day, an hour at each of three wineries (1 hour) Two-course lunch day with a gin or beer option (1 hour) |
| Payten & Jones | Yarra Valley | Half day, 45 minutes at each of three wineries (45 min) Small-group half day, an hour at each of three wineries (1 hour) Two-course lunch day with a gin or beer option (or a gin or beer swap) |
| St Hubert's | 1-3 St Huberts Road, Coldstream | Wine, gin, whisky and chocolate day from Flinders Street (1 hour) Fruit, wine and chocolate day from Federation Square (45 min) |
| Yering Farm Wines | Yarra Valley | Wine, cider, gin and chocolate day from Spring Street (1 hour) Fruit, wine, chocolate and gin day from the Arts Centre (50 min) Four-winery day with lunch, from the Immigration Museum (45 min) Four-winery day with lunch at Balgownie Estate, CBD pickup (45 min) |
| Tokar Estate | 6 Maddens Lane, Coldstream | Wine, cider, gin and chocolate day from Spring Street (1 hour) Fruit, wine and chocolate day from Federation Square (30 min) |
| Rochford Wines | 878-880 Maroondah Highway, Coldstream | Gin, wine, cheese and chocolate day with hotel pickup (40 min) Fruit, wine and chocolate day from Federation Square (tasting and lunch stop) |
| Greenstone Vineyards | Yarra Valley | Four-winery day with lunch at Balgownie Estate, CBD pickup (45 min) Four-winery day with lunch, from the Immigration Museum (30 min) |
Found the winery you want?
Every card names its stops, the time at each and whether lunch is in the fare.
Visiting a cellar door on your own
You can visit every winery on this list without a tour. You will need a sober driver and a plan for the hours.
- Start after 10am. Most cellar doors open at 10am; Chandon opens at 11am.
- Check the day. Greenstone shuts on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, and restaurants keep shorter weeks.
- Ask the tasting price. Chandon does not publish one.
- Carry photo ID. Staff check anyone who looks under 25, and the legal age is 18.
- Book lunch. Winery restaurants take bookings, and weekends fill first.
Where each estate sits in relation to the others is on the Yarra Valley map.
Winery questions
Which is the oldest winery in the Yarra Valley?
What time does Chandon open?
How long do you spend at each winery on a tour?
Can you have lunch at a Yarra Valley winery?
Next: plan the drive on how to get to the Yarra Valley, add chocolate and gin on things to do in the Yarra Valley, or compare every fare on Yarra Valley Tours.