Australia has 65 wine growing regions, each with its own climate, varietals and character. That means planning your ultimate winery weekend away can benefit from some serious groundwork before you book. The trick is not to cover as much ground as possible, but to work out what kind of experience you want and build a well-paced trip around it. This is what it takes to organise your next weekend among the vines.
Discover more about Wine Selectors on the new season of Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays, airing Thursday 7.30pm AEST* on Foxtel Lifestyle and on demand on Binge.
Australia by the glass (or bottle)
We’re lucky to have so many incredible wine regions in Australia. Here’s only a taste of where you might go based on your favourite drop.
- For stunning shiraz: Hunter Valley, McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley
- For pretty pinot noirs: Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula, Adelaide Hills, Tasmania
- For charmed chardonnays: Margaret River, Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley
- For savvy sauvignon blanc: Adelaide Hills, Margaret River, Tasmania, Yarra Valley
- For renowned rieslings: Clare Valley
- For suave semillons: Hunter Valley
Use wine discovery to choose your destination
Now comes the best part – the tasting. Sampling wines can introduce you to a region long before you arrive.
That’s where Wine Selectors comes in. ‘Our job is to taste our way across a region and cherry-pick the wines most worth discovering,’ explains Adam Walls, Co-Chair of the Wine Selectors tasting panel and a wine show judge. ‘It’s like we’ve visited the cellar doors for you – bringing together the regional heroes, exciting new producers and unexpected finds that give you a real taste of the place.’
Before the trip, open a few bottles with whoever you’ll be travelling with to see what you like: fresh or rich, light or full-bodied, familiar or surprising. Look beyond the varietal on the label to the producer, town and landscape behind your favourites. A few regional selections can reveal whether you’re drawn to established names, small family-run producers, alternative varieties or the classics.
‘Discovering a wine from somewhere unfamiliar can put that region on your radar and give you a starting point for planning a trip,’ says Dave Mavor, Wine Selectors tasting panel member and winemaker. ‘Particularly when you can seek out the winery or producer behind the bottle.’
No two regions share quite the same climate, so each produces distinctive wines. The Goulburn Valley in Victoria, a 90-minute drive from Melbourne, has supported winemaking since the 19th century. Its warm inland climate, river systems and sandy soils suit varieties including marsanne, chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon and shiraz. Barossa’s dryness makes it a hub for sumptuous shiraz, while the humidity of the Hunter Valley produces heavenly semillons. The vines are truly your oyster.
Treat your pre-escape curation as a starting point. Check which producers welcome visitors, then see what restaurants, markets and towns sit nearby. One bottle can lead to a cellar door, but it can also inspire a country lunch, cycling route or place worth staying overnight.
Decide what kind of wine weekend you want
There’s no one-size-fits-all wine weekend. You might prefer one tasting and a long lunch or dinner, leaving the rest of the day open. If you enjoy comparing varieties and speaking with producers, two or three cellar doors a day is usually enough once you factor in travel, lunch and unhurried conversations. For a slower estate stay, leave room for a spa treatment, gallery visit, riverside walk or an afternoon with nowhere else to be.
Foodies can get their fill with a long lunch, thoughtful dinner and handful of tastings that complement both. If you’re celebrating, choose the restaurant or experience first and plan around that reservation.
You don’t need to be a sommelier to decide which region should be at the top of your oenophile bucket-list. ‘Even when you have a favourite wine, there’s always the possibility that the next bottle you open will become your new favourite,’ says Adam. ‘With so many regions, producers and varieties to discover, that sense of anticipation is what keeps Australian wine so exciting.’
Build the itinerary around one or two anchor experiences
Once you’ve chosen the region, resist filling every hour. Pick one or two anchor experiences and plan tastings around them. A balanced two-night trip could begin with an afternoon tasting and dinner at your accommodation. Use the full day to visit another producer and settle in for a regional lunch, leaving enough time to refresh before the evening. On departure day, choose a gallery, farm gate or final cellar door.
At The Mitchelton Hotel Nagambie, you might plan your getaway around dinner at The Muse Restaurant, a cellar-door tasting or time in the Mitchelton Gallery of Aboriginal Art. Stay in the hotel or one of its luxury cabins to take in Goulburn River and surrounding vineyards long after the day visitors have gone.
With limited taxis and rideshares in some regional destinations, planning your transportation becomes just as important as picking your dining spots, accommodation or outfits for the trip. Nominate a designated driver, book a local transfer or arrange a tour ahead of time. If cycling is part of the plan, confirm the route, bike access and distances between tastings with local operators first.
Leave room for spontaneity – a recommendation from a winemaker or local may lead you to the weekend’s most memorable cellar door.
Plan what to eat, not just what to drink
Dining helps structure a wine weekend. Book the hardest-to-secure venue first, check opening days and reserve ahead – particularly on weekends and during harvest or festival periods. If lunch is the main event, schedule one morning tasting instead of trying to fit in three. A good itinerary should leave you remembering the wines, not racing between them.
You don’t need to engineer a technical pairing for every glass. Match lighter dishes with fresher wines and richer dishes with fuller styles. If you’re unsure, ask the cellar-door or restaurant team what they’d choose – local advice can point you towards a pairing you might otherwise miss.
Make time for the produce that helped put each region on the map. The Goulburn Valley is home to orchards as well as vineyards, with apples, pears, peaches and other stone fruit appearing at farm gates and on local menus.
Most importantly, build in water, a proper breakfast and something savoury between tastings.
Keep exploring after the weekend
Even a full weekend only gives you a brief glimpse of a wine region. Continuing the discovery at home can extend the trip long after checkout. ‘Even with a full weekend in a wine region, you can only visit a handful of cellar doors,’ Walls says. ‘A regional selection from Wine Selectors lets you continue the journey at home, with a carefully chosen cross-section of the established names, boutique producers, classic varieties and unexpected discoveries that give you a much broader taste of the region.’
Open those bottles with food from the weekend, compare them with what you tasted and keep a note of producers or varieties that you want to revisit. If you’re a new tempranillo devotee or sauvignon blanc savant, this builds confidence without turning the task into homework; if you’ve a certified wine lover, it keeps alive the anticipation that the next bottle may reveal a new producer, grape or region.
A bottle can recall the weekend long after you’ve returned to work. ‘Wine has a wonderful ability to bring you back to a place,’ says Dave. ‘Opening a bottle from a region you’ve visited can recall the landscape, the meal you shared or a conversation at the cellar door. It allows the experience to continue long after the weekend itself has ended.’
A simple checklist for planning your wine escape
- Choose the mood: Decide whether food, cellar doors, rest, art and culture or a celebration will lead the trip.
- Taste before you book: Compare a few regional wines and note the styles and producers that hold your attention.
- Select one or two anchors: Secure the accommodation, restaurant or signature experience that matters most.
- Plan safe transport: Arrange a designated driver, transfer or tour before you arrive.
- Check the practical details: Confirm cellar-door bookings, restaurant opening days, travel times and cancellation terms.
- Leave room for discovery: Keep part of the itinerary open for a local recommendation or an unplanned stop.
Discover more about Wine Selectors on the new season of Luxury Escapes: The World’s Best Holidays, airing Thursday 7.30pm AEST* on Foxtel Lifestyle and on demand on Binge.
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