The Yarra Valley is famous for producing some outstanding cool climate wines. The wineries include the oldest winery in Victoria, that founded the whole wine industry in the state. It is also famous for wonderful local produce that many of the wineries serve in their restaurants. The Yarra Valley produces award-winning wine varieties like Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabarnet Sauvignon.

A private winery tour lets you choose the wineries you want to visit and where you want to have lunch. You will be in a small group of family or friends and can set the agenda and itinerary for the day exactly to your own needs. You will travel in comfortable, private vehicle, with the option to upgrade to VIP luxury. On a public winery tour, you do not get to choose your itinerary. You only get to visit the wineries on their tour and you have to travel with a lot of strangers. The bus can be large and uncomfortable and sometimes the groups can include drunks who get rowdy on the bus, spoiling it for everyone. This does not happen on a private tour. And you get the friendliest, most knowledgeable tour guide/driver on a private tour.

A private winery tour lets you choose your own itinerary, including your lunch destination, so you can tailor the tour to whatever you and your family or friends wish to visit. Your tour will be led by a friendly and knowledgeable tour guide/driver. Your small group of family or friends will travel in a comfortable, private vehicle, with the option to upgrade to VIP luxury. On a public group winery tour, you do not get to choose your itinerary. You visit the wineries on their schedule and you have to travel with a lot of strangers. The bus can be uncomfortable and quite big, so you have to wait for everyone to get on and off at every stop. Group tours can include people who drink too much and spoil it for everyone. This does not happen on a private tour.

We have hand-picked a selection of wineries that we recommend to most people for our Yarra Valley Private Winery Tours. We have chosen them to give you a wide cross section of different wines and different styles of wineries and winemaking so that you can experience the most diverse range on your tour.

Our selection includes:

• Yering Station Winery

• Boat O’Craigo Winery

• St Huberts Winery

• Coldstream Hills Winery

We recommend lunch at Boat O’Craigo Winery but if you wish to choose another winery for lunch we can accommodate. Simply advise us in advance. (Prices may vary depending on lunch venue chosen).

Yes, we are happy to customise a personalised itinerary for your group if you have particular wineries you are really keen to visit. It may take a few days to organise everything for you, so please advise us well in advance of your planned tour dates.

Generally in our 9 hour, 1-day Yarra Valley Private Winery Tour we would recommend you visit a maximum of 4 wineries. This is to ensure you spend enough time at each winery to get a real taste of the unique aspects of that winery, to sample the wines, meet the winemakers, etc. This also allows enough time for a lovely lunch at one of the wineries too.

Yes, our Yarra Valley private winery tours always include lunch. This is to ensure that you eat a good, enjoyable meal to balance the wine that you will be tasting on the day.

Really any time of the year is OK to visit the Yarra Valley as each season has its own distinctive characteristics that really add to your experience of the valley. Summer of course, from December to January is lovely and warm, although it can also get quite hot, up to 35-40°C, although it is always a bit cooler among the greenery and shade of the valley. Spring is much cooler, with milder, lovely sunny days and gorgeous floral blooms everywhere. Autumn is magnificent with all the rustic reds, browns and golds of leaves on the trees everywhere. Cool mornings and crisp but sunny days with temperatures averaging around 21°C. Winter can be quite cold, even frosty but the valley can be very beautiful even at this time too.

This is a very hard choice to make. A lot of it will simply come down to personal choice. And perhaps your preference for scenery. Both regions offer a variety of cool climate wines such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay but there is a difference in their styles due to the difference in climate, soils and aspect. Mornington Peninsula’s maritime climate yields softer, fruit-forward wines. Yarra Valley’s varied elevations produce complex, structured, and more diverse styles. If this distinction is important to you, this might help you make the choice. If you love endless rolling hills and valleys, with distant mountains in the background then the Yarra Valley might be more your style, but then some people prefer the maritime

There are so many fantastic wineries on the Peninsula that all of them are worthy of a visit. But that would take several days. We have hand-picked 4 of what we think are among the best wineries and chosen them not only because of the varieties of wine they produce but because each has a unique story to tell of their history and their approach to wine-making. So our 4 selected wineries are:

• Quealy Winery

• Point Leo Estate

• The Cups Estate

• Rare Hare Winery

Asking which is the “best” of anything is always contentious. But we have chosen our wineries as much for their restaurants as their wines. And you have a choice of the 3 best for your selected lunch destination on the tour.

Rare Hare features a robust, seasonal "Hare Share" menu crafted around a hand-crafted wood-fired oven. The dishes focus on local, artisan produce and balanced heat and acidity, designed for the table to share. The vibe is sophisticated yet relaxed, with floor-to-ceiling windows and indoor/outdoor seating that puts you right against the vine-laced backdrop.

The Pig and Whistle offers traditional, hearty British pub grub alongside classic Aussie favourites. Think Beef and Guinness pies, Cumberland sausage with mash, and generous roasts. It has a convivial, family-friendly vibe making it, perfect for casual gatherings. Inside features wood-panelled ceilings, while outside you'll find a dog-friendly garden and live music every weekend.

The Cups Estate has a modern Australian menu with a Sicilian/Mediterranean influence, heavily featuring produce from the estate's organic vegetable garden and olive grove. They operate on set lunch menus. It has a relaxed and elegant vibe, featuring panoramic views of their sloping vineyards and olive groves, and offering a great excuse to combine a winery visit with bathing.