Discover Healesville's big winter wine night

One of the Yarra Valley’s favourite winter wine events is set to get bigger - for one night only. 

On Saturday, June 27, Healesville venues will host close to 30 wineries from across the Yarra Valley for the Fireside Wine Trail. 

The celebration is billed as chance to discover the full breadth of the region without leaving town.

Across six venues in the heart of Healesville, guests can discover sub-regions, meet the winemakers, taste and purchase wines, all while fire-themed food, live music and DJs set the mood.

Participating venues include Barrique, Healesville Hotel, Four Pillars Distillery, Payten & Jones, Jayden Ong Winery & Cellar Bar and Giammarino Wines. 

Each will host a selection of Yarra Valley producers. 

Highlights include:

● Barrique showcasing Nillumbik wineries Buttermans Track, Nillumbik Estate, Kings of Kangaroo Ground, Wedgetail Estate and Imbue Distillery

● Healesville Hotel hosting St Huberts, Giant Steps, Soumah, Coldstream Hills, De Bortoli, In Dreams, Cellar Door at the Farm, and Copperhead Wines

● Four Pillars Distillery pouring e'Stellar Estate, Punt Road Wines, Sutherland Estate and Boat O'Craigo

● Payten and Jones hosting Pachamama, Alkimi Wines, Decent Wines

● Jayden Ong Winery & Cellar Bar showcasing TarraWarra Estate, Tillie J Wines and Hirsch Hill Wines

● Giammarino Wines featuring Santolin Wines, Denton View Hill and Innocent Bystander’s Airstream caravan.

Each ticket includes a souvenir wine glass, unlimited tastings across all venues, and the hop-on hop-off shuttle bus connecting all Healesville stops.

General admission tickets are $38.50, with early bird deals available now via Humanitix https://events.humanitix.com/fireside-wine-trail

The Wine Trail is the headline act of a 15-day regional program across the full Fireside Festival. . Participating cellar doors and dining venues will run Fireside-themed experiences throughout the festival period.

Tickets and the full program: wineyarravalley.com.au/fireside-festival-2026

For five weeks the Yarra Valley is the Place for Pinot

Pinot noir? Pinot gris/grigio? Pinot blanc? Pinot meunier?

Whatever your favourite pinot family member, the Yarra Valley is likely to likely to have something of interest.

From March 20 to April 27, Wine Yarra Valley is launching The Place for Pinot - a region-wide pinot celebration, bringing together 16 wineries for a five-week showcase of the wines the cool-climate region is known for.

Visitors are invited to taste their way across the valley, discovering cellar doors, vineyard stories and pinot experiences along the way.

And to guide the journey: a Digital Pinot Passport.

Visitors can check in at participating wineries, build a pinot trail, and unlock an entry into a draw to win a Pinot Prize Pack - a mixed pinot selection from participating wineries.

They are: Oakridge · Helen & Joey Estate · SOUMAH · Squitchy Lane · Punt Road Wines · Pimpernel Vineyards · Medhurst Wines · De Bortoli Wines · TarraWarra Estate · Giant Steps · Boat O'Craigo · Jayden Ong Wines · Wedgetail Estate · Cellar Door at The Farm · Nillumbik Estate · Buttermans Track Wines.

Find out more at https://wineyarravalley.com.au/the-place-for-pinot/

Family-owned Yarra Valley wineries to open their sheds

 

Enjoy visiting smaller wineries? 

Make a note of the upcoming Yarra Valley Shedfest 2025. 

The event will be held in the Yarra on the weekend of October 11-12. 

Lovers of cool-climate wines can bring friends, kids and even your fur babies to 13 family-owned Yarra Valley producers. 

Each winery will offer its own twist on food, tastings, music and entertainment. 

The entry ticket is a flat $35, which gives access to tastings at all participating wineries on one and/or two days.

Tickets can be purchased at an earlybird rate until October 1 to save 10%.

A diverse selection of dishes under $25 will be available at each participating winery.

Menu offerings will range from authentic Sicilian barbecue from Melitta Next Door head chef Lorena Corso, Texan-style burgers, pizzas and pasta, Vietnamese bao, and Japanese curries. Kids and those with special dietary requirements won’t miss out either, with most wineries catering for both.

The wine producers involved are: Billanook Estate, Boat O'Craigo, Fin Wines, Helen's Hill, Seville Hill, Six Acres, Soumah, Steels Gate, Sutherland Estate, Tokar Estate, Whispering Hills, Yering Farm and Yileena Park.

 

The event will run from 11am-5pm on each day. 

Discover more at http://shedfest.com.au/

The Yarra celebrates winter

The Yarra Valley celebrates winter over two weeks in late June and early July. 

Fireside Festival - Yarra Valley, running from June 27 to July 13, features a series of events over one of Australia’s most celebrated wine regions. 

Events range from open-fire feasts and bold winter reds to immersive masterclasses and fun tastings. 

Fireside Festivalbrings together 20+ Yarra Valley wineries and venues in a two-week winter celebration of wine, warmth and regional hospitality.

Whether you're looking to highlight regional food and wine experiences, emerging trends in cool-climate wine, or the growing visitor appeal of winter in Victoria’s wine country, Wine Yarra Valley promises something for every taste. 

The full program is live at: wineyarravalley.com.au/fireside

Yarra Valley celebrates chardonnay diversity

The Yarra Valley produces some of Australia's finest chardonnays - made in a range of styles. 

Now Yarra Ranges Tourism and Wine Yarra Valley has announced an "All Chardonnays Great and Small" campaign. 

The initiative runs until the end of April and celebrates the region's diverse chardonnay offerings. 

The program invites wine enthusiasts and visitors to explore the many expressions of chardonnay crafted by the valley's winemakers.

Many local cellar doors will be hosting special tastings as part of the showcase. 

The region’s cool-climate and diverse microclimates allow for an exceptional range of styles, from lean and crisp to rich and textured. 

Chardonnay grapes are cultivated worldwide but the Yarra has proved to be fertile ground for the grape variety. 

Chardonnays made by Oakridge, Seville Estate, Yarra Yering, Coldstream Hills, Giant Steps, De Bortoli, TarraWarra Estate and many more are regularly recognised as being among Australia’s best.

See All Chardonnays Great & Small | Visit Yarra Valley & Dandenong Ranges for details.

Discover a wine show with a major point of difference

PULP is a wine show/tasting with a difference. 

The Yarra Valley-created event is billed as "The People's Wine Show", where wine lovers become wine judges. 

You can help choose 'Bougiest Bubbles' and 'Most Chillable Red'. 

So if that sounds like your bag put Saturday, February 15, at the Music Market, Collingwood Yards in Melbourne in your diary. 

The highlights will include "small-batch creations, unique blends, alternative tasting experiences, and bold collaborations that define the next generation of wine".

It might be an event that rewards popularity rather than traditional excellence. 

But that is a welcome change from the overloaded calendar of events where judges are supposed to choose the best of, say, 150 shirazes.

Participants at PULP get to sip, swirl, and savour dozens of wines created by the young and hip among Yarra Valley producers.

That might well mean a stinky, cloudy, "natural" offering is a winner in one of the six categories.

So be it. 

PULP tasters can sample dozens of wines, vote for their favourites, meet the makers, take home a wine cup and enjoy canapés while tasting.

Get Tickets Here

Individual tickets cost $59 with dual tickets $110 and tickets for a group of six $295. The evens runs from 3.30-6pm. 

PULP is organised by Wine Yarra Valley, the peak industry body representing the Yarra Valley Wine Growers Association. 

Why the Yarra Valley wants to warm you up this winter

The winemakers of the Yarra Valley are offering some warming winter experiences with their Fireside Yarra Valley Festival in July. 

The fourth edition of the festival will feature a range of activities for vinophiles and gourmets across a 16-day period from July 9-24.

Events will celebrate the season with the region’s finest wine and food on show against a backdrop of moody skies, crisp (or maybe chilly) nights, and open fires.

 

This year’s headline events include gourmet collaborations from Bente Grysbaek and Seville Estate and Tom Sarafian and Jayden Ong Wines, as well as the Local Legends Long Lunch,  which brings together some of Yarra Valley’s pioneering wine producers, including Yeringberg, Seville Estate, St Huberts and Yarra Yering at the the new Hubert Estate. 

“We’re excited to team up our friends from some of the region’s oldest and most awarded wineries for this special event and show off our new home,” says St Huberts business manager Tony Layton.

 

The itinerary includes winemaker dinners, fireside brunches and wine masterclasses to suit all palates and budgets.

 

Visit wineyarravalley.com.au/fireside-2022 to explore the calendar of events. 

A new wine adventure in the Yarra Valley

Pulp Vol.1 is a new two-day wine adventure slated for the Yarra Valley later this month.

The tasting will feature many tiny artisan producers showing off their wares in the lovely setting of the Healesville Hotel beer garden on January 15-16.

For just $15, wine lovers can sample over 30 wines from 18 different producers, as well as enjoying beats by Goody's Hifi Sound System.

Pulp is billed as showcasing wines from new, small batch and independent local producers in the Yarra Valley with appearances from local legends talking innovation and diversity in wine.

Those legends will include Meg Brostmann MW from Rob Dolan Wines and Sarah Crowe from Yarra Yering, Mac Forbes and Steve Flamsteed.

Wine tastings will be held from 1pm-6pm, with music to follow.

Day one features Thick As Thieves, Pip&Ra, Rising Wines, Fetherston, Chateau2B, Santolin Wines, Alkimi Wines, Proud Primary Produce and Ben Haines Wine.

On the Sunday Patch Wines, Musical Folk, Scieppan Wines, DCB Wine, Honky Chateau, Cré Wines, FIN, Rongo Wines and Tillie J Wines will be showcased.

For full details and tickets see https://wineyarravalley.com.au/product/pulp-vol-1/