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The Pinot Coast

Victoria's wilful wonderland perched on our mainland's southernmost edge.

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HOW TO GET THERE

Australia’s Pinot Coast wine trail in Victoria covers 750km of raw coastline along mainland Australia’s southern edge. It spans from the eastern part of the iconic Great Ocean Road to the southeastern corner of Australia near Lakes Entrance.

Despite the size of the trail, the three regions along the Pinot Coast are easily accessible from Melbourne, thanks to a network of well-developed highways. The coastal city of Geelong is an hour’s drive west of Melbourne along the western edge of Port Phillip Bay. It is also accessible from the iconic Great Ocean Road.

The Mornington Peninsula is located an hour south-east of Melbourne. It is also connected to Geelong via a ferry service that operates between Sorrento and Queenscliff.

Drive a little over two hours east of Melbourne to reach the heart of Gippsland, which is also on the Sydney to Melbourne coastal touring route for visitors who are exploring Australia by car.

The Terroir and Landscape

Australia’s south eastern coast is an invigorating, powerful place, where the sea spreads its influence over everything. Although the Pinot Coast wine trail incorporates three diverse wine regions (Geelong, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland), the same cool, maritime climate touches all vineyards along the trail, contributing to producing some of the best pinot noir in the world.

The Southern Ocean defines the terroir in the regions along the Pinot Coast wine trail. As it flows through Bass Strait and into Port Phillip in Victoria, it brings cooling influences to the vineyards. The cool climate ensures ripening occurs during the cooler time of the year (as the whole season starts and finishes later), favouring flavour development, pinot’s beautiful aromatics and acid retention.

The bracing winds that blow off the ocean have numerous benefits for winegrowing. In addition to keeping the vines cool on even warm days, they also help stave off frosts in spring, and keep moisture out of the vines, preventing disease.

The soils across the Pinot Coast wine trail are as varied as the landscape, stretching from free-draining clay and sand soils on the coast to richer, more fertile soils inland. Winemakers across the three regions have spent the past 150 years harnessing these unique natural elements, settling in areas where the sun, sea and land converge in such a way to produce some of Australia’s most stunning pinot noir. These wines are truly as complex and seductive as the ocean that carves our southern shores.

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Australia’s south eastern coast is an invigorating, powerful place, where the sea spreads its influence over everything.

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The Cellar Door Experience

You won’t find any big, commercial tasting rooms along the Pinot Coast wine trail in Victoria. Creative, artisanal wineries rule, and it’s quite possible that your cellar door host will be the winemaker or the owner.

Of course, like the coast itself, the cellar doors are diverse. You might find yourself chatting about the history of winegrowing in Mornington Peninsula among the gum trees or sitting on a terrace overlooking Port Phillip Bay while dining on award-winning local cuisine.

The Pinot Coast wine trail is also home to some of Australia’s most well-regarded culinary destinations. Many cellar doors offer lunch options throughout the week, from cheese platters and wood-fired pizza to more substantial offerings. Wineries such as Pt. Leo Estate, Port Phillip Estate and Jack Rabbit, among others, have award-winning restaurants that showcase the area’s independent producers.

The locals you’ll meet are truly dedicated to the region. In many cases, they’ve been here for years, figuring out the best way to get such beautiful wines from such an exhilarating landscape. They’ll show you what they’ve made and tell you about how they managed it.

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You won’t find any big, commercial tasting rooms along the Pinot Coast wine trail in Victoria.

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What to expect from a tasting

As you make your way through the wineries in Geelong, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland, meeting the people who thrive in this wilful climate, you’ll start to see just how much these wines express their surroundings.

Typically, wines from across the Pinot Coast regions are fresh and elegant, showing lifted aromatics and flavours of red fruits like cherry, raspberry and plum. The cool, maritime climate lends soul to these wines, adding layers of complexity. Fine tannins and fresh acidity contribute elegant structure and great approachability.

Like the areas they are from, these pinot noirs are diverse, although the spirit of the Southern Ocean is a constant that shines through.

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Typically, wines from across the Pinot Coast regions are fresh and elegant, showing lifted aromatics and flavours of red fruits like cherry, raspberry and plum.

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Best Places/Things to eat

The Pinot Coast wine trail is one of Australia’s most spectacular culinary destinations. There are more chef’s hat-awarded (Australia’s equivalent of a Michelin star) restaurants here than anywhere else in regional Victoria.

Geelong offers a creative, modern dining scene with a number of exceptional restaurants and cafes along the waterfront. Fishermen’s Pier offers local seafood like barramundi and scallops right on the marina, while degustation-only two-hatted restaurant Igni, a little further inland, is renowned thanks to celebrity chef Aaron Turner. A drive to nearby Bellarine wineries such as Jack Rabbit and Terindah Estate or Provenance Wines in Geelong reveals dining rooms that focus on the best local produce and showcase the region’s culinary capabilities. Trying the region’s chocolate, olives and cheeses, as well as Portarlington’s famous mussels, is a must.

The Mornington Peninsula has long been regarded a culinary wonderland, with numerous chef’s hatted restaurants, including the likes of Laura, Doot Doot Doot and Rare Hare, among others. These restaurants have defined this reputation, offering some of the best dining room experiences in Australia. You can also savour fresh local farmgate produce grown in the area, as well as local cheeses, beers and spirits.

Gippsland is an abundant area, considered one of Australia’s most prolific food bowls. The region stretches from the coast to the mountains, and produces award-winning beef, dairy and seafood. In the west, there is Cannibal Creek, where you can enjoy a wine tasting paired with some impressive French-inspired share platters. In the east, there is Sardine Eatery and Bar, a one-hatted restaurant known for elegant and sustainable seafood that is all sourced from Gippsland Lakes.

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The Pinot Coast wine trail is one of Australia’s most spectacular culinary destinations.

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Best places to stay/types of accommodation

The natural beauty of the Pinot Coast in Victoria is evident in the region’s accommodation offerings, many of which offer views across Port Phillip Bay, Bass Strait or the vines.

In Geelong, visitors can stay in the city itself in the chic industrial style Devlin Apartments, just a short walk from waterfront cafés and restaurants. For something more invigorating, bed down along the peninsula in small townships like Point Lonsdale and Indented Head, where resorts Lon Resort and Spa and Starhaven Retreat overlook the rugged ocean.

Across the bay in Mornington Peninsula, there are plenty of options among the vines. Wake up with a view of the vineyards at Lindenderry, or at Crittenden Estate’s lakeside villas. Jackalope is one of Australia’s best luxury hotels and its Rare Hare restaurant is perfect for architecture and food lovers. Meanwhile, the overnight experiences at Port Phillip Estate are a luxurious alternative.

In Gippsland, the accommodation caters to the more adventurous wine lover. Stay in cozy glamping tents on Phillip Island after enjoying the nightly penguin parade, or head inland for boutique hotels and bed and breakfasts. The towns of Meeniyan, Foster and Fish Creek offer boutique accommodation for those en route to stunning Wilsons Promontory, while Metung is a gorgeous village on the expansive lakes system in the east of Gippsland.

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The natural beauty of the Pinot Coast in Victoria is evident in the region’s accommodation offerings, many of which offer views across Port Phillip Bay, Bass Strait or the vines.

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Beyond the cellar door

The raw, powerful southern coast is a drawcard for surfers, nature lovers and adventurers, as well as wine enthusiasts. Victoria’s Pinot Coast wine trail offers a diverse array of maritime and aquatic experiences, including surfing, diving, whale watching and exploring the coastline itself.

Port Phillip Bay is one of the most biodiverse areas along the Victorian coast. It is home to the weedy sea dragon, as well as dolphins, whales, fur seals, penguins and a huge array of fish. Visitors can go scuba diving, snorkelling or whale watching, particularly along the Bellarine and Mornington peninsulas in the Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, or around Wilsons Promontory National Park in Gippsland.

For visitors who are handy on a surfboard, Torquay and Bells Beach are two of Australia’s most iconic surfing spots, just a half hour drive from Geelong. Surf with the locals here or wander along the breathtaking beaches.

There are more relaxing experiences along the Pinot Coast wine trail as well. Arthurs Seat, on the Mornington Peninsula, offers incredible views out over Port Phillip Bay, and is easily accessible by a state-of-the-art gondola. The Peninsula Hot Springs near Rye is a perennial favourite, with healing thermal pools set amongst native trees and vegetation.

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The raw, powerful southern coast is a drawcard for surfers, nature lovers and adventurers, as well as wine enthusiasts.

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What to take home

There are 146 cellar doors to visit along the Pinot Coast wine trail, so there is a diverse range of fresh, complex wines to bring home. Collecting an assortment of wines from Gippsland, Geelong and Mornington Peninsula will demonstrate the subtleties of these three regions – what sets them apart from each other, and what makes them similar.

The region is also blessed with local produce so pick up honey, truffles, cherries, fruits and more at farmgates, farmers markets and deluxe general stores. Visitors can even forage for mushrooms or pick their own strawberries.

The creativity that has been applied to the Pinot Coast’s three wine regions is also clearly evident in the trail’s chocolate, olive oil, preserves, cheeses, cider, beer and spirits, such as gin and whisky.

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There are 146 cellar doors to visit along the Pinot Coast wine trail, so there is a diverse range of fresh, complex wines to bring home.

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FIND OUT MORE

Australia’s Pinot Coast wine trail wraps around some 750km of Victoria’s raw and spectacular Southern Ocean coastline. The trail consists of three distinct regions – Geelong/Bellarine, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland – all of which produce outstanding maritime pinot noir. With some 146 cellar doors and some of Australia’s most acclaimed fine dining restaurants there are plenty of opportunities to try these wines.

For more information about exploring the Pinot Coast wine trail, visit visitvictoria.com/pinotcoast

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