Melbourne 5D4N: Things to Do in Yarra Valley Tour, 1 Day Trip

Melbourne Yarra Valley Wine Tour: Things to Do & Try in Yarra Valley 1 Day Trip

Good morning Melbourne CBD!

Our second day in Melbourne was probably best day throughout our 5 days trip. Despite cold and windy with gloomy weather at times, thankfully it didn’t rain.

We escaped from the CBD for a day, joining a wine tour to Yarra Valley. Itinerary was basically wine tasting at few of the renowned Yarra Valley vineyards, along with fresh juice, cheese and chocolate tasting.

The tour bus picked us up at waiting point Ibis Little Bourke Street punctually at about 8.40AM, and in just 60 minutes, we were transported from the centre business district filled with buildings to picturesque countryside surrounded by lush green rolling hills, fields, meadows, and fresh air!

Local Produce at Yarra Farm Fresh, Yarra Valley

First destination, Yarra Farm Fresh for a tasting session of local seasonal produce.

Yarra Farm Fresh is founded by Anita Jackson, who is passionate in offering the freshest produce straight from the region, while supporting local farming business.

Specializes in cherry varieties, slowly evolved to also have a small market filled with fruits & vegetables, gourmet items, unique gift wares.

Walked into the colourful market and pick your favourite local produce, from apples, oranges, strawberries, peaches, to sweet potatoes, tomato, leafy vegetables and fruit juices, honey, jam, nuts, etc., expect to get some high quality produce and souvenirs alike to bring home.

We tried a very nice Pink Lady Apple Juice here!

In short, a nice start for the day but nothing much special as it is a place to taste, shop and buy.

Address:
Yarra Farm Fresh
Yarra Valley
40-44 Coldstream W Rd,
Coldstream VIC 3770, Australia
Business Hour: Mon-Sun 9AM-5.30AM

Wine Tasting at De Bortoli Wines, Yarra Valley

Next, to the De Bortoli Winery – our first stop for wine tasting, also our top favourite.

Established in 1928, De Bortoli is a family-owned winemaker, currently managed by the 4th generation. The brand offers a wide range of sparkling, white and red wine, and is especially known for their Noble One – a dessert wine which has won hundreds of awards & trophies throughout the years.

De Bortolli has 3 wine cellar doors in Australia, namely
1. De Bortoli in Dixon Creek, Yarra Valley, Victoria
2.De Bortoli in Bilbul, New South Wales
3. De Bortoli in Hunter Valley, New South Wales

We had 7 wines on tasting. Wine Tasting Price is AUD5 per person, refundable on purchase of a bottle of wine (exclude special offers)

SPARKLING
1.De Bortoli La Bohème Cuvée Blanc NV
Sparkling white with lemon, grapefruit, nashi pear flavours. Fine bubbles, crisp acid finish. A beverage that gives bright expression of Yarra Valley Chardonnay.
Price: AUD22/bottle; AUD118.80/ half dozen

WHITES
2.De Bortoli La Bohème Act One Riesling (2018)
Citrus and floral characters, great with Asian and spicy foods like chicken curry, pad thai, etc.
Price: AUD22/bottle; AUD118.80/ half dozen

3.De Bortoli Yarra Valley ‘Estate Grown’ Chardonnay (2016)
Complex, elegant Chardonnay with hints of citrus, hazelnut and subtle oak. Fine, mineral and textural with drying phenolics and creamy flavours.
Price: AUD25/bottle; AUD135.00/ half dozen

REDS
4.De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Pinot Noir (2017)
Bright strawberries, plums, herbs and smokey oak. Medium weight, gentle tannis, silky finish.
Price: AUD25/bottle; AUD135.00/ half dozen

5.De Bortoli Yarra Valley Estate Grown Cabernet Sauvignon (2014)
Super vintage. Hints of leafiness, sweet dark fruits, and cedar wood.
Price: AUD25/bottle; AUD135.00/ half dozen

SWEET
6.De Bortoli Noble One (2015)
De Bortoli’s iconic dessert wine. Lush honey, apricot and citrusy characters.
Price: AUD36/bottle; AUD194.40/ half dozen

7.De Bortoli Old Boys – 21 Years Barrel Aged Tawny
Nuts, raisins and toffee. Rich and smooth with oodles of character.
Price: AUD38/bottle; AUD205.20/ half dozen

We aren’t an expert in wine but personally, the last two are our favourite despite both are on the sweet sides. Counting the awards that Noble One has won, it could be the wine that well-represent De Bortoli. If you like the honey sweetness in it, it could be your choice. We prefer the latter – De Bortoli Old Boys with an average age of 21 years. Very interesting barrel-aged wine with smooth toffee-mocha taste that makes it different from the rest of the wine we tried.

Address:
De Bortoli Wines, Yarra Valley
58 Pinnacle Ln, Dixons Creek VIC 3775, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri, Sun 10AM-5PM
Sat 10AM-5PM, 6-11PM
Contact: (03) 5965 2271

Cheese Tasting at Yarra Valley Dairy, Yarra Valley

A quick stop over at Yarra Valley Dairy before lunch.

Yarra Valley Dairy is part of the property known as “Hubertswood”, owned by the Mooney family. They have a cheese factory that produces cheeses using fine quality, rich milk from neighbouring farms; and a cheese shop which was once the milking shed.

The more than 100-year-old milking shed. =D

Yarra Valley specializes in cheeses made in French and Italian styles, Do check out their cellar door area too. There are more than 60 selections of locally produced wines.

Literally didn’t know what we had done here other than tasting like 5 -7 types of cheese made on site, but without much explanation about the cheese. Sigh.

But we like the cafe next to it! Even if you’re joining a tour, you can still come and enjoy their quality cheese by ordering from Yarra Valley Dairy menu. Heard that their cheese platter is awesome.

Address:
Yarra Valley Dairy
70-80 Mcmeikans Rd, Yering VIC 3770, Australia
Opening Hours: 10.30AM-5PM
Contact: +61 3 9739 1222

Lunch at Rochford Wines Restaurant, Yarra Valley

Our tour guide seemed to be very careful on the time management and had everybody in the car after just a while at Yarra Valley Dairy, so that we can be in time for lunch at Rochford Wines.

Rochford Wines is a vineyard and winery with cellar door, souvenir shop and reputable restaurant – Isabelle’s Restaurant, which is formerly known as Rochford Restaurant.

And yay, look at the ambience of our lunch place, so pretty! Couldn’t take much pictures because we felt so awkward snapping photos all the way while other people were leisurely enjoying their food & wine.

Summerkid’s 16-hour Oyster Blade of Beef was delicious! Moist and tender meat, deeply flavoured up with braised sauce. Sided with spring beetroot salad, ricotta and aged balsaic

Summergirl’s Fish Pie was not bad too, just the taste was quite one-dimensional to us due to its combination – fish fillet in cream sauce with whipped potato. Portion was quite big and we began feeling cloying halfway through. But the soft herb salad and seeded mustard dressing really helped in balance up the overall flavours.

Done with lunch and glad that we had another 15 minutes to walk around. Rochford Wine cellar door offers wine on tasting at AUD7, just we are too full to check it out.

The brand is prides for their Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cabernet Sauvignon and a reserve range featuring several ultra-premium single vineyard wines.

Address:
Rochford Wines Yarra Valley
878-880 Maroondah Hwy, Coldstream VIC 3770, Australia
Opening hours:
Mon-Fri 9A-6PM
Sat, Sun 9AM-5PM

Wine Tasting at Yerring Station, Yarra Valley

Yerring Station, was our second last stop for the day. It is the first Victoria’s vineyard, also the most beautiful vineyard of the day but sadly, we didn’t even have time to take pictures, or to say, not having much time to do so. We asked for 5 minutes to take photos of the iconic breezeways of Yerring Station but our tour guide answered coldly “No, you can’t “, with a tone that we weren’t so happy with.

Ended up we informed the tour guide that Summerkid would joined the wine tasting a bit later. He ran and took few pictures, not the best, but not that bad either huh? #ClapHands

When Summerkid back to the tasting room, not everyone was there yet. Some of them still away taking pictures of the surroundings. Felt that we were so stupid. We asked the tour guide for permission out of respect, but thinking back, maybe we should have just go ahead without asking so. Afterall, it is a gourmet tour, not a photography tour.#BlameOurselves

More wine tasting session. Sampled 5 types of wines but didn’t find any particular favourite. LOL.

1.Yering Station Pinot Noir (2016)
2.Yering Station Shiraz Viognier (2016)
3.Yering Station Cabernet Sauvignon (2015)
4.Yering Station Village Chardonnay (2016)
5.Yering Station Marsanne Viognier (2017)

Yering Station Wine Tasting is complimentary for visitors in less than 10 at the bar. While for guests more than 10 persons in group, check out more comprehensive wine tasting session with in-depth introduction about Yering Station wine history and culture, at affordable cost.

STANDARD PRIVATE WINE TASTING
5 wines tasted from the Yering Station ‘Estate’ and ‘Village’ collections
Duration: 30 minutes
Price: $10.00 per person

PREMIUM PRIVATE WINE TASTING
5 wines tasted from the Yering Station ‘Reserve’ and ‘Estate’ collections
Duration: 30 minutes
Price: $15.00 per person

Address:
Yering Station Winery
Yarra Valley
38 Melba Hwy, Yarra Glen
VIC 3775, Australia
Opening hours: 10AM-6PM
Contact: +61 3 9730 0100

Dessert Time at Yarra Valley Chocolaterie Ice Creamery

Sweet ending for our Yarra Valley 1 Day tour at Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery with chocolate, ice cream and coffee!

Sampled like a dozen of chocolate from their Gourmet Collection. All good! Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery offers an extensive range of chocolate, from classic white, black and milk chocolate to innovative concoction like adding in berries, peppermint, spicy chilli, celery, honeycomb, lavender, sesame seeds, lemon, lime & mint, strawberry & vanilla bean, macadamia & salted caramel, and a lot more to explore.

So much chocolate in one place. Literally drown in the chocolate wonderland sort of. Hahaha.

1-meter long chocolate bar. Who’s up for this?

And this perfect outdoor green lawn!

We are not a fan of chocolate factory visit kind of thing but surprisingly we love this place! Very cheerful and vibrant “tourist attraction”, which if time allowed, we would want to stay for half day here!

Again, before we had enough time to check out all chocolate and decide which chocolate to buy, we already got requested to go back to the van. Not to mention buying ice cream and coffee to have some laidback, relax time with “sunbathing” outside.

Address:
Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery
35 Old Healesville Rd,
Yarra Glen VIC 3775, Australia.
Opening hours: 9AM-5PM

Bye Bye Yarra Valley. Till Next Time.

Headed back to Melbourne CBD, back to our Airbnb at Spencer Street! Superb view of Docklands from our room at 37th floor! Room per night is not cheap, but the view makes it worth the price.

Overall review: To be honest, we were a little regret for joining a tour to Yarra Valley. It was a really fun trip but too rush for us. If you are a person who loves photography, avoid joining the tour. Take more time on planning your own itinerary and go on self-drive. Afterall Yarra Valley is just 1 hour drive from Melbourne CBD, not too far though.

Self-drive really gives more flexibility in deciding when to stop, when to leave, and how long to stay. Take as many pictures you want, at the same time experience Yarra Valley better.

Book our ticket through klook, with the price close to RM1000 for 2 pax but we find it a very fun and worthwhile experience. They have plenty of Melbourne activities options. You can check out more here for our Yarra Valley Gourmet Tour from Melbourne with Wine Experience and Lunch package