Geelong/Moorabool Valley

Geelong/
Moorabool Valley

Spend a day exploring the path less trodden in and around the Moorabool Valley. First settled by the Swiss in the 1840s, today there’s a rich and varied offer of family-owned vineyards. The cellar doors come in all shapes and sizes, but all come with fabulous views of the rustic countryside the vineyards inhabit. Pinot noir and chardonnay are the mainstay, but you’ll also find cool-climate shiraz, cabernet and a couple of unexpected whites around the traps. A hop from Geelong, skip from Ballarat and jump from Melbourne, it’s an easy day trip, or better yet a fabulous weekender. ANGHARAD DAVIES

Image of Lethbridge Wines by Bridget Mac.

LETHBRIDGE WINES

Star Cellar Door

(03) 5281 7279
lethbridgewines.com

You can’t go past a visit to Lethbridge Wines if you want to sample some of the most exciting wines in the region. Hosted in the quaint strawbale winery, hand-built by winemaker Ray Nadeson. This unassuming cellar door doesn’t distract from the main event: the 58 wines that showcase the talent and ingenuity of Nadeson and his team. Whether you’re hosted by Nadeson, his partner Maree Collis or one of their friendly staff, you’ll enjoy a knowledgeable tasting that walks through the signature, single-site wines under the Lethbridge label, the fun and easy-going Between Five Bells range and, for the adventurous out there, the Il Modo range, which showcases what can be achieved if you show a little love to alternative varieties that grow in the marginal regions our hot land has to offer. It’s a simple but insightful offer that will see you leaving with a boot full of wine. Sharing platters of meats and cheese are available to accompany tastings.

TOP DROP: 2017 Lethbridge Wines Allegra Chardonnay, A$110