Yarra Valley: Wine, Cheese, Gin & Pizza Grazing Tour

4.86

(814 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I remember is the way the vines looked through the bus window—kind of tangled and gold in the early light, like someone had just brushed them out. Our guide, Sarah, was already chatting about Yarra Valley’s soil (she really knows her stuff), but I was mostly distracted by the smell of coffee drifting from someone’s cup behind me. It felt like we were sneaking out of Melbourne before the city woke up.

We started at Rochford Wines. There’s this moment when you swirl the glass and everyone pretends they know what they’re doing—I definitely didn’t. Sarah grinned and said it’s all about trusting your nose. The air inside was a little cool and smelled faintly like oak barrels and something floral I couldn’t place. After that, we drove to Coldstream Dairy for cheese—proper crumbly stuff, not supermarket slices. The farmer there (I think his name was Pete?) told us how his family’s been making cheese for decades. I tried asking about rennet and ended up getting a whole story about cows instead.

Stag Lane Farm Distillery was next—gin tasting with wood-fired pizza on these chunky wooden tables outside. The pizza crust had this perfect char on the edges; I burned my tongue because I got impatient. Their gin had this citrusy kick that surprised me (in a good way). Someone in our group tried to say “cheers” in Mandarin—Li from Sydney laughed so hard she nearly spilled her drink. We had some time to wander Healesville after that; I grabbed a flat white and poked around a shop selling old records and honey jars. The locals seem to move slower here, or maybe it just felt that way compared to Melbourne.

The last stop was the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie—honestly, it smells like pure happiness when you walk in. We watched chocolatiers pour glossy ribbons of chocolate onto marble slabs while we sampled tiny squares (the salted caramel one is still living rent-free in my head). By then, everyone was quieter on the ride back—maybe full or maybe just letting it all sink in.