The tour does not pick guests at hotels, so Lee and I had to make our way to the pick up location, Her Majesty's Theatre at 219 Exhibition Street before 9AM. You are not allowed to consume food and drinks on the mini bus except for water. Similar to Bunyip's Great Ocean Roud tour, the number of tour participants for Yarra Valley wine tasting tour is kept minimal at maximum of 15 people. There were 12 people back then during our tour. Most of them are actually local tourists visiting from Brisbane. In fact, Lee and I were the only Asian in the tour. 

It seems that the tour operator rotates the winery that they visit on day-to-day basis (probably depend on the crowd level, etc) but the list of the wineries that they can select from is as follows: Rochford or Oakridge, Yering Station, Yering Farm, Coombe Melba Estate, St Hubert's, Helen's Hill Winery, and Medhurst Winery. That day, the tour brought us to Yering Station Winery and the winery staff ushered us to introduce their wine products and he let us to sample a few of their products. This was the first time I went for a wine tasting and well, I had to say that I was a total noob. So let me give you some noob tips if you had never attended one like me. If you notice, there will be a bucket somewhere which actually has the role as a dumping bucket. Do you know how Gordon Ramsay in Masterchef test the participant's dishes? He did not eat the whole dish and only takes a small bite of the dishes, right? Apply the same logic to the wine tasting because technically, if you want to try out so many different kind of wines, you should not drink too much from one product to another. That will get you high pretty fast. So just take a sip of the wine and pour the rest to the bucket.   

 

I am not really a fan of wines to be honest with you and if I have to choose, I always stick to the white wines instead of red wines because red wines give me a huge headache when it spills on my clothes. My noob-ness obviously will not make me a good wine-reviewer so let's see what Sarah Ahmed, the Wine Detective (omg, does this career really exist?), had said about Yering's wines. The 2015 Estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were among the highlights for Sarah after she sat down and tasted through some of Yering Station Wines. She said that the Chardonnay has an enticing flinty nuances to its ripe white peach and candied lemon peel palate and overall, a well-balanced, enjoyable Chardonnay. Oh wow, I know how a good Chardonnay taste but I don't think I would be able to explain it in such a way. Meanwhile, she said that the Pinot Noir has the earthy beetroot, chinato dried herbs and bitter chocolate notes jostle with the fruit flavor and overall, has nice tension, length and line. Uhh, okay, let's just trust her words if we are noob, shall we?

After the wine testing at Yering Station Winery, the tour brought us to the next winery which is also our lunch venue, the Rochford Winery. The lunch menu varies from season to season and you can select 1 of the following 4 dishes: 

Rochford Winery Lunch Menu for Spring 2017

- Pan Seared Fillet of Barramundi with white beans, chorizo, tomato & calamari

- Winter Squash Lasagne with buttermilk ricotta & spinach pesto

- Slow Cooked Oyster Blade of Beef with pearled barley, parsnip & rosemary

- Coq Au Vin with red braised chicken maryland, winter vegetables, field mushrooms & pancetta

Lunch is served with a glass of Rochford wine & filtered tea/ coffee

The highlight of the tour is definitely the visit to Domaine Chandon which is a part of the French Champagne House, Moet et Chandon. The staff will introduce and explain different kind of wines made by Chandon. The best thing about the visit is that every participant will be given a glass of sparkling wine at Domaine Chandon. You are allowed to taste the wine first before making selection. 

Once you get your drink, you should make your way to the outside patio because after all, sipping a glass of wine while enjoying the breathtaking view of Yarra Valley is a good pleasure in life. 

Cheers to the bubbles in my hand. After the visit to Domaine Chandon, we visited the old Farmhouse Cheese Shop at the Yarra Valley Daily for a cheese tasting. I have only been eating Kraft cheese for maybe most years of my life so I could not really appreciate the fermented and hand made cheeses made by the dairy. You can view and purchase a large range of cheeses, pates, and terrines from the shop and keep them in the on-board fridge on the tour bus. 

Our last stop at Yarra Valley ironically does not involve any alcoholic liquid. But I suppose at this stage, I could not even tell the difference from one wine brand to another. Moet et Chandon is still my ultimate love throughout the trip. But this does not mean that the last stop of the tour was not fun at all. After all, who would not get excited in chocolate shop? Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery is the home to a vast range of chocolates. The chocolaterie staff will introduce up to 10 different chocolates from dark to milk to white and the best thing is, you can taste these 10 different chocolates. Yumz. You can also wander around the shop floor and observe how these chocolates are being made in the production area. 

Yarra Valley Wine Tasting Tour details:

- Price: AUD 135 - 145 (discounts may be available for early birds)

- Picks up from Melbourne

- Visit a selection of 4 of the Yarra Valley's best wineries

- Enjoy a flute of champagne at Domain Chandon

- Lunch at Rochford Winery

- Sample handmade cheeses at the Yarra Valley Dairy

- Sample up to 10 products of the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie

Tour duration: 

9AM - 6PM (left Yarra Valley around 4PM)