Having made it to pretty much every wine region in South Australia, we knew if we were going to Melbourne we had to hit Yarra Valley as well.

And trust me, we were not disappointed. Although we only had a few hours before heading to the Great Ocean Road, we packed in four tastings and drove through some of the most beautiful landscapes yet. The rolling hills were unbelievably green, and trees dotted everywhere just swept me off my feet.

We’ll definitely go back if we ever have the chance, but for now here’s what we recommend.

Coldstream Hills
Since it was formerly owned and operated by James Halliday himself, this was definitely a must-see. For those of you who don’t know, James Halliday is like the Robert Parker of Australia (and if you don’t know who Robert Parker is, do yourself a service and Google him immediately).

They had some fine reds and whites, but we left with a bottle of their sparkling and drank it that night because bubbles are always a good idea.

Yarra Yering
For me Yarra Yering stole the show. I was incredibly sick the day we went tasting, but even through the haze the flavors and complexity of their wines blew me away. I walked away with a bottle of their 2015 Dry Red Wine No. 2 but literally everything we tried was fantastic.

If there’s one winery you make it to in the region, it has to be this one.

Giant Steps
The woman pouring at Yarra Yering recommended we stop here and I’m so glad we did. We had to pay for the tasting but it was hosted in their barrel room and the wines were great. A newer winery to the region, it was cool both seeing their take on the different microregions in the valley and winery layout right next door.

And whatever bottle of Syrah we got we really, really enjoyed.

Yering Station
A touristy stop but still worth checking out. Since we were in the industry we got the tasting fee waived and were able to try their reserve line as well as a few fortifieds and really enjoyed it. Plus both the cellar door and accompanying restaurant were beautiful so that didn’t hurt.

If you know of any others worth seeing please leave them in the comments!

And cheers to our final region, Australia. It’s been real.