Bellarine Peninsula
Bellarine & Geelong
The western side of Port Phillip Bay, where craft beer, wine, and farm-gate food have quietly built one of Victoria's most underrated independent strips.
del Rios Winery and Restaurant
2290 Geelong-Ballan Rd, Anakie VIC 3213, Australia
Fri 5pm–9pm · Sat–Sun 11:30am–5pm
Gus del Rio spent his first career in dentistry; he's now spent more than two decades making wine at this family estate in Anakie, where volcanic soils meet a limestone base. Wife Esther runs the cellar door, the boys still pull vineyard shifts. Friday dinner, weekend lunch — bring time.
Lon Retreat & Spa
30 Donovans Road
Mon–Sat 10am–5pm
Seven generations of the Longuehaye family farmed this Point Lonsdale land before Claire and Rob Gemes spent eighteen months converting the sandstone farmhouse into a retreat. The mineral springs their ancestors tapped for cattle now feed the pool, soaking tubs, and two stone-bathed suites. The building's sandstone — some of it from Port Arthur — was salvaged and repositioned throughout. History here isn't decoration; it's structural.
Shadowfax Winery
K Rd, Werribee South VIC 3030, Australia
Wed–Sun 11am–5pm
Shadowfax sits inside Werribee Park, a short walk from the Mansion and Open Range Zoo, which means no dogs beyond the gate. The cellar door runs Wednesday to Sunday; the restaurant stretches to Friday dinners with live music. Wines are sourced from named vineyard sites, each treated as its own terroir argument. The region's produce drives the kitchen.
Leura Park Estate
1400 Portarlington Rd, Curlewis VIC 3222, Australia
Thu–Fri 11am–4pm · Sat–Sun 11am–5pm
On the Bellarine Peninsula at Curlewis, this Wadawurrung Country winery runs a cellar door, events program and kitchen that earns its keep. The house-made beef shiraz pie is the thing to order. Shakespeare in the vineyard — Ozact Theatre Company brought *The Tempest* here — suggests a venue comfortable doing more than pouring glasses on a Saturday afternoon.