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Melbourne: Yarra Valley Wine, Gin & Chocolate Tour

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.97 (4,914 reviews) 98% rated it 5 stars

Free cancellationTravelers' pick

1/40

Duration8h

GroupUp to 28

LanguagesEN

Mobile ticketAccepted

One Day, Four Wineries, Ten Chocolates: The Yarra Valley Route

You're picked up from Flinders Street at 9am and driven an hour into the Yarra Valley to taste wines at two wineries, sample ten handmade chocolates at the Chocolaterie, and eat lunch at a restaurant with a full menu you choose from. The tour splits by preference — wine, gin, or whisky — so you're not forced through a tasting you don't want. You're back in Melbourne by late afternoon, and the driver takes music requests on the way.

Step-by-step itinerary

Meet guide at Ian Potter Centre
Depart promptly at 9am
Drive 60 minutes to first winery
Wine tasting at Soumah winery
Wine or spirit tasting at St Huberts
Photo stop at Chandon sparkling wine
Lunch at Quarters restaurant, Hubert Estate
Chocolate tasting at Yarra Valley Chocolaterie
Wine tasting at Balgownie Estate
Return to Melbourne

The Experience

Most days in Melbourne you're either in the city or you're not. This tour splits the difference — you leave the CBD at 9am sharp and by mid-morning you're standing in a vineyard looking out at the Warramate Hills, a glass of Pinot Noir in your hand. The drive takes an hour, half freeway and half through Warrandyte's countryside, which means you actually see the landscape change instead of just hearing about it. Pickup happens at the Ian Potter Centre on Flinders Street, two minutes from the main train station, and the bus — either a 14-seater or 22-seater Mercedes — leaves on time whether everyone's arrived or not, so you show up early.

The wine stops are fixed. You taste five wines at Soumah first, looking over the rolling hills, then move to St Huberts where you get four more — and if wine isn't your thing, they'll swap in beer, cider, or offer gin and whisky tastings for a small extra fee. The flexibility here is real: the tour splits depending on what people want, so you're not forced through a gin tasting if you'd rather stick with wine. Lunch lands at Quarters restaurant inside Hubert Estate, where the menu runs to steaks, handmade pasta, and woodfired pizza, but you pay for what you eat — nothing's included in the tour price, which means you choose your own meal instead of getting locked into a set menu. There's an indigenous art gallery downstairs if you want to wander after eating.

On the way to lunch you can pull into Chandon for photos and shopping (no tasting booked there), and if the Chocolaterie isn't calling you, the driver will take you to Yarrawood Estate or Balgownie early so you can grab a drink before the group arrives. The chocolate stop itself is the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery — a guided tasting of ten different handmade chocolates out of their 500, plus you can watch the chocolatiers working and buy gelato to take with you. The last winery is Balgownie Estate, five wines tasted with views across the valley, though if you'd rather just sit with a coffee or a glass and soak in the ambience, that's an option too. The whole day runs about eight hours, and the driver takes music requests on the drive back.

This works on rainy Melbourne days — it's the kind of thing to do when you're stuck indoors anyway. The tour runs seven days a week, and the reviews are thousands of five-star ratings deep, which usually means the timing works, the stops don't drag, and people actually enjoy the people they're grouped with. Groups stay small enough that the guide can split you up if half the group wants gin and the other half wants wine, so you're not all herded through the same tasting room.

What’s included

Your day includes hotel or city pickup at Flinders Street, transport in an air-conditioned Mercedes bus with a driver who takes music requests, guided wine tastings at Soumah and St Huberts (five wines each), a guided chocolate tasting of ten handmade chocolates at the Yarra Valley Chocolaterie & Ice Creamery, a wine tasting at Balgownie Estate, lunch at Quarters restaurant (food and drink paid separately), and a stop at Chandon for photos and browsing. Optional gin and whisky tastings are available at St Huberts for an extra fee.

Good to know

Easy physical levelPublic transport nearby

Operated by Red Carpet Wine Tours

Is this one for you?Pick this if you want to taste wine across multiple Yarra Valley wineries and see the region's landscape without arranging your own transport or bookings — the fixed schedule and small groups mean you're not managing logistics, just showing up at Flinders Street and following the itinerary.