Sorrento Sunset 5:35 PM
Winter Insider · August 2026 Winter 2026
A Peninsula gin distillery with a gin-school blending session that has quietly become one of the region's best wet-weather plans.
Known for Peninsula Gin DistilleryGin School Blending SessionsAngry Ant Botanical GinOperating Since 2009
Photo · Simon Yeo
Why we’d goBass & Flinders has been quietly building one of the best small distillery operations in Victoria since 2009, and the gin school is the part that sells out first.
Bass & Flinders has been quietly building one of the best small distillery operations in Victoria since 2009. The gin range is genuinely varied, a crisp citrus-forward classic, a local-botanical Angry Ant featuring wattle seed and pink pepper, and a maceration gin that rewards closer attention. The cellar door is compact and a little industrial in the best way, and the gin school sessions let you blend a bottle to take home.
The tasting flight is a proper walk through the range rather than a sprint. Ask about the single-cask experiments. On a wet afternoon when a winery terrace is the wrong call, this is where locals go, and where out-of-town visitors discover it should have been on their list from the start.
Book ahead for the gin school, it sells out, especially in winter, and it is one of the Peninsula's better hands-on experiences.
Worth knowing
If you only do one thing
Book the gin school session in advance, it sells out in winter, and blending your own bottle is a different experience from a standard tasting.
Works well with
Mornington Peninsula Brewery · Mornington Dumpling House
Filed under Rainy DayCellar DoorSlowAll YearCouplesGroupFirst Timers
Not sure how to build a day around Bass & Flinders Distillery?
Search Peninsula InsiderIn the journal
These pieces give you the context a listing page never does - the when, the why, and the who-it’s-for.
5 April 2026
Forget pressing on to the vineyards. A well-built day in Mornington - market, coffee, gallery, foreshore - is one of the cleanest Peninsula visits you can make.
3 April 2026
A cold, grey Peninsula weekend is not a ruined one, it is the version that gives you back the best rooms, the best fires, and the best reasons to stay inside.
9 April 2026
If you've booked a villa with a kitchen, you've booked one of the great food sourcing weekends in Victoria. Here is the shopping circuit - market first, bakery second, wine last - that actually does the region justice.
Nearby picks
16 Progress St, Mornington VIC 3931 · $$
The Peninsula's most serious roaster, hidden in a Mornington warehouse with a cafe out the front.
20 Longview Crescent, Mount Eliza VIC 3930 · $$$
Barnaby Flanders' micro-production Chardonnay and Pinot project, rigour, restraint, and regular appearances in the Halliday Top 100.
The Esplanade, Mornington VIC 3931 · $
A monthly bayfront produce market that knows what it is and stays close to its growers.
Build a day around this
Peninsula Insider guides that put this stop into the context of a full day or weekend.
Verified Apr 2026 by Peninsula Insider How we check
Is this your venue? Claim it
The Insider Note
One pick, one weather-proof backup, one thing to skip. Written on the Peninsula, sent when there is something worth knowing.
Wednesdays
The next issue lands Wednesday. Check your inbox for a note confirming the address.