Sorrento Sunset 5:35 PM
Winter Insider · August 2026 Winter 2026
The Peninsula's pioneering estate, four decades of Crittenden family winemaking, Pinot, Chardonnay, and the Spanish-Italian Los Hermanos range from a new lakeside wine centre.
Known for Founded 1982 by Garry CrittendenLos Hermanos Italian-Spanish RangeLakeside Wine CentreSecond-Generation Winemaker Rollo
Photo · Peninsula Insider
Why we’d goOne of the founding estates of the Peninsula, now surprising visitors with Italian and Spanish varieties nobody else on the Peninsula grows.
Crittenden is one of the founding estates of the Peninsula wine region, Garry Crittenden planted the first vines in 1982 and the property has stayed in the family for four decades, now under second-generation winemaker Rollo. That history matters, but it is not why you drive here. You drive here because the Crittenden line-up is one of the few on the Peninsula that genuinely surprises people: alongside textbook Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, Rollo has built out the Los Hermanos range, Savagnin, Arneis, Nebbiolo, working with Spanish and Italian varieties that barely exist anywhere else in the region.
The new Wine Centre, completed recently, sits beside the lake at the heart of the estate and is designed for proper seated tastings rather than elbow-to-elbow counter pours. Pair a flight with the lakeside Crittenden Restaurant next door for one of the most complete half-days in Dromana. Open daily for tastings; book for the restaurant.
Ask the team to walk you through the skin-contact and amphora-aged experiments, it is where the second generation is clearly stretching out.
Part of Crittenden Estate
Worth knowing
If you only do one thing
Ask the team to walk you through the skin-contact and amphora-aged experiments, it is where the second generation is clearly stretching out.
Works well with
Crittenden Restaurant · Small Stone Pantry
Filed under Cellar DoorWaterfrontSlowAll YearCouplesGroupFirst Timers
Editor's verdict
Crittenden Estate was making wine when the Peninsula was still finding its feet. Garry Crittenden planted the first vines in 1982 with genuine varietal curiosity: Italian varietals, unusual white grapes, and a serious interest in what grows well. Under Rollo Crittenden, the estate has kept that intellectual restlessness alive while refining the flagship range. The restaurant and lakeside villas make it a full-stay destination.
Not sure how to build a day around Crittenden Estate?
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16 April 2026
The vines coming back into leaf, the back beaches at their cleanest, the cellar doors quiet enough to actually talk to the winemakers, and the first warm afternoons of the year. The case for coming down in spring, before everyone else remembers to.
Nearby picks
25 Harrisons Rd, Dromana VIC 3936 · $$
Lakeside dining under a vine-strung pergola at one of the Peninsula's founding wineries, now Crittenden Restaurant under Head Chef Brunno Melo.
121 Point Nepean Rd, Dromana VIC 3936 · $$
Sprawling beachfront pub with an enormous deck and bay views, the straightforward bayside pub day done correctly.
12-14 Brasser Ave, Dromana VIC 3936 · $$
A polished industrial taproom next door to the Dromana drive-in, core beers, rolling seasonals, and the easiest bayside brewery stop on the Peninsula.
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