Canonical: https://peninsulainsider.com.au/explore/places/red-hill/ Publisher: Peninsula Insider Published: unknown Modified: unknown Format: public main text, generated from the canonical page; imagery and interactive controls omitted. Dates and caveats below retain their page meaning; this format is not a new fact check. [Red Hill & Merricks]() # Red Hill A grassy path between vine rows leads to the glass-fronted restaurant and umbrellas at Montalto, beneath tall pine trees Photo · Two Palms Australia, courtesy of Visit Victoria Where in the Peninsula is PI? PI passed through here. Case 02, Took the long way to dinner. Twenty minutes ahead of you, as usual. [Play the case]() Red Hill in 12 photographs 1 / 12 A grassy path between vine rows leads to the glass-fronted restaurant and umbrellas at Montalto, beneath tall pine trees Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove, Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula. Photo · Two Palms Australia, courtesy of Visit Victoria Red Hill is the central hinterland village of the Mornington Peninsula's wine country, 85 km from Melbourne, on a cool-climate basalt plateau between Western Port and Port Phillip. On a misty basalt plateau above the Peninsula's central ridge, Red Hill has arranged some of the strongest food and wine in Victoria into a circuit that rewards the unhurried. A village by strict measure - a general store, a monthly market, vineyard restaurants that don't advertise from the highway - it nonetheless organises the whole upper Peninsula around itself. The winery restaurant cluster here - Ten Minutes by Tractor, Montalto, Paringa Estate, Principia - has no serious peer in the state. Come on Saturday; plan lunch first. Photo · Peter Foster, courtesy of Visit Victoria At a glance **From Melbourne** approximately 1 hour **Best season** Autumn **Stay** two nights minimum **Best for** wine lovers, Saturday market visitors **Avoid** summer Saturdays after 11am Insider The plateau is best early, before the market traffic and lunch bookings turn every short drive into a slow crawl. The most concentrated food and wine precinct on the Peninsula, on the plateau above the bay. Peninsula Insider - editor's note Is Red Hill the right base? ## Who this place rewards - and who should keep driving ### It's for - wine lovers - Saturday market visitors - couples who cook ### It's not for - non-drivers - people trying to do the Peninsula cheaply Trying to do more than three cellar doors in a day - the road between them is narrow and slow. Red Hill in brief ## Red Hill in 5 points - 01 Red Hill is the Mornington Peninsula's wine and food epicentre - specifically Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and orchards producing apples and cherries. - 02 Best for: wine tourists, serious eaters, weekend stays that centre on food rather than beach. - 03 Signature experience: a cellar door Saturday and lunch at a vineyard restaurant. - 04 Spend at least one full day; two nights if you're here for wine. - 05 No beach within five minutes - that's not what Red Hill is for. A perfect day here ## A day in Red Hill A producer trail through the morning, long lunch at one of the ridge restaurants, one cellar door in the afternoon. The plateau is best early, before the market traffic and lunch bookings turn every short drive into a slow crawl. - Editor's note What's mapped here - [**3** places to eat]() - [**3** cellar doors & makers]() - [**3** stays]() - [**5** ways to explore]() - [**3** escape plans]() - [**4** journal pieces]() Explore Red Hill by experience ## Category guides for Red Hill Deeper editorial guides focused on one experience category within Red Hill. - [Red Hill Wine Cellar doors, terroir, tasting routes and producers on the plateau.]() Eat & drink ## Where to eat and drink in Red Hill Restaurants, cafés, bakeries, and pubs - each with an editor note, not a star rating. [More to eat in Red Hill →]() Photo: Peter Foster, courtesy of Visit Victoria Restaurant [Red Hill]() ### [The Epicurean]() 165 Shoreham Road, Red Hill South VIC 3937 A long table in Red Hill’s historic coolstore and packing shed. long lunch [Read notes]() [Book]() Photo: Two Palms Australia, courtesy of Visit Victoria Restaurant [Red Hill]() ### [Green Olive at Red Hill]() 1180 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 A working olive grove and produce kitchen on the Red Hill ridge, grazing boards, wood-fired mains, and oils pressed from the estate's own trees. long lunch garden [Read notes]() [Book]() Restaurant [Red Hill]() ### [Many Little]() 166 Red Hill Rd, Red Hill South VIC 3937 Sri Lankan flavours in a European wine-bar setting, from the Polperro team, paired with natural wines and small Peninsula producers. first date anniversary [Read notes]() [Book]() [See the editorial rankings → Best Restaurants on the Peninsula]() Wine & producers ## Cellar doors and makers around Red Hill The producers worth the appointment - and the ones already shaping the region's vintage conversation. [Red Hill wine guide →]() Winery [Red Hill]() ### [Avani Wines]() 98 Stanleys Road, Red Hill South VIC 3937 Shashi and Rohit Singh's biodynamic family estate, one of the Peninsula's only serious Syrah programs alongside the Amrit single-vineyard range. cellar door slow [Read notes]() Winery [Red Hill]() ### [Eldridge Estate]() 120 Arthurs Seat Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 David Lloyd's tiny cult estate, single-clone Pinot Noirs from individual rows, plus Gamay, made for the Burgundy obsessives. cellar door slow [Read notes]() [Book]() Winery [Red Hill]() ### [Foxeys Hangout]() 795 White Hill Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 Biodynamic Red Hill estate with an all-day deck, sunny long lunches, and a sparkling program that holds its own against anything French. cellar door long lunch [Read notes]() [Book]() [See the editorial rankings → Best Cellar Doors on the Peninsula]() Stay ## Sleep in Red Hill When a place has a workable bed attached, it stops being a stop and starts becoming a base. [Red Hill stays →]() Illustrative, not Cassis Red Hill. Photo: faVori rouge · Mornington Peninsula vineyard · resized and converted to WebP [Source]() [Licence]() Villa [Red Hill]() ### [Cassis Red Hill]() 164 Arthurs Seat Road, Red Hill VIC 3937 Five adults-only villas overlooking the vines: two with mineral plunge pools, three with outdoor baths. anniversary romance [Read notes]() [View stay]() Illustrative, not Hideaways at Red Hill. Photo: faVori rouge · Mornington Peninsula vineyard · resized and converted to WebP [Source]() [Licence]() Cottage [Red Hill]() ### [Hideaways at Red Hill]() Red Hill VIC 3937 Woodland Cottage at Hideaways at Red Hill is a two-person guest suite with an indoor spa bath. cellar door romance [Read notes]() [View stay]() Photo: Peter Foster, courtesy of Visit Victoria Hotel [Red Hill]() ### [Lindenderry at Red Hill]() 142 Arthurs Seat Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 A Red Hill hotel set on 34 acres of gardens and vines, with an on-site dining room and a weekend cellar door. weekend escape garden [Read notes]() [View stay]() [See the editorial rankings → Best Places to Stay on the Peninsula]() Get outside ## Explore moves anchored to Red Hill Walks, beaches, lookouts, and markets worth scheduling around the meals. [Explore near Red Hill →]() [Lookout]() [Red Hill]() 1.5 h · Easy ### [Arthurs Seat Eagle]() Arthurs Seat is the Peninsula's highest point and the Eagle is the gondola that runs people up it - about fifteen minutes each way, dangling over eucalypt canopy, with the bay widening out below until Melbourne appears on the northern horizon. As a first move on a Peninsula weekend it is surprisingly effective: you arrive, you go up, and the whole region orients itself around you in a way that makes the rest of the trip easier to plan. The summit has a cafe, a lookout deck, and short walking trails through the scrub. Come at the start of a clear day for the view north across the bay; come at the end of a clear day for the light spreading over the ridge. Go midweek if you can - weekends in school holidays can be busy. Book tickets online if visiting in summer. [Open the guide →]() [Gallery]() [Red Hill]() 1 h ### [Montalto Sculpture Trail]() Montalto's sculpture trail is the quieter, gentler sibling of the Pt. Leo Sculpture Park - a curated walk through the vineyard and gardens with a rotating collection of contemporary Australian work, small enough to browse in under an hour but carefully enough placed that each piece earns its spot in the landscape. The trail is designed to be walked before or after a meal at the Montalto restaurant, and that is exactly how to use it. Arrive for a late-morning cellar door tasting, walk the trail, then move into the dining room for a long lunch. The afternoon disappears and the pace is right. Ask the cellar door team what is new when you arrive; the collection changes periodically and the permanent and rotating works are labelled differently. [Open the guide →]() [Tour]() [Red Hill]() 4 h ### [Red Hill Hinterland Cycling]() The rolling hills of the Red Hill hinterland are some of the most rewarding cycling terrain in Victoria. Dedicated bike routes, quiet back roads, and the natural ridge geography combine to link wineries, farms, and viewpoints through some of the most beautiful farmland on the Peninsula. A half-day loop threading together three or four cellar doors - with lunch somewhere in the middle - is one of the Peninsula's most civilised ways to spend a sunny Saturday. Bike hire is available from a handful of operators in Red Hill itself, and the routes can be self-guided or booked as a supported day tour with a driver picking you up at the finish. Either way, the scale of the ridge makes it the ideal bike country: the climbs are real but never punishing, the views open up constantly, and the cellar door schedule writes itself. Best in autumn when the vineyards change colour and the traffic on the ridge roads is minimal. [Open the guide →]() [Attraction]() [Red Hill]() ### [Red Hill Truffles]() Red Hill Truffles is a working truffière on the Red Hill ridge that opens for seasonal truffle hunts from late autumn through winter. The format is the one every winter food-obsessive eventually books: a morning in the field with trained dogs working each row and nosing out the black truffles hidden under the inoculated oaks, followed by a small tasting back at the shed where the truffles go into eggs, butter, and whatever the kitchen is running that week. The hunt itself, watching the dogs work, is as much the point as the truffle on the plate. Truffle seasons are short and weekend slots book out months in advance every year. June and July are the peak months. Dress for the field and understand that rain makes it better, not worse, the dogs work in all conditions and the atmosphere in a wet winter grove is its own reward. Fresh truffles are available for sale when they are up, and the product is excellent. One of the Peninsula's most unusual winter experiences. Book months in advance for weekends. [Open the guide →]() [Walk]() [Red Hill]() 1 h · Easy ### [Summit Circuit Walk - Arthurs Seat]() The Summit Circuit is the ideal short walk for most Peninsula visitors who want the Arthurs Seat view without committing to an all-day trek. A 1.8-kilometre loop at the top of the mountain that guides you past the major points of interest - Seawinds Gardens, the Matthew Flinders Cairn, the William Ricketts sculptures, bay-to-ocean lookouts at multiple points, and the Seawinds Nursery Indigenous Garden - all within an easy hour of walking. The view from the summit is the entire Peninsula in one sweep: Port Phillip Bay on one side, the ridge and the ocean country on the other. On a clear day you can see as far as the You Yangs to the west and the city of Melbourne to the north. Drive or take the Arthurs Seat Eagle (chairlift) to the top. Walk the full circuit. Take a coffee from the summit kiosk on the way back. [Open the guide →]() Use it in sequence ## Escapes that already route through Red Hill These plans have been written around the landscape here - not bolted on after. [Plan a Red Hill weekend →]() Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove, Red Hill, Mornington Peninsula. Photo: Two Palms Australia, courtesy of Visit Victoria Plan ### [Ridge to Sea: A Two-Night Peninsula Escape]() Start in Red Hill wine country, finish at the southern tip, and let the weekend widen as it goes. Two-night escape · Best for couple · Red Hill [View Plan →]() Plan ### [The Peninsula Family Day Out]() A gondola ride, a brewery lunch and a bay beach, with a coffee stop only if the day runs early. Day trip · Best for family · Mornington [View Plan →]() Plan ### [The Peninsula Golf Weekend]() Two nights at Jackalope, one round at St Andrews Beach, vineyard meals and a short coastal alternative for non-golfers. Two-night escape · Best for friends · Rye [View Plan →]() Read this place properly ## Journal pieces connected to Red Hill Long-form editorial that builds the picture of a place beyond any single visit. [More in the Journal →]() Slow Peninsula 7 min ### [A Flinders Weekend: The Case for the Quiet Side of the Peninsula]() 4 April 2026 When Red Hill is booked out and Sorrento feels like a queue, there is another version of the Peninsula weekend that runs south of everything, closer to the ocean, and slower on purpose. Editor's Letter 8 min ### [A Winter Peninsula Weekend: The Case for Coming in July]() 13 April 2026 Short days, cheap rooms, empty dining rooms, a fire in every cellar door with a hearth, and a coast that looks like a different country in a southerly. Winter is the Peninsula's most underrated season and the one that gives the region back to the people who actually live here. Hub Guide 8 min ### [Red Hill: The Peninsula Insider Guide]() 2 May 2026 Red Hill is the Peninsula's food-and-wine centre of gravity, but the best version of it is narrower than most visitors think. This is a place for one market morning, one properly chosen cellar door, and one lunch that gets the whole day. Editor's Letter 8 min ### [The Autumn Weekend Edit: Why April on the Peninsula Feels Most Earned]() 9 April 2026 Cool mornings, warm lunches, empty terraces, and the kind of light that makes every terrace look serious. This is the month the region stops performing and starts meaning something. Planning guides ## Service guides for your Red Hill trip Long-form editorial that helps you build a weekend, not just a list of places. [All Peninsula guides →]() [3-Day Peninsula Itinerary →]() [Weekend Plans →]() [Self-Drive Winery Tour →]() [Best Brunch Guide →]() [Hot Springs Guide →]() [Winter Guide →]() [Dog-Friendly Peninsula →]() Where it sits ## Red Hill on the Peninsula [See the full Peninsula map →]() Go deeper ## Explore Red Hill by experience Each guide focuses on one experience category - useful when you already know what you’re here for. - [Red Hill Wine Cellar doors, terroir and the sub-region’s anchor producers]() - [Red Hill Stays Vineyard villas, design hotels and hinterland bases]() Keep going ## Nearby places worth knowing next Because a Peninsula trip is always made up of two or three pockets, not one. Ocean Coast · town ### [Flinders]() Flinders sits on the wild southern edge of the Peninsula and carries itself with a kind of salt-air confidence. The village is compact but smart - a bakery, a handful of good shops, an old pub, and a coastline that feels a world away from the bay-facing polish further north. Base yourself here if you want your mornings to begin with wind off Bass Strait, your afternoons with a drive back inland for lunch, and your evenings under a harder, cleaner sky. Red Hill · village ### [Merricks]() Merricks is where the Peninsula's wine country starts to feel private. There is almost no main street to speak of, just a low-slung hall, winding vineyard roads, and a cluster of estates and restaurants that reward people who know where to turn off. The light is softer here than in Red Hill proper and the bay feels unexpectedly close. It is one of the Peninsula's best places to stay if your idea of a weekend away means vines outside the window, lunch that goes too long, and very little noise. Peninsula Tip · town ### [Sorrento]() Sorrento is where the Peninsula narrows to a point and the social temperature rises. This is old-money beach culture done with increasing sophistication - limestone cliffs, a ferry to Queenscliff across the Heads, ocean baths carved from rock at low tide - alongside a main street that has quietly evolved into something genuinely worth driving for. The summer crowd is real and relentless, but the town earns it. Off-season Sorrento is a revelation: the light changes, the restaurants empty out to their best selves, and you can walk the ocean beach from one end to the other without encountering anyone but locals. The back beach at dusk is one of the best things on the Peninsula, full stop. Stay at least two nights. [← Explore more Peninsula destinations]() Got a Red Hill secret? If there's a Red Hill corner you think we'd cover better with your help - a back-bay swimming hole, a producer's farm-gate, a local pub that hits - send it through. Editorial review, named credit if we publish it. [Tell us about Red Hill →]() Something wrong on this page, or is this your business? [Tell us what to fix]() and you get a case reference back. corrections@peninsulainsider.com.au reaches the same desk. ## The Insider Note The Peninsula worth knowing. An occasional email. What's on, where we'd go and what's worth knowing next. Independent editorial. Sent when there is something worth knowing. Unsubscribe any time [Privacy]() On the map ## Red Hill, by location Every editorially verified pin in Red Hill on one screen - toggle a category, click any marker for the editor's note. Loading map… On the calendar in this place ## Events in Red Hill Coming up in Red Hill, pulled from the events registry. [All events →]() - [1 May – 30 April 2027 ### ✦ Foxeys Hangout Vegetable Feast (Morning Sun Vineyard) Red Hill Chef Bernard McCarthy's all-vegetable, multi-course feast at Morning Sun Vineyard in Main Ridge, matched to Foxeys wines. Ticketed, shared table, outdoors at a working vineyard. Food & Wine]() - [Monthly ### ✦ Hill & Ridge Community Market, 3 October 2026 Red Hill The separate Hill & Ridge Community Market is confirmed by its organiser for Saturday 3 October 2026, 9am–2pm, at Red Hill Recreation Reserve, 184 Arthurs Seat Road. Entry is free but parking has a charge. Unsafe weather can cancel the event without notice; check the organiser before travelling. Markets]() - [1 May – 30 April 2027 ### ✦ Polperro Cellar Table, Private Dining Experience Red Hill Polperro's private dining room below the winery. Six to eight guests, five courses, the latest Polperro and Even Keel cuvees poured by the people who made them. Food & Wine]()