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Winter Insider · August 2026 Winter 2026

Vineyard Stays on the Mornington Peninsula

The Peninsula's wine country is a 20-kilometre belt of plateau running through Red Hill, Main Ridge, and Merricks North. Staying in this zone changes what the weekend is - cellar doors become a morning walk rather than a drive, vineyard lunches are the main event rather than a detour, and the ridge light at dusk is what you came for.

Jackalope is the design-hotel benchmark: a black-steel structure set inside a working vineyard with one of Victoria's most ambitious dining rooms. Polperro, Port Phillip Estate, and Mantons Creek Estate offer the more private version - self-contained on working estates, close to serious winemaking. Port Phillip Estate (Wood Marsh-designed, one-hat restaurant, six suites) is the Peninsula's most architecturally serious winery stay. Mantons Creek near Shoreham is the under-indexed option - four vineyard suites, Quattro Restaurant on-site, two minutes from Ten Minutes by Tractor. Lindenderry gives the boutique-hotel register that suits those who want character over spectacle.

If you're spending two nights on the Peninsula and wine is the main reason, these are the properties that make the trip hold together.

Last fact-verified: 24 April 2026

Vineyard & winery stays

15 properties on or near the ridge

Estate villas and boutique hotels where the cellar door is either on site or within a short walk along vineyard rows.

Wine country →
Hotel Red Hill

Jackalope Hotel

166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$$$

A dramatic art-led design hotel set inside a working vineyard, with Doot Doot Doot's eight-metre chandelier overhead.

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Villa Red Hill

Polperro Villas

150 Red Hill Rd, Red Hill South VIC 3937 · $$$$

Two private vineyard villas sleeping four, with the Polperro cellar door at the end of the drive.

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Villa Shoreham

Mantons Creek Estate

240 Tucks Rd, Shoreham VIC 3916 · $$$

Four adults-only vineyard suites with on-estate Italian dining, two minutes from Ten Minutes by Tractor, the most under-indexed southern Red Hill base.

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Hotel Red Hill

Lindenderry at Red Hill

142 Arthurs Seat Rd, Red Hill VIC 3937 · $$$

40 acres of English-style gardens, a small estate vineyard, and the kind of country-house feel the Peninsula doesn't offer anywhere else.

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Villa Dromana

Crittenden Estate Villas

25 Harrisons Rd, Dromana VIC 3936 · $$$

Self-contained vineyard villas on the Crittenden lake, wake up, walk to the cellar door, and eat at the on-estate restaurant without getting in a car.

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Spa Merricks

Spa by Jackalope

166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$$$

The Peninsula's most design-led boutique spa, small, precise, and the natural pairing with a Jackalope stay or a Doot Doot Doot dinner.

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Spa Red Hill

Alba Thermal Springs & Spa

890 Mornington-Flinders Rd, Fingal VIC 3939 · $$$

The Peninsula's second-generation thermal springs complex, cleaner architecture, smaller crowds, better pacing than the original.

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Cottage Red Hill

Birch Creek

Red Hill VIC 3937 · $$

Two self-contained farm cottages on 40 acres near Red Hill, open fireplaces, outdoor tubs, dog-friendly, and goats.

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Villa Red Hill

Cassis Red Hill

Red Hill VIC 3937 · $$$

Five adults-only villas with private heated mineral plunge pools, on the edge of Red Hill wine country with views over Western Port Bay.

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Cottage Red Hill

Hideaways at Red Hill

Red Hill VIC 3937 · $$

Spa cottages for two with gas fires and in-room spa baths, walking distance from Red Hill village and the weekend market.

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Villa Merricks

Point Leo Estate Villas

3649 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$$$

Private villas on the Point Leo Estate property, sculpture park, bay views, and the hatted restaurant directly below.

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Cottage Red Hill

Treetops at Red Hill

80 McIlroys Rd, Red Hill South VIC 3937 · $$

Two quiet self-contained cottages opposite a micro-vineyard, local breakfast provisions included, and Port Phillip Estate under a kilometre away.

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Villa Moorooduc

Woodman Estate

Moorooduc VIC 3931 · $$$$

Three lakeside chalets over a private five-acre lake on a 50-acre English country estate, the Peninsula's most pastoral villa option.

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Frequently asked questions

Which winery has accommodation on the Peninsula?

Jackalope Hotel (Merricks North vineyard), Polperro Villas (Red Hill estate), Port Phillip Estate (Red Hill South - one-hat restaurant, six suites), Mantons Creek Estate (Shoreham - four suites, Quattro Restaurant on-site), Lindenderry at Red Hill (boutique vineyard hotel), and Crittenden Estate (self-contained villas on the estate). Note: Point Leo Estate does not operate on-estate accommodation.

Which part of the Peninsula is wine country?

Red Hill, Main Ridge, and Merricks North on the central plateau. The elevation and cool-climate conditions here are what produces Mornington Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with the character that's made the region internationally credentialled. Staying in this zone puts you within minutes of 20+ cellar doors.

How long do I need?

Two nights. Day one: arrive, afternoon cellar door session, dinner on the property. Day two: morning walk, two or three cellar doors, a long vineyard lunch (book ahead). Drive home Sunday evening. One night is doable but leaves most of Saturday dedicated to travel.

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July sits in the quieter stretch of Peninsula winter, and that is the point. The lead booking is a truffle hunt at Red Hill. Sunday is for the sculpture park at Pt. Leo.

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