Winery Merricks
Baillieu Vineyard
51 Stanleys Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$
A thoughtfully managed Merricks estate making elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that rewards the drive to find it.
Sub-region · Merricks
Merricks Wineries
"A quiet corridor between the ridge and the bay, with the best wine shop on the Peninsula."
Merricks runs down the gentler eastern slope of the Peninsula ridge toward Western Port Bay. The land is rolling rather than plateau, the soils slightly warmer than Main Ridge, and the vibe - village store turned wine bar, sculpture in the paddocks - is more relaxed than its high-altitude neighbours.
Pt. Leo Estate is the most ambitious project on the Peninsula: a sculpture park, three restaurants, and a producer in its own right. Stonier is the oldest established estate. Scorpo, Paradigm Hill and Kerri Greens are the newer generation working with conviction.
Merricks General Wine Store anchors the village - a casual lunch destination that doubles as the unofficial cellar door for several smaller producers without their own visitor space.
- Producers mapped
- 9
- Hatted producers
- 2
- From Melbourne
- approximately 1 hour
- Best season
- autumn
- When to skip
- school-holiday lunch rush
Why this sub-region
The land does most of the work
Cool-climate Mornington Peninsula wine is hyper-local. The five sub-regions sit within twenty minutes of each other but the bottle in your glass changes as you move between them. Here's what this one does.
Merricks sits 50–200m above sea level on the eastern flank of the Peninsula ridge, falling away toward Western Port. The slope direction matters: vineyards here see more morning sun and slightly less of the afternoon sea breeze that cools Red Hill and Main Ridge from the Bass Strait side.
The soils are a mix of red volcanic loam in the upper paddocks and grey-brown clay-loams lower down. Yields can be a touch higher than the ridge, ripening a few days earlier. The result is wines with a softer, more open mid-palate - generous on release, less austere than Main Ridge, less polished than Red Hill at its best.
Western Port Bay, calmer and warmer than Port Phillip, has its own moderating effect. Frost is rarer here. Vineyards on the gentle slopes above Balcombe Creek catch enough air movement to avoid disease pressure without losing flavour. Pt. Leo Estate and Merricks Estate sit close enough to the bay to feel its influence directly.
Editor's anchors
Start with these
The names we send people to first when they have one afternoon in Merricks.
Cellar door
Pt. Leo Estate
The Peninsula's most ambitious estate experience. Sculpture park, three restaurants (including hatted Laura), and a wine list that earns its prices. Book Laura for the statement; the casual bistro for the value.
Cellar door
Stonier Wines
A pioneer Peninsula producer making consistently serious Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from estate fruit. Less theatre, more wine. The Reserve range repays cellaring.
Cellar door
Scorpo Wines
Paul and Caroline Scorpo work with restraint and conviction - single-vineyard Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay with a textural confidence that has quietly made them a critic favourite.
Every producer · 2026
9 cellar doors and producers in Merricks
Ordered by editorial authority and Halliday score. Each card opens the full editor's note.
Winery Merricks
Elgee Park
89 Junction Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$
The Baillieu family's 1972 vineyard, the planting that started the modern Peninsula wine region, still in family hands, still making restrained Chardonnay and Viognier.
Winery Merricks
Kerri Greens
235 Stanleys Rd, Red Hill South VIC 3937 · $$
Tom McCarthy and Lucas Blanck's new-school Peninsula label, lighter-style Pinot, approachable Chardonnay, and a cellar door that feels like a bar.
Winery Merricks
Merricks Estate
1 Merricks-Frankston Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$
A small, long-standing Merricks estate making one of the Peninsula's rare serious Shiraz programs alongside Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Winery Merricks
Paradigm Hill
26 Merricks Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$$
George Mihaly's fastidiously farmed single-site Pinot Noir estate, appointment-only tastings, often led by George himself.
Winery Merricks
Pt. Leo Estate
3649 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$$
A sculpture park walk followed by a long bay-view lunch in the glass-walled restaurant.
Winery Merricks
Scorpo Wines
23 Old Bittern-Dromana Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$$
Paul Scorpo's tightly focused family estate, one of the Peninsula's most acclaimed Pinot Gris alongside elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.
Winery Merricks
Stonier Wines
2 Thompsons Lane, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$
One of the Peninsula's founding estates, planted in 1978, grown-up, unflashy, with some of the oldest Chardonnay vines in the region.
Winery Merricks
Willow Creek Vineyard
166 Balnarring Rd, Merricks North VIC 3926 · $$$$
The vineyard at the heart of Jackalope Hotel, a showpiece single-site program and the home of both Rare Hare and Doot Doot Doot.
See the editorial rankings → Best Cellar Doors on the Peninsula
What to drink here
The bottles this sub-region does best
Mornington Peninsula is, in the bottle, mostly two grapes done seriously. Here's what each does in this corner.
Chardonnay
The Chardonnay case
Merricks Chardonnay tends to be the most approachable of the four serious sub-regions - rounder on the mid-palate, lower acid than Main Ridge, with stone fruit and toasted nut more than mineral flint. Stonier and Pt. Leo Estate set the standard.
Pinot Noir
The Pinot benchmark
Pinot Noir from Merricks runs riper and more red-fruited than Main Ridge, with a generous mid-palate that drinks well young. Scorpo, Paradigm Hill and Kerri Greens make distinctly elegant examples; Pt. Leo Estate's single-vineyard bottlings show the upper end of what the slope can do.
Pair with the village
Eat and sleep in Merricks
Merricks General Wine Store is the lunch anchor - a converted village store now serving one of the Peninsula's most popular casual restaurants. Beach access at Merricks is quieter than Pt. Leo, and the surrounding farm lanes make for an unhurried drive between cellar doors.
Cellar door logistics
Before you drive
A small amount of planning is the difference between a working visit and a queue.
Most Merricks cellar doors operate Friday to Sunday, with some opening Wednesday and Thursday in peak season. The bigger estates - Pt. Leo, Stonier, Willow Creek - open daily for most of the year; smaller producers are appointment-only mid-week.
The sub-region is more spread out than Red Hill. Allow more drive-time between stops. Three cellar doors plus lunch at the General Wine Store is a full Saturday - don't try to pack four.
Merricks Beach Road and Stanleys Road are the spine. Both are sealed but narrow. The roads east of Merricks Beach Road can be unsealed in places - fine for a careful drive, less fine after summer storms.
On the map
Merricks, by location
Every editorially verified pin in Merricks on one screen - toggle a category, click any marker for the editor's note.
Loading map…
In voice
Journal pieces that touch this sub-region
Long-form writing connected to the producers above.
Keep going
Nearby wine sub-regions
The Peninsula's plateau is small. You can cover two sub-regions in one afternoon if you keep tastings short.
Frequently asked questions
What is Merricks known for in wine?
Merricks is the Peninsula's gentler eastern slope, falling from the ridge toward Western Port Bay. Wines here tend to be more approachable and rounder than Main Ridge, with Pt. Leo Estate, Stonier, Scorpo and Paradigm Hill as the lead names. Merricks General Wine Store is the casual lunch anchor.
Is Merricks the same as Merricks North?
Adjacent but distinct. Merricks is the coastal village with the General Wine Store and beach access. Merricks North is slightly inland and higher, home to several vineyards on the slopes toward Red Hill. Both are quiet and share the same character. For wine purposes they are treated as a single sub-region.
Can I do Merricks and Red Hill in one day?
Yes, comfortably. The two sub-regions are 15 minutes apart by car. A common move is morning at one and afternoon at the other, with lunch at Pt. Leo Estate or Montalto bridging the two. Pick one anchor with food and two smaller producers either side.