Sorrento Sunset 5:35 PM

Winter Insider · August 2026 Winter 2026

Wine Country Winery Red Hill $$$

Red Hill Estate

One of the Peninsula's most photographed cellar-door positions, sweeping Western Port views and a serious traditional-method sparkling program.

Known for Panoramic Western Port Vineyard ViewsTraditional-Method Sparkling ProgramBlanc de Blancs and RoséFrench Island Sightline

Photo · CSIRO

Why we’d go

The view from the tasting room, vineyard slope dropping to Western Port, French Island in the middle distance, is the most dramatic cellar-door position on the plateau.

Red Hill Estate has one of the most arresting cellar-door positions on the Peninsula: the slope falls away toward Western Port, French Island sits in the middle distance, and on clear days Phillip Island appears at the horizon. It is one of the rare Peninsula vineyards where the geography does most of the sales work before you open a bottle.

The traditional-method sparkling program is quietly one of the Peninsula's best: the Blanc de Blancs rewards the drive on its own, and the rosé is a year-round favourite at the estate tables. With Max's restaurant now closed, the cellar-door tasting room becomes the primary reason to make the trip, and the position alone justifies it.

Book a cellar-door session and work through the sparkling flight. The view earns its own time. Pair with lunch at a nearby Ridge restaurant before or after.

Part of Red Hill Estate

Worth knowing

Best for
Cellar door visits · Scenic views · Long lunches · Wine lovers

If you only do one thing

Book a cellar-door tasting, work through the full sparkling flight starting with the Blanc de Blancs, and spend at least twenty minutes on the terrace with the Western Port view before you leave.

Works well with

Red Hill Cheese

Filed under Cellar DoorLong LunchViewSunsetBig GroupSpringSummerAutumnCouplesFamiliesGroupFirst Timers

Best in Spring and Summer and Autumn

Editor's verdict

Red Hill Estate has reinvented itself under the Fabrizio family ownership - the Italian-farmhouse concept is genuine, not cosmetic, and Gigi's Piazza adds an outdoor dimension that few Peninsula estates offer as effectively. The variety range is wider than most (Prosecco, Fiano, Merlot alongside the Peninsula standards), making the cellar door a discovery exercise rather than a variation-on-Pinot exercise.

Visiting

Walk-ins welcome Thursday–Monday, 11am–5pm; bookings recommended via OpenTable. Standard Wine Experience (5 wines); Premium Wine Experience (4 single vineyard wines) is the dearer tier. Dogs welcome outdoors.

Red Hill Estate Restaurant

Italian-farmhouse direction under Head Chef Daniel Middleton (formerly of Luca). Gigi's Piazza for open-air dining.

Cuisine: Italian-farmhouse / Tuscan-inspired.

Reserve a table →

Not sure how to build a day around Red Hill Estate?

Search Peninsula Insider

Nearby picks

More from Red Hill

Back to Wine Country →
Winery Red Hill

Avani Wines

112 Shoreham Rd, 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 doorslow
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.

cellar doorslow
Winery Moorooduc

Barmah Park Vineyard

3007 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Moorooduc VIC 3933 · $$$

A rustic, intimate cellar door running a five-wine, five-canape pairing from a hatted-standard kitchen, the most structured tasting format on the Peninsula.

cellar doorlong lunch

Build a day around this

Planning guides that include Red Hill Estate

Peninsula Insider guides that put this stop into the context of a full day or weekend.

Keep this for later

Verified May 2026 by Peninsula Insider How we check

Is this your venue? Claim it

Curated by our editors.

Peninsula This Weekend

One useful Peninsula email. Where to book, what changed, what's worth the drive - sent when there's actually something worth knowing.

Independent. No affiliate links. Unsubscribe any time.

Unsubscribe any time
Peninsula This Weekend 18 to 19 July

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.

  • How to Build a Red Hill Saturday
  • The Cellar Door Short List
  • Things to Do on the Mornington Peninsula
Read in 3 minutes · Used all weekend
Join