Avani Wines
112 Shoreham Rd, Red Hill South VIC 3937 · $$
Shashi and Rohit Singh's biodynamic family estate, one of the Peninsula's only serious Syrah programs alongside the Amrit single-vineyard range.
The vineyard at the heart of Jackalope Hotel, a showpiece single-site program and the home of both Rare Hare and Doot Doot Doot.
Known for Jackalope Hotel VineyardRare Hare Cellar DoorLL Vineyard Pinot NoirDoot Doot Doot Wine Program
Photo · Peninsula Insider
Why we’d goWillow Creek is the one Peninsula vineyard where the winemaking, the cellar door, and the two-hat restaurant are all drawing from the same block of vines, the coherence between them is the point.
Willow Creek is the vineyard at the heart of Jackalope Hotel and the source of the fruit for Rare Hare's cellar door and Doot Doot Doot's wine list. The estate is a working single-site program, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, and a short experimental range, and, despite the hotel wrapping the whole property in a design-hotel identity, the winemaking has maintained its own editorial voice.
You taste Willow Creek most directly at Rare Hare, which runs the blend-your-own experience from the vineyard's own fruit, or you encounter the wines through the Doot Doot Doot matched pairing at dinner. The vineyard walk itself, between the two, is one of the most quietly beautiful routes on the Merricks North side of the Peninsula.
Best encountered as part of a Jackalope day: cellar door at Rare Hare in the late morning, a vineyard walk, lunch on the lawn, and Doot Doot Doot at night.
Worth knowing
If you only do one thing
Book lunch at Rare Hare and taste the LL Vineyard Pinot Noir before you eat, it's the most direct expression of what this specific site produces.
Works well with
Rare Hare at Willow Creek · Baillieu Vineyard
Filed under Cellar DoorWalkViewAll YearCouplesGroup
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Ask The InsiderNearby picks
112 Shoreham Rd, Red Hill South VIC 3937 · $$
Shashi and Rohit Singh's biodynamic family estate, one of the Peninsula's only serious Syrah programs alongside the Amrit single-vineyard range.
51 Stanleys Rd, Merricks VIC 3916 · $$
A thoughtfully managed Merricks estate making elegant Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that rewards the drive to find it.
3007 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Moorooduc VIC 3933 · $$$
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.
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Peninsula Insider guides that put this stop into the context of a full day or weekend.
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