TOUR INFORMATION
All tours are tailored to suit the needs of your group (four to seven persons who know each other). Costings will vary according to your needs. Tours can run for half-day (5 hours), full-day (8 hours) or even longer. Naturally time constraints will influence the number of wineries visited. For example, a half-day tour will be confined to Ovens Valley wineries; a visit to King Valley, Rutherglen or Beechworth will require a full day. In general terms tours include pick up and drop off at your accommodation within Bright and its environs, tasting charges at wineries, bottled water and escorted commentary.
Pick up for a Full Day tour is 9.30am with drop off around 5pm, and for a Half Day tour, pick up is 11am with drop off around 4pm. Please note that bookings for Saturdays or Sundays for groups of 6 or more need to be made 48 hours before the day.
All tours incorporate a substantial lunch with matching wines, into the overall cost - unless negotiated otherwise. The wines of North East Victoria, are generally meant to be enjoyed with food, and this helps to explain why such a range of varieties and styles are on offer. The all-inclusive cost for groups of 4 or more is $150 per person for a Half Day Tour, and $180 per person for a Full Day Tour to the King Valley and $210 per person to Rutherglen.
HALF DAY TOUR
A Taste of the Ovens Valley:
Visiting old tobacco and gold mining country, you will find a number of great wineries and places to see including Gapsted, Ringer Reef, Billy Button wines and much more. If you are interested in the food side of things, visits to the Pumpkin Seed factory, or Nightingale's Alpine Apples, are also possibilities. For gin lovers a tasting at Reed & Co can be arranged, although extra charges may apply.
FULL DAY TOURS
A Taste Of The King Valley:
Apart from many fine wineries which focus on ‘alternate’ varietals from Wood Park Wines at Milawa through to Chrismont Wines at Cheshunt, we also celebrate their Italian heritage – Pizzini, Dal Zotto, Corsini and Politini. Tastings of local produce are also possible at Milawa Cheese Company and Milawa Mustards.
Ideally we will visit a maximum of four wineries for a tasting, with lunch at one of these wineries – Gracebrook, Dal Zotto or Chrismont have excellent food while the Mountain View Hotel in Whitfield is a highly rated ‘gastropub’ run by the Pizzini family.
A Taste Of Beechworth:
One of Victoria’s best preserved nineteenth century towns is also home to some of North East’s best restaurants and iconic wineries, not to mention the highly acclaimed Bridge Road Brewery. Many of the wineries do not have cellar doors, but we are happy to make special appointments for you. Options abound for a great day out.
A Taste Of Rutherglen:
One of Australia's oldest, and unique wine regions, Rutherglen is famous for its incomparable fortified wines. After a brief flurry of gold-mining activity in the 1850s, winemakers quickly realised Rutherglen's hot, dryish climate is perfect for producing the fortified dessert wines, that were so popular in Victorian England. Their Muscats and Topaques (Tokays) are rightly world-famous. A visit to this historic region, provides a perfect contrast to the modern, and adventurous wine-making taking place in the Alpine Valleys. Think All Saints, Campbells, Morris, Stanton & Killeen, Jones and Pfeiffer, and you get an idea of the iconic wineries, you can visit.
OVERSEAS TOURS
Each year we offer tours to some of the world's most significant wine regions. As with all our tours we endeavour to visit places that are not necessarily mainstream and cater for small groups (a maximum of 16 persons). The emphasis is on wine and its association with food as well as giving you a taste of each region's history and culture. Obviously with Covid, these tours have been put on hold, but, hopefully, we can re-commence when things around the world, get back to 'normal'.
Please contact us for your personalised overseas wine tour, as above we require a minimum number for tours to go ahead.
WINE EDUCATION
We offer wine education and wine appreciation classes for small groups (8 to 16 persons). Ideal for corporates or groups of like-minded friends who want to brush-up on their wine appreciation skills. Because classes involve tasting wines to support course content, participants must be at least 18 years of age.
Content can be tailored to suit the interests and needs of the group. Suggested topics include:- An Introduction to Wine and Wine Styles; Sensory Evaluation; Varietal Wines; Australian Wine Regions; and World Wine Regions.
Participants will be provided with printed notes, glassware and tasting samples appropriate to the topic. The duration of classes will be dependant upon the breadth and depth of subject matter but would generally be 2, 4 or 8 hours long. The number of wines tasted would also vary accordingly - normally 6, 12 or 24 samples.
Cost per person will vary according to class duration, number and type/quality of wines tasted. As a guide expect to pay $30 per person for 2 hours; $50 per person for half-day (4 hours); and $90 per person for full-day (8 hours).
Contact Bill (0407 882 727) for further information about these classes.
