The wine regions and wineries around Geelong have really come of age in recent years and in 2021 are firing on all cylinders. Below you can find four of our top Geelong picks that definitively prove out this point. If you make the time to visit them, you’ll quickly see why Geelong today rivals the best of Australia’s wine regions. So many amazing experiences and so much sublime wine to be had at the stops below! (To stay abreast of all our adventures, like/subscribe at facebook, instagram and youtube)
Pondalowie is one of our top five Geelong wineries. The place hits the bullseye with all of its rich and immediately satisfying wines. The experienced wine enthusiast will immediately recognise something different about these opulent drops. The underlying fruit is not from the Geelong region! Pondalowie (whose name itself is a nod to SA) sources their fruit from their original vineyards in Bendigo (a region famed for its Shiraz), which they established in the late 1990’s. Pondalowie has big plans for its new Geelong-region Pinot Noir vineyard, which will soon be producing wine-worthy grapes. But in the meantime, stop in for some of Victoria’s best wines served up with authentic Aussie hospitality. Pondalowie is a refreshing addition/change to the Geelong wine region. When one crafts wines these good, it doesn’t really matter where the fruit comes from 
Provenance Wines is easily Geelong’s hippest and most vibey winery. Situated in the heart of the old Fyansford Paper Mill (the broader complex of which is now an arts and cultural precinct), the haunting cellar door is eerily stunning – probably the most remarkable in the Geelong region. Provenance sources its wine grapes from its vineyards scattered across different regions of Victoria, including Geelong, Henty, Macedon and Ballarat. From this variety of fruit and climates, Provenance crafts an exquisitely expressive range of wines including a Henty Riesling, a Golden Plains Pinot Noir, a Geelong Nebbiolo, and many more. We absolutely loved their brambly Western Districts Shiraz, made from Grampians and Geelong fruit. A visit to Provenance is sure to impress the wine lover and the aesthetically inclined.
Nestled right at the top of the dramatic and atmospheric Otway Ranges, Blakes Estate is such a cute little winery. Almost so small and so adorable that you’d think such a bauble couldn’t possibly be serious about wine, but that could not be farther from the truth. Blake’s crafts their small range of wines the old way, from hand-pruning & picking the vines, to maturing the wines for months in the finest French oak barriques, to racking the wines instead of filtering them. And the reward is abundantly evident in the bottle. Blake’s reserve Pinot Noir was the most striking and unique Pinot we tried in 2020 – a masterpiece of a stature seldom seen. So few wineries craft wines of such quality and endurance any more – viva la Blake’s!
In many ways, Brown Magpie has the perfect setup for making great and in interesting wines. Nine manageable hectares of vines (big enough to create a solid range and get some nice soil and microclimatic diversity but small enough to personally attend and nurture) in one estate vineyard. [That’s our own dream one day, really :)] And from that perfect setup, Brown Magpie has crafted one of Geelong’s most authoritative wine lists, with all of the region’s major varietals represented, and often across multiple vintages and a couple styles. Because of this and Brown Magpie’s incisive winemaking skills, here you will find one of the best snapshots of the diverse wine expressions that Geelong can produce. As of January, COVID has mucked things up a little, so try to go during an off peak hour so you can get the full experience.
Incredible wineries that capture our hearts like the ones above are #WhyWeLoveWine
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