Rochford Wines Wine Tour Yarra Valley: Your Red Route Stop for Wine, Spirits and a View

Rochford Wines wine tour Yarra Valley: it's the kind of stop that makes you forget you're technically on a bus itinerary. Estate-grown chardonnay, award-winning single-vineyard pinot noir, a whisky and gin bar, and a view of the Great Dividing Range that makes every glass taste better.

What's actually worth trying

The cellar door pours Rochford's estate-grown chardonnay and pinot noir as the everyday heroes, but it's the single-vineyard reserve wines that pick up the awards.

Not feeling wine?

The Spirit Bar runs gin and whisky flights, so the designated-driver-less among your group (that's everyone, since we don't do that here) can switch it up without switching venues.

Hungry?

Isabella's Restaurant is right there on-site, so you can turn a tasting into an actual sit-down lunch without going anywhere. Il Vigneto Ristoranto is also on-site and can cater to your pizza cravings.

And if you've ever wondered where "A Day On The Green" happens, it's here, Rochford's been hosting the outdoor music festival series for years, so the grounds are built for lingering.

Rochford Wines Wine Tour Yarra Valley: Booking and Getting There

Rochford sits on the Red Route, and booking ahead is required as this isn't a wander-in-whenever kind of cellar door, so lock it in before you hop off the bus. That's really the only planning this stop asks of you. The rest is just deciding how many wines and how many gin flights feels right for you.

Worth remembering: Hop It isn't a private charter. You're sharing the bus with other travellers doing their own version of the same good day. That's kind of the point, new people, new recommendations, nobody stuck driving.

Why it's worth the hop

Rochford covers a lot of ground for one stop: proper wine, proper spirits, a proper meal, and views that do a lot of the heavy lifting on the "worth it" front. Pair it with a couple of other Red Route venues and you've got a full day that never once required anyone to hold a set of car keys.

Hop. Stop. Taste. Repeat.

Plan your Red Route day