Dominique Portet Winery for Lunch
If you are going to go out for lunch on a Sunday in the Yarra Valley you need to book in advance. My sister and brother-in-law live in America and come out to Australia on a regular basis. They love the Yarra Valley as much as we do and wanted to catch up and have lunch at a winery. A ring around in the morning to all the popular places came up with limited choice. Dominique Portet Winery came up as a possibility and it had some good reviews so we thought we would give it a go.
We made a booking for 12.30 lunch. It was a hot humid overcast day with the possibility of thunderstorms in the afternoon. ( not a blue sky day!). We met out the front where there were already people sitting outside having lunch. The gardens and views are very pretty.
We entered through some doors and walked past the wine tasting area ( They do have wine tastings for 5$ if you want – but we were there for lunch ) and then were taken to our table which was out in a large shed area which had walls lined with wooden palettes and wine barrels. The tables were spread apart and neatly set with white tablecloths.
Our waitress was very polite and had a very strong French accent. After some discussion about which wine to share we decided on a bottle of Dominique Portet Chardonnay. We shared a Charcuterie between the four of us. A lovely selection of cured meats, pate, pickled mushrooms, olives and terrine came out served on a wooden chopping board with a basket of sliced baguette.
The boys ordered the fish of the day (which was barramundi ) and my sister and I shared a coconut chicken salad. Presentation of the food was excellent. It was all very nice. Only comment for improvement from Dave being that the serving size of the fish could have been a bit more generous. ( From what I could see it really was quite a small serving.. however for all I know this might be normal for a French restaurant)
Tarrawarra Museum of Art | FRED WILLIAMS – 1974
The Tarrawarra Museum of Art is set on a hill in with lovely views of a nearby dam and Yarra Valley landscape. The building itself is strong and majestic looking. Over the years we have visited many exhibitions here and always incorporate it into a lunch out somewhere or a visit to nearby Yarra Valley Chocolatierie.
Fred Williams is one of our favorite artists and it was a great opportunity to see the paintings in this exhibition up close and from a distance in the gallery. While we were there a guide was giving a talk about the exhibition to a group of people. We listened for a little bit and then moved on to the other exhibition of large photos by Rosemary Laing. We had a coffee in the retaurant area and then headed home .
Drop into Yarra Farm Fresh
We noticed a sign saying “New Management” to a place called Yarra Farm Fresh and decided to check it out. We drove down the long pretty driveway into the farm property and parked the car. We entered the shop and checked out all the local produce.
There were all sorts of jars of sauces and yummy food. Strawberries were the big special of the day surrounded by a great array of fruit and vegetables. We picked up some Jap pumpkin ( needed it to cook up with a roast lamb), some yummy looking cherries and tomatoes.
Dominique Portet
870 Maroondah Highway,
Coldstream
VIC, 3770
Tarrawarra Museum of Art
311 Healesville-Yarra Glen Road,
Healesville, Victoria, Australia
Yarra Farm Fresh
40-44 Coldstream West Road – Coldstream
(corner of Edward Rd and Coldstream West Rd)
Victoria, Australia