Great cellar door, give it a go! We had a lovely tasting with Tony, the owner, and bought two…read morereally nice bottles. This winery has won quite a few awards and shouldn't be missed.

Excellent example of robust and tasty Heathcote reds, situated on a lovely estate, Sanguine should…read morebe a must-stop for cellar-door weekend hoppers. The owner greeted us warmly, and took us through his family history and their relationship with wine as we tasted quite a few of their great quality wines. We will be back.

Curated wine tasting! We visited the Heathcote Wine Hub at…read moretheir new location in a converted chapel and had a really enjoyable wine tasting. We spent almost 2 hours there and tasted 10 local wines selected by Toby after discussing our preferences and tastes. This is a great way to taste the best of the local wines without driving all over the region! He makes a really good coffee too!!

I was sceptical of this place when we drove into Heathcote town on a whim the other weekend. The…read morelady at the tourist office pointed us in this direction, saying they housed *all* the wines from the whole area, but we figured this would be for drive-by tourists and we'd prefer to visit some cellar doors, so off we went, and a lovely time was had. On the way back though we had a little bit of time before the Wine Hub shut up shop, so we popped in to give it a try. Very impressive wine store indeed. They had 24 wines on free tasting (!!) and the wine guy there took us through all of them letting us know a bit about the wineries behind them. Instead of being an alternative to visiting cellar doors, it really compliments it, and we found we now have a list of cellar doors we must visit next time. Needless to say our car was a little heavier on the drive home than up!

Home to the nicest wine I tasted on our wine tour (their 2008 Reserve Shiraz), Downing Estate's…read morecellar door is actually a literal cellar underneath the winemaker's home! It's custom built and feels a little cold and impersonal, as if you're loitering in someone's garage. It's difficult to imagine how this space could adequately cater to large groups. It was straight down to business on arrival, despite being only the second visitors of the day. Not a great deal was said about the wines, and information was - on the whole - only offered up upon asking. Instead, we were left to read laminated information sheets, which didn't lend to a personable feel. I guess not all winemakers are schmoozers. The wines themselves are mixed. I tasted my first sparkling Shiraz (let's just say that's not on my shopping list) and an unusually tasty Merlot - don't pass that up. The jewel here though is that 2008. It's sensational and I regret I could only afford one bottle. Pop in if you have time.

Yes, the wine is fantastic, but dog fans take note that the super-friendly border-collie Max will…read moretry (and succeed!) to pull your attention away from your tasting. Be prepared to taste in one hand and throw him a ball with the other and all will be well!