Cellar Door Experience at Merricks Creek Winery
Merricks Creek offers visitors a fabulous cellar door experience, with a range of wines on tasting, ability to purchase wines, and wines by the glass that can be enjoyed with gourmet share plate dishes. The showcase wine is the Pinot Noir made in the Burgundy style, as well as an Estate Chardonnay. The cellar door experience is bespoke as these wines are not sold anywhere else; only at the cellar door. Merricks Creek is a fabulous cellar door experience also offering a plethora of attractive dining spaces and vineyard setting.
Pinot Noir is the most notable of the Merricks Creek Wines. Dr Peter Parker adopts a close planting method where Pinot vines are planted close together with roots in competition for nutrients. With the generous climate of the area, little irrigation is required. The result is Pinot with a greater intensity. With only around 2,500 bottles of Pinot made, it's a wonder the wines are on tasting, but they are with $10 a glass for Pinot.
Check out the rich colour of the Pinot Noir.
The Estate Chardonnay is crisp and well balanced.
Sit on the raised deck adjoining cellar door opening up to a stunning vineyard setting.
Open, airy and inviting.
A seamless transition from cellar door to the French inspired gardens.
Apart from Pinot Noir and estate Chardonnay the wine range is enhanced by Jolly Molly Pinot Noir and Wing It Wine Pinot Gris, both by Sam Parker. Of course Pinot Gris variety is close to Burgundy of French influence, a greyish grape, and a Pinot Gris is characteristically heavier than a Pinot Grigio (same grape variety), often with sweet and tropical notes.
A range of wines on tasting.
We recommend pairing the Pinot Noir with share plates but it's also awesome just sitting down with a glass to enjoy.
The wines are designed to match with the gourmet share plates menu. For example try a glass of Pinot Noir with Orange cinnamon sweet potatoes and garlic infused labne. This is a new dish that has proved extremely popular for its texture, hit of spice and delicious flavours.
The wines are at 2 different price points - the Merricks Creek Pinot Noir and Estate Chardonnay are popular for $50 a bottle while the Jolly Molly Pinot Noir and the Wing it Wine Pinot Gris sit at $30 a bottle.
Dr Peter Parker (right and below) is enthusiastic about all things wine and highly engaging at cellar door.
Dr Peter Parker is a clinical psychologist by day, and is an articulate and warm personality, and extremely knowledgeable about wine and winemaking. He often takes visitors through a few of the vintages of Pinot Noir (when available) and ask you if you can tell the differences between vintages.
Grilled Raclette cheese with hot potatoes, cornichons and cocktail onions is another popular dish at Merricks Creek.
A modern cellar door only an hour from Melbourne.
The wines can even be paired with desserts such as the Hot chocolate molten cake, raspberry coulis and ice cream. Warm and steaming goodness!
Share plate of 6 hour pulled Lamb shoulder and mushy peas.
Drop in to Merricks Creek Winery and enjoy one of the best cellar doors in Australia in our opinion. Dr Peter Parker is engaging and loves to talk about all things wine, Merricks Creek and Pinot Noir. Once again, the wines are only available at cellar door so it's a bespoke experience to engage with Peter Parker, sample the wines and hear from the winemaker himself.
It's a top notch food and wine experience with charm. After a tasting sit down for a delicious cheese plate, or popular Swiss Raclette, superb terrines, Free range pork and fennel meatballs, Osso Buco, Olasagasti anchovies and warm baguette, or even the 6 hour pulled lamb shoulder and mushy peas.
Relaxing dining spaces.
The drive to the Merricks Creek Winery cellar door is an attractive route.
Open from 12-4pm on weekends. Highly recommended.