Sunbury Wine Region 

Fifteen minutes from Tullamarine Airport, Sunbury's easy accessibility and small, family-owned wineries make an interesting introduction to visiting cellar doors. You will often find the winemaker taking a turn, ready to share knowledge and philosophies as well as their wines.

As with other regions around Melbourne, it has a rich and exciting history with the first vines being planted in the mid-1800s. Wine production ceased about fifty years later and it was not until the 1970s that vines were replanted.

The historic bluestone wineries of Goona Warra and Craiglee reflect the grandeur of those earlier days, while newer wineries have created their own individual hospitality with picnic and barbeque areas overlooking the vines.

Chardonnay is planted widely, with some semillon, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and pinot noir. But it is for shiraz that the area has become most widely known, and the Craiglee Shiraz is recognised as one of the finest in the country.

Sunbury, lying closer to Melbourne, is warmer and drier than Macedon. At a much lower altitude it has a more maritime climate. Chardonnay and shiraz are more reliably vintaged here and offer tighter, restrained and more European flavours and weight.