Explore I REGIONAL VICTORIA
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Jackalope hotel, Montalto, an MP Experience tour, Foxey’s Hangout, Doot Doot Doot at Jackalope, a Ten Minutes by Tractor vineyard, Green Olive, Merricks General Store. CENTRE: Gin from Bass & Flinders Distillery.
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PHOTOGRAPHY KATHERINE JAMISON, JACKALOPE, ROBYN LEA, ROBERT BLACKBURN, VISIT VICTORIA, TEN MINUTES BY TRACTOR, MP EXPERIENCE, MERRICKS GENERAL STORE
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he Mornington Peninsula – or simply “the Peninsula” to the legions of Melburnians who treat it as their summertime playground – certainly has a blue-blood pedigree, with real estate prices to match. But this popular beach destination, with its rolling green hinterland, just a little over an hour’s drive south-east of Melbourne, is fast cementing its reputation as one of Victoria’s best destinations for creative dining, great produce and fine wine – not to mention a groundbreaking new boutique hotel.
Wine and dine Victoria’s leading coolclimate producer of pinot noir and chardonnay, the Mornington Peninsula hinterland is punctuated with more than 50 cellar doors and over 200 vineyards. Crittenden has one of the swishest experiences in the ’hood, with guided tastings of wines in a bespoke space complete with open fire, while perennial favourites include the posh Polperro and the amiably rustic Foxeys Hangout. Food-wise, there’s a swathe of territory to cover, from the reliably
MELBOURNE Mornington Peninsula
sophisticated European menu at winery Ten Minutes by Tractor (also check out Petit Tracteur, their new, more casual bistro complete with boules piste) to the lunchtime pizzas churned out of the wood-fired oven at T’Gallant, consumed at picnic tables in the lush garden. Green Olive at Red Hill Vineyard and Olive Grove keeps things grounded with tapas and simple lunch dishes made from their own farm and other local produce, while Montalto offers diners a two-speed experience: the fine-dining restaurant or a packed picnic hamper in the sculpturedecorated grounds.
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Sleep on it The big news in the area is the arrival of Jackalope, a boutique 46-room hotel at the Willow Creek Vineyard in Merricks North, named after the giant-horned jackrabbit of North American myth. It certainly sounds improbable, but it is a fully-realised triumph of artistic imagination colliding with a healthy budget. From the Emily Floyd’s sevenmetre Jackalope statue dominating the forecourt to the designer roll call
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