Winery tours

The Mornington Peninsula is a well-known cool-climate wine region, with cellar doors scattered through rolling hills and winding back roads. It is lovely country to explore, and it is also country where someone has to stay sober behind the wheel. With Taxi Peninsula, that someone is our driver. We take couples, friends and family groups on relaxed winery days, so everyone can enjoy the tastings and the views.

How a winery day works

Rather than a fixed tour, think of it as hiring a taxi and driver for part or all of the day. You choose the wineries, the lunch stop and the pace, and we drive you between them, wait or return as arranged, and bring everyone home at the end. Tell us roughly how long you want to be out and which areas interest you, and we will help you put together a sensible route. The booking form gives a fare estimate, and for a planned day we can provide a fixed quote on request.

Where on the Peninsula?

Most cellar doors sit in a handful of areas, each with its own character:

• Red Hill and Red Hill South, the heart of the region, with many cellar doors, restaurants and the local market
• Main Ridge, higher and cooler, with small estates and farm gates along quiet roads
• Merricks and Merricks North, rolling country running down towards Western Port
• Moorooduc, closer to Mornington and Frankston, convenient for a shorter afternoon

Many wineries take bookings for tastings or lunch, and some have limited opening days, so we recommend checking with the cellar doors you want to visit and booking ahead, particularly on weekends and during the summer and Easter holidays. Let us know your reservations and we will build the timing around them.

Groups and the Maxi

For a birthday, a hens’ day or a long-planned catch-up with friends, the Maxi WAT carries up to six passengers in one vehicle, so the conversation keeps flowing between stops. Larger groups can book a second vehicle and we will coordinate the two. We can collect people from several homes, from a hotel or from Frankston station for friends coming down from Melbourne.

Wheelchair users welcome

Winery country can be tricky for wheelchair users, with gravel car parks and sloping paths. Our wheelchair accessible van has a rear ramp and our Maxi WAT a hydraulic hoist, and both use four-point restraints and lap-sash seatbelts, so a wheelchair user can share the day with the rest of the group. Accessibility varies between cellar doors, so it is worth asking each winery about step-free entry and accessible toilets when you book your tastings. Our driver will drop you as close to the entrance as the property allows.

Making the most of the day

Eat a proper breakfast, plan a long lunch, and leave room in the boot for the cases you will inevitably buy. Some visitors combine wineries with other Peninsula stops, such as a cheese or chocolate maker, a berry farm in season or a walk at Arthurs Seat. Others finish the afternoon with a soak at Peninsula Hot Springs in Fingal, or with dinner at a winery restaurant before the drive home. If you are staying at a hotel or resort, we can collect you from your door in the morning and drop you back in the evening, and the whole day runs on your timetable rather than a coach schedule.

A few practical points help the day go smoothly. Drink plenty of water between tastings, wear comfortable shoes for gravel paths and vineyard lawns, and bring a jacket, because the hills around Red Hill and Main Ridge can be noticeably cooler than the coast. Share your winery and lunch bookings with us beforehand, and nominate one person in the group as the contact for the driver, so changes to the plan are easy to pass on. If the group decides to linger longer over lunch, just let the driver know.