By JESSE GRAHAM
FOR a glass of some of the finest wine in the Yarra Valley while you enjoy the leafy autumn weather, it’s hard to go past Yileena Park, which sits just five minutes out of Yarra Glen.
The winery, which first began as a cattle stud in 1992, opens from Thursday through to Monday, 11am-5pm, in its upstairs tasting room.
Visitors can sit on the balcony at the winery and see as far as Healesville while enjoying a glass of Yileena Park’s finest wines, whether red or white is the preferred drop.
Bob and Dianne Curtis own the 40-acre winery, and Bob said that, following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires that tore through the area, he and his wife concentrated on the winery 100 per cent.
“From the start, we wanted to grow limited amounts of intense fruit to create high-quality wine,” he said.
He said the wines at Yileena Park were usually aged for around four years before they were released, with six years of ageing for the winery’s reserve range.
“It’s taken a long time, but we’ve gained a reputation for having aged reds in the Yarra Valley,” Bob said.
He said that the winery’s Victorian-style drawing room, located upstairs, was a favourite for visitors and the atmosphere at Yileena Park was warm and inviting for small and intimate events.
For Bob, the ageing of the winery’s wine and the intimate spaces for visitors were a huge point of difference that sets the winery apart from its competitors in the Yarra Valley.
Yileena Park has a range of Pinot Noir, Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Pinot Rose and sparkling wines on offer to taste and buy, with sales available from their website.
Yileena Park is located at 245 Steels Creek Road, Yarra Glen, and is open from 11am-5pm Thursday-Monday. For more information, call 9730 1977, email info@yileenapark.com.au or visit www.yileenapark.com.au.
