Lunch is probably the single most-asked-about part of the day after the wine itself, and there's a reason for that. There are no shops on the routes: no dairy, no bakery, no fruit stall. What you will find is what the wineries serve, so it pays to have an idea of the options before you set off rather than at 1:30pm when everyone is getting hungry.
Here's the rundown.
Oak Estate Cellar Door & Kitchen
Oak Estate is 2km from our base, and a workhorse of both routes. It is a proper bistro in the vines with a full kitchen, and makes it the most delicious sit-down lunch you'll find.
This summer season, Oak Estate will be open only on Saturday and Sunday: 11:30am to 4:00pm. Where Oak Estate sits is a natural point for both loops, so if you only book one thing, book this.
With them being close to our home base, makes it a useful fallback location. If your morning's wine tastings run overtime or the weather changes, Oak Estate is a short ride away.
Abbey Winery and Brewery
A short seven kilometres ride away on the Bridge Pa Triangle route, and the one people talk to us about afterwards. It is a winery and brewpub with live music on the weekends. No wine tasting here, but you can get pizzas, cheese boards and beers and wine.
It answers the question of what does the person who doesn't drink wine do? At Abbey, you can order a beer, eat pizza, listen to live music, and stop being a spectator. If your group has a mix of wine and beer people, put Abbey Winery and Brewery in the middle of your day and watch the mood improve.
One important caveat: Abbey is only open for a short period in the summer and shoulder-season, so check the current hours table before you build a day around it.
Ash Ridge Winery
Ash Ridge is right where you start and finish, and easy to overlook for exactly that reason. Go and try their cheese boards and pizzas. In autumn, winter, and spring they're open Thursday and Friday from midday to 5:00pm, and Saturday and Sunday from 10:30am to 5:00pm. More days in the summer.
Two ways to use Ash Ridge's location to your advantage: One. Start with a coffee and plan your day after the briefing before you ride out, or make it the last stop of the afternoon when you've come back in, handed over the bikes and collected your wine. The second option is underrated: sitting down with a glass at the end, is a nicer finish than driving straight home.
Trinity Hill
Two kilometres from our base, and open daily from 11:00am to 5:00pm even in winter, which makes it a great choice cellar door on either loop. They are well known for their wine, and they make some very nice cheese boards to compliment. Their hours mean it still works when other options may have shut.
Unison Vineyard
A key location on the Gimblett Gravels route, and worth knowing about is Unison Vineyard. They have teamed up with TomTom catering to bring a beautiful array of tapas dishes.
During winter and early spring you can get wine tasting there Friday to Sunday, but food is available on the weekends. From labour weekend, they open up more days with their tapas menu. Keep an eye on our winery opening chart to see when they are open - or give them a call.
Bring your own lunch options
If someone in your group has specific dietary needs, or you'd simply rather eat under a tree along the route, pack a picnic. Nearly all our bikes has a front basket, so carrying it isn't the problem people expect it to be.
When to book lunch
Always book ahead, especially on a Saturday, and especially if there are more than four of you.
A lunch reservation is hard to improvise; a kitchen has a finite number of covers they can seat at any one time, so priority goes to those who book. A large group of eight arriving unannounced at 1pm on a Saturday is the one scenario where a day genuinely can come unstuck.
What time? It always depends on where you go first and how long you stay, and how large your group is, which is why we can't book it for you. We can say that most cellar doors are flexible within about fifteen minutes of your slot, and that most people underestimate how long a ride and a wine tasting takes. We built a route planner for just this reason. Use it and build the day around it.
The pattern that works, in rough order:
- Pick up your bikes and get briefed - allow around 15 minutes.
- Visit 1 cellar door before lunch, 2 if you started early.
- Lunch somewhere between 12:30pm and 2:30pm.
- Aim for one or two more cellar doors in the afternoon.
- Buy your wine before 3pm and leave it at the cellar door. We will collect it and it'll be at base waiting for you.
- Get your bikes back by 5pm.
Most people actually manage around three to four wineries in the day. Five is possible on the shorter Gimblett Gravels loop if you're efficient, but efficient isn't really what the day is for.
The one thing worth planning properly is lunch.
Winery kitchens keep shorter hours than winery bars. Several stop serving food at 3pm or 4pm even when the cellar door stays open later. If lunch slides past 2:30pm, its good to ring ahead rather than turning up hopeful.
Check the current opening hours before you go. They move with the season, and we keep the table on our website that is up to date.