Melbourne Lifestyle Blog: Lindenderry (Red Hill)

One fortunate thing about living in Melbourne, is the array of country-side escapes close to the city. Be it wine region, mountains or coast, there are many places to relax.

Lindenderry Estate Red Hill is in the heart of Victoria’s wine region. Set up as a winery, restaurant, hotel and function venue, this scenic spot could have been too big to be personal. But it has still retained its charm, friendliness and romance.

Only an hour’s drive from Melbourne, you could easily drive up for the day. I would recommend a night here, especially if you want to explore elsewhere in the region.

The rooms are comfortable. The bathroom was practical and attractive. Through the myriad of hallways, there was a library, a pool room, places to sip wine, and the restaurant. You can also walk through the vines and the garden.

The hotel has plenty of character and beautiful surrounds.

A pleasant stroll through the garden.

I imagine this as the aisle for wedding receptions.

It seems that the winery is secondary to the accommodation. The staff were friendly and down-to-earth, the space clean and relaxing. The restaurant was good, the wine, unfortunately, I did not like.

I tried the sparkling. It tasted of apples. I did not like it. My partner did not either – he thought it too sharp. I also tried the pinot noir which was too strong and turned me off doing any further wine tasting the next day.

There were only two vegetarian options on the menu, and both were pasta. So we ate pasta for entrée and for main. The mushroom and chestnut brunelli (thick, short, flat pasta) was done with a variety of mushrooms with a but of needed greenery. The texture of the pasta was like chestnuts, pasty and warm. A surprise egg yolk hid in the centre. It was a very nice dish – well presented and tasty.

Mushroom brunelli

The ricotta ravioli for main was served al dente with fresh ricotta. This was also done well.

Ricotta ravioli

Dessert was the highlight. The chocolate and caramel marquise with lavender ice-cream. The ice-cream was very milky, strong in colour with a delightful lavender taste. The marquise was a shiny and perfectly formed dome. I loved the crunch of the nuts. It was very rich.