Tokar Estate

Tokar Estate is a family-owned winery on McMurtrie Road at Coldstream, perched high enough that the cellar door looks out over the length of the Yarra Valley. For dog owners the draw is the outdoor cellar door area and lawn: well-behaved dogs on leads are welcome there for tastings, cocktails and platters, with the vines and the valley doing the rest of the work. It runs roughly an hour from Melbourne, which makes it an easy first stop on a Coldstream loop.

Dogs at Tokar Estate

The policy splits cleanly: dogs are welcome in the outdoor cellar door spaces and on the lawn, and they are not allowed in the indoor restaurant or tasting room. Book ahead rather than chancing a walk-in, because the outdoor tables are the ones with the view and they go first, especially on weekends. Bring your own water and bowl, as the estate does not lay on dog amenities. Hours run 10:30am to 4:30pm on weekdays and 10am to 5pm on weekends.

Worth knowing

The range covers the Yarra Valley staples with real competence: pinot noir, chardonnay and an estate tempranillo, plus premium tastings and chocolate and wine pairings. Food is cheese boards and grazing platters rather than a full lunch outside, so this is a long, seated stop rather than a quick pour. The limoncello spritz has a following on warm afternoons.

Getting there and parking

The cellar door sits at 36 McMurtrie Road, Coldstream, just off the Maroondah Highway corridor. Free gravel parking surrounds the building with a flat gravel path from car park to door, so no stairs and no mud except after sustained rain.

Pair it with

Neighbouring Coldstream cellar doors keep the circuit going: St Huberts Cellar Door and Oakridge Wines are both minutes away. For a casual stop between tastings, The Yarra Valley Pie Stop is exactly what the name promises.

Pepsi: posted on the lawn, chin on paws, supervising a chardonnay flight with more patience than he shows at dinner.

More stops are listed on the Victoria dog friendly wineries list, and the Coldstream guide maps the rest of the strip.