Fergusson Restaurant & Winery Yarra Valley

Fergusson Restaurant & Winery is a family-run cellar door and restaurant at 82 Wills Road in Dixons Creek, about ten minutes north of Yarra Glen township. Estate wines pour beside a hearty restaurant menu, and dogs are welcome at the outdoor tables with the vineyard in front of them, which makes this one of the more rewarding lunch stops in the valley for owners travelling with a dog.

The dog setup

Dogs stay in the outdoor seating area, on a lead, while you eat or taste. Water bowls are sometimes put out but bring your own to be sure. Outdoor capacity is limited, so book an outside table rather than arriving hopeful. In the cooler months service moves indoors, and the dog-friendly option shrinks with it, so a phone call before you drive up is worth the minute it takes.

Pepsi: book the outside table when you book. The vineyard views are the whole point, and your dog gets a shaded seat out of the foot traffic.

Worth knowing

The kitchen leans traditional and generous. Pork belly and the panna cotta come up again and again in reviews, and the estate wines are poured at the cellar door next door to the restaurant. The property is also a popular wedding venue with a barrel room and on-site accommodation, so weekends can be taken over by functions. That is the main reason to plan ahead rather than wing it.

Getting there and parking

Wills Road runs off the Melba Highway at Dixons Creek with signed access to the winery, and there is on-site parking. The restaurant closes Monday and Tuesday, then serves lunch from midday Wednesday through Sunday, with slightly longer hours on Thursday.

Close by with the dogs

Continuing up the Melba Highway, Steels Gate Wines welcomes dogs on its deck and lawn areas, and Yarrawood Estate back toward Yarra Glen takes dogs on its lawns. For coffee in the township, The Vallie Store, Indoor Market & Cafe allows dogs inside, a rare thing in wine country.

Pick a clear, mild day and this is an easy half-day loop: lunch on the terrace at Fergusson, a lawn tasting at Steels Gate or Yarrawood, and coffee in Yarra Glen on the way home. In winter, ring ahead and confirm outdoor service is running before committing the drive.