Greenstone Vineyards

Greenstone Vineyards sits high on Glenview Road above Yarra Glen, and it is one of the easier Yarra Valley cellar doors to visit with a dog: the big open lawn and the covered deck are both dog-friendly, with wide views across the valley from either. It is a casual tasting setup rather than a formal one, which suits a dog at your feet.

The dog setup

Dogs on leads are welcome on the lawn and the covered deck, and owners are expected to clean up after them. Water bowls are usually out, but pack a backup travel bowl and water in summer. The indoor cellar door building is off-limits, and so are the vine rows: dogs are kept out of the vineyard blocks for phylloxera biosecurity, and because kangaroos graze through the property, so keep the lead on even when the lawn looks empty.

Max: roos move through the vines around dawn and dusk. If your dog has never met one, this is not the place for a first encounter.

Worth knowing

The tasting list spans two regions, cool-climate Yarra Valley whites alongside warmer Heathcote reds including the shiraz. There is no full restaurant, but the cheese platter is the standard order for stretching a tasting into an afternoon, with antipasto, pies and sausage rolls through lunch. Free live music often runs on Sunday afternoons in the warmer months. The covered deck means a wet forecast does not sink the plan. Doors open Thursday to Monday, 10am to 5pm, closed Tuesday and Wednesday, and weekend deck tables are worth booking ahead.

Getting there and parking

The estate is at 179 Glenview Road, Yarra Glen, about an hour's drive from Melbourne up the Melba Highway side of the valley. Parking is on site, with an overflow car park on the top lawn for busy days.

Close by with the dogs

Yarrawood Estate welcomes dogs on its lawn a short drive down the hill, and in the township itself The Vallie Store does coffee and allows dogs inside. The Yarra Glen destination page pulls together the rest of the area's dog-friendly stops.

Weekends fill the deck fast, so midweek or an early-afternoon arrival is the calmer play with a dog in tow. For more of the valley, the Victorian wineries listing covers the wider region.