Helen’s Hill Estate

Absolutely beautiful estate, and as the first place on the wine map you might come to when driving from town, an amazing introduction to the delights of the Yarra Valley.
The tasting selection is huge (half for free, $ 5 for the whole she-​bang, refunded with purchase) and there’s also some oil and spreads tastes available.
There’s a deck if you want to sit with a glass, or a beer, and a huge picnic area too.
There was also a restaurant up on the hill which seemed to be getting good traffic in on the weekend with most using coupon discounts.
Helen’s is also one of the few wineries to offer a cellar door discount in the 2014 – 2015 entertainment book, which hopefully they continue to do, as it helped justify a splurge!
Well worth a visit.

Last weekend my wife and I spent the day in the Yarra Valley for my birthday; she organised a private tour with Vinetrekker (Paul) and Paul was kind enough to create a custom itinerary for just us, and Helen’s Hill was one of the stops I wanted to make.
As it turned out, it was our first of the day!
We were, I believe, the first in the cellar door at 10am when doors opened. We were helped by Jeanette, who was in the midst of preparing for a large group (looked like she had set out a good 15+ glasses!) so I think she was still mentally «in the zone» for something other than just the two of us.
Having said that, her knowledge of the wines, of the label, and of all things we spoke of was fantastic. Clearly knows her stuff, and the wines she represented.
We tried both of their ranges, the Ingram Rd range (which is the physical address of Helen’s Hill) and the Helen’s Hill range — and there are definitely differences between them. Both are very good, and I won’t go into a wine review here, as this was more about the winery.
There were two big yellow labs there to greet us, both of whom were as friendly as you’d expect of the breed. The tasting room /​cellar door is spacious, with rooms for pretty good sized groups. I have some pictures I’ll try to share as well.
Do note, there’s no food on offer in the tasting room; Helen’s Hill has a restaurant just up the road, and they’ve learned over the years that if you offer too many nibbles people just come in for the tasting and nibbles and drive off without a purchase. Personally, I find that behaviour reprehensible, and I always try to find something I like at a given winery that I want to take home.
And so it was with Helen’s Hill, we went out with 10 bottles of various things, and I can’t wait to break into them! It was a fantastic and beautiful start to a wonderful day, and I can definitely recommend Helen’s Hill as a spot to try if you’re in the area!

Note: this is a brief review of the Helen’s Hill winery. They also have a very attractive restaurant on site called Vines, which is covered elsewhere on Unilocal.
As part of my weekend-​long quest for quality dessert wines, I eventually found my way to Helen’s Hill estate in Coldstream.
The Cellar Door is really well set up — if you wanted to take a group of people on a tasting tour, you should check this place out. Also, you get a very impressive view of their winery complex (barrels and all.)
Down to business: Helen’s Hill offer two ranges — their own brand is the premium-​priced range, and Ingram Road is the less expensive label. I tried both (*cough* comprehensively *cough*) and can report that both labels are of good quality. I normally screw my nose up at Cabernet Sauvignon, but the staff wore me down. The Cab Sav is excellent, as is the Pinot and Merlot.
I found my dessert wine, a Botrytis Sauvignon Blanc, and it was excellent. I will be back for more. (they have a loyalty scheme!)