350+ Wines, Beers and Spirits. All On Pour This May

Grampians Grape Escape is back from Friday 1 to Sunday 3 May in Halls Gap, bringing together more than 350 wines, beers and spirits from across Western Victoria.

It’s a big lineup. More importantly, it’s a good one.

You’ve got the icons. Best’s Wines, celebrating 160 years this year, Seppelt Great Western and Mount Langi Ghiran are all pouring, alongside Dalwhinnie, Fallen Giants and Mount Avoca. These are the producers that have quietly built the reputation of this region and they’re all here in one place.

Miners Ridge Wines will also pour at its final Grampians Grape Escape this year. After 50 vintages, Andrew and Katrina are stepping away from the vineyard and calling time on a long chapter in the region. Andrew is finishing with a Cane Cut Riesling, which feels like a pretty sweet way to wrap things up.

Then there’s the part we get excited about.

Producers like SubRosa Wine, Babche Wines and Son of Grace bring a different energy to the festival village. SubRosa Wine is a five-star Halliday-rated winery with no cellar door, and its Nebbiolo has quietly built a serious reputation, even taking out top non-Italian Nebbiolo at the International Wine Challenge in London.

Babche Wines leans in a completely different direction, low-intervention, slightly wild, and pouring a Lambrusco that’s fresh, fizzy and very easy to go back to. You’ll probably start with one and circle back for another.

Some of these wines don’t just stay in your glass. Dalwhinnie’s Moonambel Shiraz shows up at the Coal Pit, paired with ash-buried lamb and unearthed live, giving you a front-row seat to what happens when great produce meets fire.

Beyond the tastings and masterclasses, the grape stomping competition brings a lot of energy and a bit of chaos, and yes, people take it more seriously than they should.

The Grampians Winemakers Barrique Auction lands at 2.15pm on Saturday, a one-of-a-kind Shiraz blend created collaboratively by local producers and auctioned live. It’s part theatre, part serious wine moment, and well worth sticking around for.

It’s not just wine, either. You’ll find a solid mix of beer and spirits across the site, from Paper Scissors Rock Brew Co pouring in its home ground of Halls Gap to Timboon Distillery and Red Duck Brewery and Distillery, alongside smaller producers like Kilderkin Distillery, Noodledoof and Neart Tide Distillery.

There’s even a local non-alc in the mix, a tart, refreshing tonic made from wine grapes by Grampians Vinegar. Bright, sharp and properly considered, it’s not an afterthought, it’s something you’ll actually want to drink.

From heritage producers to small-batch newcomers, this is Western Victoria in a glass.

You might come with a plan. You probably won’t stick to it. That’s kind of the point.

If you’re on a Tasting Ticket, all tastings are included until 3pm.

Full drinks lineup

Here’s who you’ll find pouring across the weekend.

Wineries

Amherst Winery
Babche Wines
Best’s Wines
Bigibila Wines
Black & Ginger Wines
Blue Pyrenees Estate
Clayfield Wines
Dalwhinnie
Fallen Giants
Fratin Brothers Vineyard
Glenlofty Estate
Grampians Estate
Jackson Brooke Wine
Mepunga Wines
Miners Ridge Wines
Mountainside Wines
Mount Avoca
Mount Langi Ghiran
Mount Stapylton Wines
Peerick
Pomonal Estate
Seppelt Great Western
Son of Grace
St Ignatius Vineyard
SubRosa Wine
Suffoir Winery, Brewery and Distillery
Taltarni Vineyards

Breweries and Distilleries

Bulls Roar Brewing Co
Itinerant Spirits
Kilderkin Distillery
Mrs Baker’s Still House
Neart Tide Distillery
Noodledoof
Otway Brewing (Prickly Moses)
Otways Distillery
Paper Scissors Rock Brew Co
Peakers Distillery
Red Duck Brewery and Distillery
Timboon Distillery