Experiences bring people more happiness than possessions and spending money on experiences is more likely to bring lasting happiness than spending money on material goods. People don't get sick of memories. On the contrary, as time goes by, they make people happier. A day on the Mornington Peninsula laughing and tasting wines brings joyous memories long after that new bracelet gets tangled up in your jewellery box.

A Plunge Wine Tour goes beyond a cellar door crawl as owner, Arthur fills your day with stories and laughter. Wine tastings are a one-on-one experience with the winemaker, a farmgate visit becomes a behind-the-scenes education and lunch is an inspired regional feast enjoyed with local wines.

We visit Moorooduc Estate whom unleash fragrant, wild yeast fermented Chardonnay followed by a trip down to Balnarring where Quealy Winemakers showcase organic wines bursting with flavour and personality.

Your day starts beside the lapping shores of Western Port Bay where, on a decorative picnic table, you share a local sparkling wine, regional cheese and other treats. Here on Pt Leo Beach, you can hitch-up your skirt or roll-your trousers up and sip a Blanc de Blanc while splashing about in the shallows. A chance sighting of dolphins may push a private Pinot Noir tasting into second place for the tour’s most memorable experience.

Arthur's focus is getting you to the heart and soul of the region, meeting artisans, visiting private cellars and purchasing a caché of the best local wines.

The tour provides far greater insight into the land, the produce and the people. Just shed your working-day attire to become a curious traveller again, enjoying a range of emotions and experiences. A day touring will ultimately make you happier, so why spend your hard-earned on anything else?

Why An Art and Wine Tour?

A Plunge Mornington Peninsula Giants of Art and Wine Tour begins on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway where investment in sculpture shadows the drive from drab suburbia to the green vineyards and ocean blue of Peninsula wine country. Once upon a time, sculpture was the thing you backed into when admiring the 'real art' on the wall. How times have changed. Sculptors are now the darlings of the art world. Collectors like the late Baillieu Myer AC say they are worth supporting as ‘they work harder than any other visual artist.’ Today, a growing number of sculptures have changed the Mornington Peninsula landscape, enhancing its reputation as Australia's outdoor art capital and complimenting the high-end cool climate wines that have lifted the region’s standing in the world of fine wine.

Driving along Eastlink, Perth businesswoman and arts benefactor, Janet Holmes a Court has made a lasting impression with a multi-million-dollar collection of roadside art that includes Callum Morton’s $1.4million cartoon-like structure, Hotel and Emily Floyd’s landmark steel sculpture of a gigantic black bird pecking at a yellow worm (above). This sculpture often sparks interest amongst Plunge guests: “It’s a chip,” says someone. “No, it’s a worm!" A chip! A worm! chip! worm!…A complimentary bowl of local strawberries usually silences the group as we drive through Mornington with more roadside sculptures enlisting responses of appreciation, wonder or disdain usually in equal measures.

Prancing Horse Estate -Views, Vineyards and Art

Another of Halpern’s mosaics, Wild One rears up to split the Chardonnay vines in Tony Hancy's biodynamic vineyard at Prancing Horse Estate. Above the cellar door, Hancy has commissioned a herd of tin cows that graze in a side paddock while in the cottage garden, Blue Trees are an environmental art installation by Konstantin Dimopoulos and a poignant reminder about the fragility of the natural world against climate change. The subteraneum cellar door features a stunning view across the East-facing vineyard and overlooks Western Port Bay while in the tasting room, floor-to-ceiling wine racks, a depiction of Napoleon and a central oval French table supports an array of fine wines including the Prancing Horse Reserve Chardonnay and Reserve Pinot Noir; wines that sit effortlessly amongst the finest in the region.

Elgee Park and Montalto - The Original Art and Wine Collectors

On his family property in Merricks, the late Baillieu Myer AC spent half a lifetime accumulating a superb collection of major works by many of the nation's finest sculptors. Today, the biggest names in Australian art surround the Elgee Park vineyard. In recent times, more private collectors have embraced Mr Myer's long-term vision of a bold sculptural narrative amidst the coastal landscape. There's now an abundance of Myer art to behold while enjoying the Family Reserve Chardonnay or Family Reserve Pinot Noir both available by the glass at the Merricks General Wine Store where a two-course lunch is served for tour guests along with a glass of either Elgee Park or Baillieu Vineyard wine available on this wine tour.

John and Wendy Mitchell and their family are the trailblazers who created Montalto, a fantasy theme park for lovers of wine, food, and art. Over the years, the Montalto Sculpture Prize walk has featured eclectic works including a golden tree, a gigantic parasite, and suspended bronze curtains all exhibited within the vineyard fern gully and adjacent paddock. The creativity is enhanced by a tasting of the delicious Montalto Estate Chardonnay and Estate Pinot Noir standouts in the region and amongst Australia’s most splendid cool climate wines.

Pt Leo Estate - The Xanadu of Modern Art, Wine and Food

Further south, John Gandel (whose $5.5 billion fortune was accumulated owning Chadstone Shopping Centre) searched the globe for works to populate the grounds and gardens of his sprawling Point Leo Estate. Above the amphitheatre of ornamental lake and surrounding vineyard, a large curved glass and steel building features a fine dining restaurant and cellar door taking advantage of panaromic ocean views and large sculptures including works by some of Australia’s and the world’s most renowned artists. The Sculpture Park represents an outdoor gallery within 330 acres of landscaped grounds and is an ever-evolving outdoor art gallery. Already much of the collection is of international standing creating an exhilerating walk through art. The wines here are by local, Tod Dexter, one of the region’s most experienced exponents of cool-climate wine. Tod’s background includes making wines in California and at Stonier Wines and this lineage can be seen in the tightly packed, flavoursome Pt Leo Estate Chardonnay, a highlight of a cellar door wine tasting.

Jackalope - Where Wine and Art Spiral Around

The entrance to the Jackalope Hotel features another striking Emily Floyd work. A gigantic black Jackalope crouches, seven-metre-tall, like a sentinel at the entrance to the Rare Hare restaurant. The Jackalope reflects the imagination of owner, Louis Li, a collector and bold visionary who has ensured the works of the world’s hottest contemporary artists, from Sorrento to Soho, furnish his hotel.

Jackalope is the new Bauhaus school of aesthetics where you can wake up surrounded by art in a plush suite overlooking a hillside vineyard. All the glamour of a five-star hotel includes an infinity pool floating over vines, a space-age spa complex and a brilliant chandelier by Jan Flook with lit ceramic and glass objects. In the front cocktail bar, Flagadoot, the inspired collection includes gold Edra leatherwork chairs, a Ric Owen timber bench complete with stag antler and an array of glass by Leisa Wharington including decanters, all combining for a powerful and exciting design narrative. Across the courtyard, the cellar door people are ready to take you on a vinous journey which begins with Sparkling Wine, Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and then breaks into a fascinating tasting of Pinot Noir. Here, three wines have had different concentrations of whole-bunch fermentation to excite the palate and engage the brain.

There is no debating the fact that waking up in a gorgeous location, wandering around looking at millions of dollars’ worth of beautiful art is pretty incomparable. This is the new frontier of Mornington Peninsula tourism. The region is widely known as a place of relaxation and regeneration for people fleeing the city in need of rest. Today the region sits at the crossroads of urban sprawl, sculptural art, vineyards and ocean views. The future is with fine wine, sculpture and wine tours that embrace art and also modern design like Jackalope, Pt Leo Estate, Montalto and McClelland and visionaries like Baillieu Myer AC and Louis Li who furnish the region with a spectacular and bright future in wine, art and sculpture. The advice here is: Plunge in…