Trofeo Estate

Trofeo Estate, Dromana, Mornington Peninsula

Trofeo Estate is located in Dromana on the Mornington Peninsula. A driveway lined with oak trees greets you on arrival and leads you on to the refurbished cannery, housing the properties cellar door and restaurant. Here, high ceilings and large open windows offer a picturesque view overlooking the vineyard and lush green lawns, popular for events and weddings.

The property has seen some transitions over the years. It began its life as a passionfruit plantation in the 1930’s. At the height of its capabilities, the 120ha property was home to over 70,000 passionfruit vines and a processing factory. However, by 1938, disease had devastated the passionfruit and the company who owned it went into liquidation. It wasn’t until 1948 that a vineyard was first planted on the property by a member of the Seppelt family and later sold to Doug Seabrook, a wine judge and retailer. He maintained the property and its vineyard and made wine until 1967, when a bushfire destroyed the vines. It was then passed through several hands and enjoyed a stint as a pasture and dairy cool store before vines were replanted by the Peime family in 1998.

Current owners, Jim and Kathy Manolios, purchased the estate in 2012. As Jim is the owner of the successful motorsports company, Trofeo Motorsport, it seemed fitting that the winery bear the same name. Hence, Trofeo Estate was born.  Founding winemaker Richard Darby joined the team and began to nurture the vines and introduced organic farming and viticulture principles, resulting in the quality of the grapes we see today.

The range of wines include:

• Chardonnay
• Pinot Noir
• Sparkling Pinot Noir (Blanc de Noir)
• Prosecco
• Shiraz
• Cabernet Sauvignon
• Pinot Gris

Cellar Door

Wine tastings are available for groups of up to 40 people and are $15 per person – redeemable with bottle purchase for groups of 8 or less. Please allow 30-35 minutes when booking a restaurant reservation.

Experience unique wine fermented and matured entirely in Terracotta Amphora made from exclusively Estate-grown grapes. Interestingly, the process of terracotta ageing does not impart any flavour influence on the wine, allowing the true natural flavours and aromas of the grapes to shine through. In addition, the terracotta is an inorganic medium that does not harbor micro-organisms reducing the Sulphur needed to preserve the wine.

The winery is considered 5-star rated according to the 2021 James Halliday review and produces wines of a very high quality. In particular, the Aged in Terracotta Single block Shiraz 2017 is notable as it achieved a rating of 95 points in the recent wine companion.

Group Wine Tasting

Restaurant

The restaurant  is housed within the rustic refurbished cannery. Lunch menu consists Trofeo Estate Dining Menu (currently $86pp) a chef’s selection of seven dishes with an option to add wine paring to your meal ($39pp)