There’s a particular kind of hospitality that is cultivated in a region where all of its winemakers know each other by first name (or better yet, call each other friends). Out here in the Grampians we savour a particular kind of lifestyle – unhurried, generous, a little bit indulgent and with a welcoming community spirit. This October, the Grampians fills a month with reasons to come and enjoy it for yourself.
The 2026 Grampians Wine Festival runs from the 1st to the 25th of October. Three weekends of tastings, long lunches, underground dinners and festivals taking place in cellar doors, wine sheds and cellars from the foothills of the mountains themselves to Ararat and Great Western. This festival has an event for every kind of wine lover, each equal parts fun and just the right amount of indulgence.
It begins (as these things should) with a festive launch on Thursday 1 October at the Ararat Town Hall. Wine tastings, food trucks and live entertainment – it’s a relaxed warm-up of sorts; come and meet the makers before you spend the month meeting their wine, with $10 tasting tickets putting the whole region within easy reach. From there, the program unfolds one weekend at a time.
First, there are lunches. At IRIS by Block & Cleaver in Pomonal, regional winemakers sit down with Executive Chef Dean Sibthorp for Grampians Uncorked. Five courses, five wines and the kind of conversation that happens over a long lunch – all of the good stuff often left off the tasting note. A hundred years after Arthur Streeton painted the view across present-day Grampians Estate, the property marks the centenary with the Land of the Golden Fleece Streeton Wine Lunch. The event is a four-course celebration matched with Grampians Estate wines, including two vintages of the Streeton Reserve Shiraz poured side by side 25 years after its very first release. Along Route 222, a Progressive Lunch strings together Pomonal Estate, Black & Ginger and Fallen Giants into one incredible meal – a course and a glass at each stop, transport included and no designated driver required.
Seppelt Great Western will welcome guests for an iteration of their famous Underground Dining experiences, which take guests into the historic Drives, the winery’s hand-dug cellars dating back to the 1860s. This three-course dinner trades daylight for atmosphere in a truly unforgettable way. There are relaxed, informal and interesting evening events in Ararat too. At the Oak Hound Wine Bar, Simon and Kaye Clayfield will guide guests through 25 years of their own Grampians Shiraz in a Museum Tasting & Masterclass – history by the glass. Over at the Leopold Hotel, Seppelt Great Western also offers a back-vintage glance at three vintages of St Peter’s Shiraz – three plates, one wine told three different ways.
By the festival’s final week, the tone shifts from formality to simple pleasure – Pizza & Pinot at Salingers pairs Seppelt’s Drumborg Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier with wood-fired pizza and no formal rules to speak of. Down the road at the Black & Ginger wine shed, Blacky’s Bottles lines up a collection of Australian Grenache for guests to taste side by side (limited to 15 places, as the wines poured are equally limited). At Mountainside Wines, The Nebbiolo Journey spans a full weekend, with owners Shane and Jane pouring a decade of their homegrown examples of this Italian varietal with its greatest pairings (duck and cheese).
Then on Sunday 25 October, the month closes the way it opened – with a good old-fashioned Grampians festival. Best’s Wines hosts the inaugural OktoberBEST, a free community festival celebrating local brews (wine and beer alike), sourdough pretzels, a barbecue from the Great Western footy and netball club, live music and market stalls. After twenty-five days of tastings and long tables, the Grampians Wine Festival ends with the whole community in the one paddock.
That’s really what this festival is – not a single, overcrowded event, but two dozen small, well-made ones (like the wines themselves), each hosted by the people who grow the grapes and pour the wine. Come for one weekend or come for all of them; either way, you’ll leave loving the region even more than when you arrived.
The Grampians Wine Festival runs 1–25 October 2026. Full event details and tickets are available now – some experiences are strictly limited, so book ahead to avoid disappointment.
Wineries
Wines
Events
Grampians Wine Region
Located against the backdrop of the magnificent Grampians and Pyrenees mountain ranges is one of Australia’s most historical and acclaimed wine regions.
Producing quality wine since the 1860s, the region has an impressive mix of large and boutique wineries surrounding the towns of Great Western, Ararat, Buangor, Moyston and Halls Gap.
From famous sparkling wines to the region’s signature Shiraz, Pinot Noir and Dolcetto, our award-winning wines are nothing short of spectacular.
So take the time to taste, discover and delight in the Grampians wine region – our cellar doors are open and waiting!
Grampians Wine Region
Start your journey now
