Nestled in the foothills of the Great Dividing Range, Narkoojee Winery & Restaurant enjoys a beautiful setting that boasts magnificent views of the vineyard and the Strzelecki Ranges. The winery is located in East Gippsland, where the long and cool ripening period produces classic cool-climate wines.

The first vines were planted in 1980 on Harry Friend’s parents’ dairy farm, and there are now 15 hectares of vines on site. Chief winemaker Axel Friend shares his role with his father Harry, who established and developed the grape-growing and winemaking enterprise with his wife Val. Today, Narkoojee Winery & Restaurant’s wine range includes chardonnay, sparkling chardonnay, pinot noir, merlot, cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, sparkling reds, rosé, sauvignon blanc, and a late-harvest viognier.

Visitors to the cellar door can taste the handcrafted wines and linger for the great food in the adjoining restaurant. The Mediterranean-inspired cuisine shows the deft touch of the highly skilled chefs, while the welcoming attitude of the front-of-house staff is constantly praised.

Narkoojee means ‘place of flowers’, and the vineyard was established on deep alluvial soils, with a mixture of clay, silt, sand and ironstone gravel. The vines are trained to a lyre trellis system, which increases sunlight penetration and air circulation, producing optimum-quality fruit.

Narkoojee Winery & Restaurant is an award-winning enterprise with a range of accolades and awards, including the Michelin Trophy for a Reserve Chardonnay. James Halliday has described the wine as “consistently immaculate”, with two wines previously listed in his top 100. The 2020 edition of the Halliday Wine Companion has once again rated Narkoojee Winery & Restaurant as a 5-red star winery – a rating awarded to only 7.9 percent of Australia’s wineries that are considered outstanding and are regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity.

The unique appeal of Narkoojee Winery & Restaurant is garnering an impressive reputation and drawing acclaim from an array of restaurants, wine and food critics, and consumers, both in Australia and overseas.