Basils Farm – Good Food & Wine on the Bellarine Peninsula

We recently visited Basils Farm for a winery lunch here on the Bellarine Peninsula – and we loved it! So much in fact that I just had to write a blog post. Social media posts, just don’t do it justice.

If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you will probably know that I am now living on the Bellarine Peninsula. Yes we do move around a lot, and yes I am wondering how many Australian wine regions this Kiwi girl can live in. I am up to 3 over the last 10 years so far!

We visited Basils Farm for the first time back in 2017 when we did a day trip to the Bellarine wineries from Melbourne. I loved my visit back then, and I am glad our visit this year in 2021 was just as wonderful.

So let me introduce you to Basils Farm a bit more..

The Wine

Naturally we must start at the wine. The most important part of a winery, right?

Being on the Bellarine, it means the wines are cool-climate. So the Basils Farm wine list is adorned with Prosecco, Rosé, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. I was a particular fan of the Chardonnay, however that’s no surprise due to my die-hard love for Chardonnay (read about why I love it so much here).

The wines are made by winemaker Ray Nadeson of Lethbridge Wines who’s a fan of wild fermentation with natural yeasts, minimal intervention and French oak.

The cellar door is open 11am-5pm daily and tastings are $5 per person. If you are dining at the cafe (I would highly recommend it), you can order a tasting paddle for $10.

We actually weren’t aware of the tasting paddles when we had lunch their recently, so one of those will definitely be on the menu for next time!

The Garden

For me, I love this part of the property, nearly the best. After the wine of course 😉 Out in front of the restaurant and before you reach the water (yes Basils Farm sits on the banks of Swan Bay) they have a gorgeous fresh produce garden. They use the produce in the kitchen for the restaurant.

Plus there is a lovely fire-pit, which is where we actually did our wine tasting on our first visit in 2017.

The Winery Restaurant

The restaurant is gorgeous, lots of windows, light and views.

Plus now that I am a mama, I have to admit they catered for Baby TC with a high-chair and weren’t too bothered with the mess left under it when he’d finished destroying his crumbed fish fillet, chips and salad. Plus a little bit of all our dishes, that kid likes to eat!

Plus they have a pretty cool looking sandpit, so I’ll definitely be eager to take Baby TC back in the warmer months for some play time while mum and dad have some wine!

The staff were fantastic throughout our lunch and we didn’t have to wait long for our food. Which is always a good thing when you have a hangry toddler, as I am sure my fellow wine mama’s and dada’s will know 😉

The Food

I was really impressed with the food. The prices are typical winery restaurant prices, so not cheap, however I am more than happy to pay well for quality food and Basils Farm really hit the mark for me.

For entree, I had the Dumplings (it was 2 big dumplings – they were massive!) however it was Mr Spittoon’s Cauliflower Bhaji for $15 which stole the show. So bloody good. And I would go back again, just for that dish.

For my main I went for one of the specials of the day which was a Chicken Korma Curry and it was delicious. Perfect with the Shiraz!

I was so keen to try the Russian Honey Cake for dessert, but alas I was full to the brim after those 2 courses.

The menu changes frequently so they can use in-season fresh produce, make sure to check the latest menu out here. And if you’re anything like me, then you can spend time trying to decide what you want before you get there and then still stew of the menu when you finally get there. Haha!

Contact details

Address: 43-53 Nye Rd, Swan Bay VIC 3225

Hours (June 2021): 

Sunday	11am–5pm
Monday	12–5pm
Tuesday	Closed
Wednesday	Closed
Thursday	12–5pm
Friday	12–5pm
Saturday	11am–5pm

Phone: (03) 5258 4280

Website: basilsfarm.com.au