Portsea Golf Club & Winery Escape

From the sunny fairways of Portsea Golf Club to the gourmet vines of the Mornington Peninsula’s best wineries.

Known in that tongue-in-cheek way of a joke the teller wants to be true, as The Hamptons of Melbourne, Portsea sits on Port Phillip Bay with the quiet confidence of a place that knows exactly what it is. Drive down Point Nepean Road and the sprawling Mediterranean-style homes and lush lawns are everywhere. Behind these limestone walls are where Melbourne's old money, those whose family names appear on university buildings and the wings of art galleries, retreats. 

Even the bathing boxes near the aquamarine-waters of Portsea pier - essentially glorified garden sheds - now fetch close to a million dollars. The beach walk beside the private residences between them and Sorrento Beach is called Millionaires’ Walk for very good reason. There are few better views of the lovely Mornington Peninsula than those you’ll find in Portsea, few better wineries than those in her hills, and few better golf courses in the entire country, too.

This is your guide to a refined grapes and greens getaway in pretty Portsea.

For nearly two decades the social calendar of the entire Victorian elite revolved around the Portsea Polo. Women navigating the divots in designer sundresses and elaborate hats, men in pastel chinos, everyone trying to remember what they can about the game of polo from episodes of The Crown. While the marquee event will return, a few years off meant the jet set needed to find a new reason to dress up and they found it in The Portsea Pro-Am.

Here, sport meets celebrity on the rolling fairways of Portsea Golf Club, the annual golfing event draws professional players alongside high-profile AFL stars and beloved entertainers, all competing for charity. The shift to golf makes a lot of sense when you know that the Mornington Peninsula is home to no less than fifteen prestigious golf courses.

Since 1926 the dramatic playground of the Portsea Golf Club has been drawing golfers from all over the world to its naturally formed link undulations. The course winds through spectacular sand dunes and native Moonah forests, and views of Port Phillip Bay reward players at several points throughout the round.

While architects have made thoughtful refinements, like widening fairways and reimagining bunkers, a big focus has been put on preserving the course's wild character. Measuring just under 5,800 metres Portsea Golf Club keeps your scorecard honest and demands every club in your bag and occasionally, your sense of humor.

The National Golf Club at Cape Schanck has three different championship-level courses ranked among Australia's top 40, including the Moonah Links, designed by living legend Greg Norman. The National is a private club, meaning you’ll need to be invited and play with a member, and when the frequent coastal winds kick up only the most disciplined golfers can tame its large, tiered greens.

Half an hour’s drive from Portsea, Rosebud Country Club offers an impressive golfing double-header with both its North and South courses ranking among Golf Australia's Top 100 Public Access layouts. These two distinct 18-hole challenges provide contrasting experiences: the North Course, framed by towering pine trees, has emerged from underrated status to host the Players Series Victoria on the PGA Tour of Australasia and the South Course tempts players with wide fairways and expansive greens that reward strategic play.

A little further afield, the Flinders Golf Club dates back more than 120 years, and every hole offers spectacular panoramic views across the rugged coastline to Bass Strait and Phillip Island. The layout of this course leans towards the traditional links of Scotland and Ireland, and the  clubhouse is known for cheerful lunches with an amazing vista.

Mercure Portsea is integrated into the Portsea Golf Club and offers the same incredible, panoramic views over Port Phillip Bay. At sunset, Portsea's back beach - the wild, ocean-facing side that looks toward Antarctica with nothing in between - offers a stark contrast with the sheltered, genteel bay side of the peninsula.

Just 90 minutes from Melbourne, the hotel puts you close to all of the Peninsula’s charms, like Red Hill markets and the soothing Peninsula Hot Springs. There are twenty-four boutique rooms making it intimate enough to feel exclusive, and the golf course’s Spike Restaurant serves modern dishes made from local produce. Watch the sun set along Millionaire’s Walk on the foreshore and or explore the iconic London Bridge formation on the headland.

The other Portsea pilgrimage focuses around the other glorious g-word: grapes. Specifically, pinot noir and chardonnay grown in small, immaculate vineyards. You’ll find all the top wine tours of the Mornington Peninsula with Elevate Wine Tours. With nearly a decade of private vineyard adventures under their belts, the team invites groups of up to eleven to settle into their comfy, stylish vehicles to cruise around the region.

Along with internationally recognised cellar doors they also design tours that showcase craft breweries, boutique distilleries, strawberry farms, artisan cheesemakers and specialty chocolatiers. Their bespoke tours include pick up and return transportation from your hotel, all wine tasting fees, onboard refreshments and a lunch with wine or beer.

If you’re looking for a private experience, Paringa Estate has an exclusive pinot noir experience that includes a guided tasting with owner, winemaker and viticulturist Lindsay McCall and fine dining lunch for two. The wines here are like liquid puzzles, revealing new layers the longer they sit in the glass. These aren't the fruit-bomb Australian wines that dominated exports in the '90s but serious, structural wines.

For the best Mornington Peninsula wine tasting, Ten Minutes by Tractor weaves together three vineyards separated by, yes, ten minutes of tractor travel. The resulting wines, particularly their chardonnays, cleverly demonstrate how minor differences in elevation, aspect, and soil composition translate into distinctive expressions of the same varietal. Their vertical tastings offer a master class in terroir.

Of course the real magic happens when the wine and food scenes converge. Crittenden Estate also ranks among the Mornington Peninsula’s top wineries, with roots dating back to 1982 when Garry and Margaret Crittenden first put spade to soil. These days their children Rollo and Zoe oversee a diverse collection of more than 25 wines, including the entry-level Geppetto lineup, the Italian-inspired Pinocchio range, or the Spanish-style Los Hermanos selection. Stillwater, the estate’s on-site restaurant, is a favourite for gastronomes visiting the region, dishing up a seasonally-inspired menu on a verandah that looks out onto the lawn and lake.

For a special occasion visit the spectacular Port Phillip Estate restaurant, where the modernist concrete structure has floor-to-ceiling windows that frame vineyard views so perfectly they seem almost artificial. Turn left at the door for the beautiful dining room, or right for a cellar door offering around 20 wines, including Kooyong’s single-vineyard Farrago chardonnay and Port Phillip’s own sleek pinot noir. Below all this, five metres, lies a hidden barrel room. No complex temperature system needed, just the rammed-earth walls.

Back on the Portsea peninsula, that same obedience to nature continues. World-class golf courses are shaped around the landscape rather than bulldozing over it. The shocking blue of the bay outshines any visiting celebrity or mogul - and those billion-dollar-views are yours to wake up to for the reasonable cost of your Portsea hotel room.