It would be perfectly legitimate to visit Jayden Ong Winery & Cellar Bar just for the wine. Ong, a co-founder of Cumulus Inc in Melbourne, is a talented winemaker who produces four ranges of impressively elegant, clean-lined wines at his winery on the outskirts of the Yarra Valley’s Healesville. You could taste, buy and leave happy, but to miss the Cellar Bar aspect of the equation would be short-changing yourself.
Entering the space, it’s clear the bar is no afterthought. This is a working winery with the bulk of the warehouse-like space set aside for that. The bar at the front with its umbrella-shaded outdoor seating and darkly glamorous indoor area overhung with large sculptural arrangements of dried plants and flowers has its own atmosphere, both calming and elegant. It also has an excellent menu of wine-friendly food, much of it cooked over charcoal, all of it designed with flexibility in mind.
Besides Jayden Ong’s wines, a good selection served by the glass, the drinks list also offers cocktails, beer and a decent no-alcohol section, ideal accompaniment for char-grilled skewers – whole Skull Island prawns teamed with classic Marie-Rose-type sauce, for example, or mushrooms with aïoli and porcini salt – or a not-to-be-missed chicken skin sandwich, the crisp smoky shards of skin joined by fluffy white bread, cucumber and mayo. Think carefully before agreeing to share that one.
Larger dishes emerge from the kitchen with a similar elevated simplicity. Meticulously boned and filleted tiger flathead gets support from a sweet-and-salty caper and raisin vinaigrette while a big-flavoured wagyu tri-tip, perfectly cooked to medium rare, adds wonderful garlic butter and a bed of diced brassica florets to the mix.
Sides like a superb panzanella, deftly dressed and bright with heirloom tomatoes, and textbook fries serve equally well as snacks, should you be here for drinks. For those going the full dine, desserts like a pale green fig leaf pannacotta teamed with raspberries, poached rhubarb and a shortbread crumb or a dark chocolate mousse with brandied plums will close the meal very successfully.
Just 90 minutes from Melbourne, Jayden Ong Winery & Cellar Bar is an easy day trip. But, like coming here only for the wine, an overnighter that would allow a more thorough study of Ong’s deft winemaking alongside very appealing food, is an option worth serious consideration.
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