Levantine Hill

Set on the hillside in the estate, Levantine Hill is an imposing edifice of black steel, apricot-coloured wood and long stretches of glass. The designer is Karl Fender of Fender Katsalidis Architects, the man behind Hobart’s Museum of Old and New Art and Melbourne’s Eureka Tower. If you arrive here by helicopter (the winery runs flights from the CBD, and it has room for 16 choppers), you'll be able to spot the building from up high: tits roof glimmering in the sun and black-steel framework curving to reflect the surrounding hillsides.

Celebrated chef Teage Ezard once presided over the kitchen here, offering a pan-Asian menu across two restaurants. Since Ezard's departure, the focus has been narrowed: the two diners and the cellar door have been combined and the menu is now Levant-leaning, inspired by the Lebanese heritage of the Jreissati family, who own the winery.

The seasonal snack plate shows it off best: potato flatbread sprinkled with za’atar and sesame; chickpea crackers with hummus, black-garlic baba ganoush, and tahini labneh with pomegranate molasses; and lamb koftas (made using a Jreissati family recipe) with polenta chips.

Each item on the sharing menu is listed alongside the wine it pairs best with. The kingfish ceviche with bush-tomato baharat (a Middle Eastern spice mix) and macadamia goes with the estate’s 2013 Blanc de Blanc; while the rich truffled goat’s curd cappelletti with raisins and pine-nut burnt butter matches with the 2017 Katherine’s Paddock Chardonnay. And if you feel like splashing out, you can get 30 grams of luxurious beluga caviar (with traditional condiments) for an eye-popping $340.

Here, wine flights are available as is, or as a precursor to a meal. Each one comes with three wines – you can choose a flight that’s all sparkling, chardonnay or pinot noir, or get a mix. And snacks can be added on, all curated to match your wine selection.

Little has changed with the fit-out, originally designed by architect Karl Fender, but the white tablecloths are gone and there’s a new, flexible seating plan, bringing in a more casual feel.