The name might have you thinking picnic rugs and ploughman’s lunches; make no mistake, this is one flash winery. Outside, Portsea ‘tractors’ line the drive; inside, diners bubble with expectation for Stuart Bell’s impressionistic creations and the restaurant’s vast wine collection. Overall the execution is exceedingly polished, coherent and aesthetic, with flavours elaborately deconstructed and every element carefully considered. Two thick pieces of rosy tuna are served with sliced kipflers and eggplant puree; duck breast is a more intricate dish, pieces alongside purees of sweet potato and cherry, bitter chocolate jelly and pepperberry sauce. Textural mannerisms extend to the sweets: passionfruit gratin with crushed pistachios and a small rectangle of banana jelly, or raspberry rice pudding sprinkled with feathery coconut ‘snow’. The culinary adventures are guided by mastery, and solicitous service, ever reliable like the vineyard’s mascot, a vintage Massey Ferguson.

Open Wed–Sun noon–4pm; Thurs–Sat 6.30–9.30pm
Typical prices E $20 M $40 D $18; fixed-price menus $65 (2 courses), $85 (3 courses)
Cards AE MC V Eftpos
Wine Weighty, annotated leather-bound tome
Owner Martin Spedding
Chef Stuart Bell
Seats 50; outdoor seating; bar

And … There’s degustation dining too, in the menu’s parlance, ‘We choose!’