Curlewis Winery - The Bellarine Peninsula Wine Region is “Victoria’s Best-Kept Secret”

Steve Marasco never wanted to be a winemaker. Born in Myrtleford in Victoria’s northeast, his parents were Italian migrants and tobacco farmers. He moved to Melbourne to study engineering when he was 18 years old and was a commercial builder for nearly two decades. During a stay at his family holiday house in St Leonards, Steve’s wife Leesa Freyer was browsing real estate adverts over breakfast in bed. Curlewis Winery was for sale. Already a fan of the wine, they stopped in on the way back to Melbourne, made an offer, and the rest is history.

“With my engineering background I’m not a winemaker, per se. I’m not traditionally taught. I didn’t go to university to learn the skill. But you know, I’ve been through nine vintages now and we learn every year,” says Steve.

Ninety per cent of the Curlewis property is pinot noir, known as “the heartbreaker grape” because it’s difficult to grow. Steve believes that the agricultural and farming component is the hardest work, but the product speaks for itself.

“When you’ve got really great fruit, it’s not that hard to make really great wine,” says Steve. “Our fruit is 35 years old, it just lends itself to that complete uniqueness. We have access to the best pinot noir on this great peninsula that we live on.”

While Curlewis is a little off the beaten track, just nine kilometres away is Jack Rabbit. Operations manager Martin Fearn agrees that this part of the Bellarine produces fine wines representative of the distinctive landscape.

“Because we’re maritime and we’re cool climate, it’s much milder here. We don’t have the extremes of temperature because we’re on the water,” he says. “That makes it a much more even growing season, we’re not as prone to the ups and downs of hot and cold, so you’re more likely to get a consistent product.”

Jack Rabbit opened a decade ago and over that time has launched and refurbished the Jack Rabbit restaurant and House of Jack Rabbit cafe. On a clear day you can look over the vines to Melbourne, Geelong and across the mussel farms and boats to the You Yangs. Martin refers to the Bellarine Peninsula as “one of Victoria’s best-kept secrets”, courtesy of the concentration of wineries and local produce.

“You’ll find a view like this in very few places in Australia at wineries. That’s why people like to just come here and spend a long Sunday afternoon – they have a long lunch and a few glasses of wine its very difficult to get rid of them, because why would you leave?” He says. “It’s just beautiful.”