Innocent Bystander, Healesville: Cellar door, bar & restaurant

The Innocent Bystander winery in Healesville, Victoria, feels more like a wine bar than other Yarra Valley cellar doors. But you can taste wines there, and enjoy excellent pizza bianca.

Innocent Bystander is one of the top wineries in the Yarra Valley, Victoria. Its wines are sold way beyond the cellar door, and can be bought in the UK. You can even buy the Innocent Bystander pinot noir, pinot gris and chardonnay on Amazon.

This Yarra Valley winery’s cellar door is on the Maroondah Highway in Healesville, about an hour’s drive from Melbourne. The ethos has always been to make accessible wines that are great for sharing, and that shines through in the tasting sessions.

Innocent Bystander in Healesville, Victoria

Unusually for a cellar door, Innocent Bystander’s is in an urban setting rather than amongst the vines. It feels more like a wine bar than a traditional cellar door, and the wine is served fresh from temperature-controlled, recyclable kegs rather than bottles.

The pricing is more like a wine bar, too. There’s none of the free tasting available at some other Australian wineries here. Instead, you pay $12 for a flight of three wines, all served in 50ml measures. This does, however, allow you to pick from most of the range rather than whatever the guy behind the desk is willing to serve up.

Innocent Bystander in Healesville, Victoria. Photo courtesy of Visit Victoria.

Innocent Bystander restaurant

Innocent Bystander in Healesville is more than just a cellar door or wine bar, though. It’s a restaurant, too. The restaurant serves up roasted lamb rump and paella, but the focus is on gourmet pizzas. And, in particular, pizza bianca. The tomato-free options include lamb sausage and truffled mushroom options.

Other Yarra Valley wineries worth visiting include Yering Station, Rochford Wines and Balgownie Estate.