For one of the Yarra Valley’s most highly regarded wineries, Oakridge has never just been about the wine. Melbourne daytrippers and wine tourists from around the world have long found the dining room as much of a drawcard as those award-winning pinot noirs and chardonnays. Now, under the watch of new head chef Daniel Snooks, the restaurant’s menu has had a subtle refresh while maintaining the same high standards the winery restaurant is known for. “It’s really exciting to come out to Oakridge and uphold our reputation, while putting my own spin on the food” Snooks says.

To add his own stamp to the kitchen, Snooks will be drawing on stints with Andrew McConnell (at Cumulus, Inc and, most recently, Handmade Parties and Events), and direct access to the Yarra Valley’s rich produce. “Andrew’s been a big influence on me and my style – simple plating, produce speaking for itself,” Snooks says. “I think we’re so lucky out here, the produce that we have locally is amazing … Everything that we’re sourcing as local as we can, we’re putting on the plate.”

For all the outside influence, though, Oakridge head chefs can’t forget the key factor – the wine itself. Headlined by the high-end 864 pinot noir and chardonnay collection, alongside a host of single vineyard releases, Oakridge’s cellar offers plenty of inspiration for Snooks’s menu. “We do a matched option on our set menu, so there’s always an opportunity to think about the wines,” Snooks says. “It’s still something I’m wrapping my head around but there’s plenty of experience here, like [chief winemaker] David Bicknell – he’s had a few little chats to say, hey, we want to see a bit more of this and a bit more of that. It’s a team effort to get the wines and the food to match.”

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The new Oakridge menu

Snooks’s offering is twofold: a sharing-focused à la carte menu geared towards summer days on the terrace, and a revamp of Oakridge’s classic set menu.

For à la carte, it’s all about small plates that’ll sit well alongside pretty much any bottle from the winery’s collection. “We’ve got some great croquettes with Stone & Crow cheese in them, and some little intercostal skewers, sourced locally from [Yarra Valley beef producer] Smith & Jackson, done on the hibachi, served with a take on the French sauce charcutière,” says Snooks. As the seasons change, he’ll rotate in pinot-noir-friendly lamb shoulder from neighbours Yeringberg, too.

On the set menu, you’ll find what Snooks bills as “simple and refined” plates. There’s duck – partnered with the 864 Henk vineyard pinot noir, ideally – from Great Ocean Ducks, its breast roasted, and legs confited and encased in pithivier pastry, served alongside a puree of parsnips sourced from nearby Timbarra Farm, prune jam and petite herbs from the winery’s kitchen garden. The menu also includes ingredients from Victorian suppliers marginally further afield, like calamari from Corner Inlet in Gippsland, served with smoked celeriac, pickled kohlrabi and a toasted yeast sauce.

While the menu is destined to evolve (Snooks has been busy picking seedlings for the garden’s next planting, for one thing), his philosophy is set: give visitors a meal to remember. “People are making a journey out here, they need to come out and have a full experience,” he says. “It’s a daytrip, an hour in the car – what’s going to make them say, ‘Wow, that was really great?’”

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Oakridge Wines.