Top winemakers are moving uphill in Victoria’s Yarra Valley
by Max Allen · Australian Financial ReviewMax AllenDrinks columnist
Oct 23, 2026 – 4.50am
“I feel like a proper vigneron up here,” says Ben Portet, looking out across the young vines he planted four years ago. “This project has given me a new lease on everything: life, passion, energy. I feel like I’m starting again.”
Portet, 46, has been making wine in the Yarra Valley for almost 20 years. For most of that time he’s worked at the winery his father, Dominique Portet, established in the late 1990s in the lower, flatter heart of the region. Ben is still based there as chief winemaker; his new Maison Portet vineyard is a half hour’s drive away, higher in the deep red volcanic soils of Gladysdale, in the Upper Yarra.
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Max AllenDrinks columnistMax Allen is The Australian Financial Review's drinks columnist. He is an award-winning journalist and author who has written about wine and drinks for close to 25 years. Connect with Max on Twitter. Email Max at max@maxallen.com.au
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