It’s the fest of the shed

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
SEVILLE was awash with visitors as they took “the right turn” up Warburton Highway for the annual Shedfest weekend.
Despite a lull caused by Sunday morning’s rain, the nine wineries were flooded with patrons from the Yarra Valley and beyond.
It is the ninth year the smaller wineries along the Warburton Highway have opened their cellar and shed doors to allow visitors breathtaking views with bite-sized meals and award-winning wines.
Visitors received complimentary tastings of the best red, white and sparkling wines when they purchased a souvenir glass, with all proceeds donated to the Upper Yarra SES.
Judy Zuk and husband Wally from Five Oaks Winery are Shedfest veterans and co-founders.
“It’s too early to talk about numbers,” Judy said on Monday morning, “ … but overall the response was very positive … people seem to love coming and a lot of them come back year after year.”
Tim and Narelle Cullen from Payne’s Rise Winery in Seville are first-timers and Narelle said after a great experience on the weekend they were already looking forward to next year’s 10th anniversary Shedfest.
“We had big crowds on both days and fantastic feed back about the venues, the wine, the food and the whole atmosphere of the event,” Narelle said.
She welcomed the strong focus on the wines.
“People were really interested in getting to know about the individual wines, so it was great chance for the wineries to showcase the Warburton Highway wines.”