As a Victorian I must also strongly disagree that many wineries were affected by the bushfires. Only a few wineries suffered in the Yarra Valley, but things are virtually back to normal there. Mornington wineries were not affected by the bushfires. Personally I prefer the Mornington Pinots and Chardonnays to those of the Yarra Valley, plus in general the Mornington vineyards are less touristy. If you get the map of the Mornington Vineyards produced by the Morning Peninsula Vignerons Association, you should have no trouble finding the vineyards. There are also some excellent vineyard restaurants on the Mornington Peninsula.

The advantage the vineyards close to Melbourne have over the Hunter Valley is distance from the capital. Say one hour compared to two hours.