A family-owned boutique winery near Daylesford has been voted the most favourite regional venue.
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Wombat Forest Vineyard at Denver received the Australian Good Food Guide readers' choice award in the Macedon Ranges and Spa Country winery category.
Owners Brendon and Dee Lawlor were not expecting to receive the award, following one year of voting in 2022.
Mrs Lawlor said she almost deleted the email notifying her of the win and she rang the AGFG head office to confirm it was not a scam.
"We're so excited and humbled by this award. Hopefully this one will be a good one to increase foot traffic through the cellar door," Mrs Lawlor said.
The Readers' Choice Awards allows the public to recognise hard working establishments and provide AGFG editors with invaluable data on what's popular.
The Lawlors planted their first vines 26 years ago at their Denver property, 17 kilometres from Daylesford.
In 2017, the family - including the Lawlors' son Brad and their daughter-in-law Ally - established the Burrow Event Space, a function and wedding area.
Mrs Lawlor said the businesses required a lot of hard work but it was well worth it.
"You've got to be passionate about it or you get out. It is a lot of work but it is our lifestyle," she said.
"The business has jumped enormously in the past 10 years in particular. We've got outlets offsite that we only choose a small selection quite deliberately to make people come to us now.
"We have a large deck with views over the forest so it's quite pretty and a lot of wildlife on our property."
The Lawlors have expanded their cellar door to open from Friday to Sunday.
"With our cellar door we have six wines on tasting when people come and they also receive complimentary bread and dipping oil. The bread is made locally for us."
Wombat Forest Vineyard produces nine cool climate boutique wines.
It will hold a 'locals day' on April 15 when the Lawlors will thank the community for their support and provide free entry and live music.
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