Help Center

What is Door Explorer?

Door Explorer is a platform for discovering and booking wine tasting experiences at cellar doors across Australia. It brings together winery listings, availability, and booking tools to simplify trip planning in regions like the Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley, and beyond.

Whether you're new to wine tasting or a regular visitor to wine country, Door Explorer helps you find cellar doors that suit your style — from casual tastings to premium experiences.

Started by George and James, two mates who love visiting wineries, the platform began as a way to share recommendations with friends. Today, it connects thousands of guests with cellar doors every month. The aim is simple: make it easier to explore wine regions, avoid outdated top-10 lists, and book directly with wineries.

Door Explorer is built to support both guests and wineries — making tasting trips easier to plan, and helping wineries connect with new visitors.

Read more about us here.

How does Door Explorer work?

Door Explorer helps you find and book wine tasting experiences at cellar doors across Australia. You can browse by region or use the interactive map to explore what's nearby, then compare availability, pricing, and tasting options.

When you're ready to book, you'll either make an instant booking or send a booking request — depending on how the winery manages their calendar. The booking form clearly shows which type of booking you're making, and we'll confirm your plans by email.

Learn more about how bookings work.

If you're visiting more than one winery, you can build a tasting itinerary with multiple stops — ideal for day trips or weekends away. You can invite friends, manage group details in one place, and share your trip to keep everyone on track.

To help you choose, each listing includes reviews from other guests. After your visit, you can leave your own review to help future guests — and over time, your bookings and reviews will improve how we personalise suggestions for you.

How do Bookings work?

When you select a winery, you can start a booking directly from their listing page. Some listings include detailed tasting experiences with pricing, availability, and inclusions. Others may only accept general booking requests or redirect you to the winery's own website.

There are three types of bookings on Door Explorer:

• Instant Bookings — confirmed immediately at the time of booking. Payment is typically taken during the booking process.
• Booking Requests — submitted to the winery for approval. These are usually confirmed within 48 hours. Payment is either processed when the winery confirms the booking or taken in person on the day.
• External Bookings — made directly via the winery's website. Door Explorer does not track these bookings, but you can manually add them to your trip itinerary.

The type of booking is clearly shown on the booking form. Once confirmed, you'll receive an email and can manage your trip through your Door Explorer account.

Read more about how cancellations and refunds work.

My booking is "Pending" — when will it be confirmed?

If your booking is marked as "Pending", it means the winery is reviewing your request. Most respond within 48 hours. If there's a delay, Door Explorer will follow up with the winery on your behalf.

You'll receive an email notification once your booking is confirmed.

Can I add an external booking to my trip itinerary?

Yes — you can manually add lunch bookings or winery visits made outside of Door Explorer to your trip itinerary. This helps us better understand your plans and suggest available experiences that fit around them. It also makes it easier to keep your group organised and your day running smoothly.

How do I edit or change my booking?

Sometimes plans change, and you may need to update your booking. How changes are handled depends on the type of booking you've made:

• Instant Bookings — These are the easiest to modify. Simply click "Manage Booking" in your account to view available times the winery can accommodate. You'll also see options to update your guest count, change the experience, or add extras where available.
• Booking Requests — Any changes must be approved by the winery before they're confirmed. You can submit a change request from your account, and we'll notify you once the winery has responded. If your booking is coming up soon, we recommend calling the winery directly to confirm availability.
• External Bookings — If your booking was made through the winery's own website, you'll need to contact them directly to request any changes.

If your update increases the total booking cost (e.g. more guests or add-ons), you'll be prompted to pay the difference. If your update reduces the price, you may be eligible for a partial refund — as long as the change is made before the cancellation window closes. Changes made after this time are not eligible for a refund.

The earlier you make a change, the more flexibility you'll have — and the easier it will be for the winery to accommodate your request.

How do Cancellations and Refunds work?

Understanding that plans can change, Door Explorer and our winery partners aim to make the cancellation and refund process as clear and straightforward as possible.

Each winery selects one of three predefined cancellation policies, designed to balance guest flexibility with winery operations:

• Flexible — cancel at least 1 hour before your booking for a refund
• Standard — cancel at least 24 hours before your booking for a refund
• Firm — cancel at least 72 hours before your booking for a refund

These policies apply to most pre-paid bookings. If you cancel after the cutoff or do not attend (no-show), the booking is not eligible for a refund. Refunds apply to the tasting fee only — payment processing fees are not refundable.

When you book a tasting, the applicable cancellation policy is clearly shown before checkout and again in your confirmation email, so you're fully informed.

For external bookings managed directly by the winery, Door Explorer is not involved in any payment. You'll need to contact the winery directly to request any changes or a refund.

At Door Explorer, we aim to keep the process fair and transparent — for both guests and wineries.

How do I leave a review?

After your visit, you'll receive an email inviting you to leave a review of your experience. You can also log in to your Door Explorer account, view your past trips, and select the relevant booking to leave a review at any time.

If you had a great experience — fantastic. Leave a great review. This helps other people discover that same experience, and it helps us recommend similar cellar doors that people like you have enjoyed.

If the experience didn't quite meet your expectations, that's okay too. We encourage honest, constructive feedback that focuses on your tasting experience, service, and overall visit.

Your review will appear on the winery's listing page and may be moderated to ensure it meets our review guidelines.

Review Guidelines

We welcome honest, thoughtful reviews that help other guests make informed decisions and support wineries in delivering great tasting experiences.

How to write a useful review

• Be specific — Describe the tasting, service, and setting in a way that others can relate to.
• Mention what stood out — Was the staff welcoming? Was the experience structured or relaxed?
• Focus on the experience — If the wines weren't to your taste, that's fine — what matters more is how the overall visit felt.
• Keep it balanced — Share what worked well, and if needed, what could've been better.
• Write for others like you — Think about what you would have found helpful before your visit.

Minimum standards for all reviews

• Be respectful — Avoid personal attacks, aggressive tone, or inappropriate language.
• Be honest — Only review places you've actually visited and provide a truthful account.
• Stay relevant — Focus on your tasting experience; skip unrelated opinions or speculation.
• Protect privacy — Don't include names, contact details, or private information.

I had an issue with a winery — what should I do?

If something didn't go to plan during your visit, we recommend contacting the winery directly to resolve the issue. Most matters can be addressed quickly and directly.

You're also welcome to leave a review that reflects your experience — just keep it respectful and specific so it's useful for others. Please follow our review guidelines.

What exactly is Door Explorer?

Door Explorer is a wine tourism platform that connects thousands of guests with cellar doors across Australia every month.

For guests, it's a way to discover and book wine tasting experiences — from casual drop-ins to premium guided tastings — while building personalised trip itineraries across regions like the Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley, and beyond.

For wineries, it's a set of tools designed to simplify bookings, reduce admin, and help cellar doors connect with the right guests. Whether you take bookings online, manage them manually, or need a lightweight alternative to expensive software, Door Explorer is built to support your cellar door.

By bringing real-time availability, pre-paid tastings, and guest reviews into one place, we make it easier for wine lovers to plan their visits — and easier for cellar doors to grow their direct bookings.

Who's behind Door Explorer?

Door Explorer was founded by George and James — two mates with a shared love of wine tasting and visiting cellar doors.

We come from tech and startup backgrounds, each with over a decade of experience building websites and apps for some of Australia's leading tech companies.

Door Explorer began as a side project to keep track of the wineries we loved and recommend them to friends. Today, it's a growing platform dedicated to helping cellar doors offer better tasting experiences and attract more direct bookings — without relying on generic booking software or overpriced industry tools.

Find out more on our about us page.

How do I update my winery's details on Door Explorer?

To update your winery's listing on Door Explorer, you'll first need to claim your listing and create a Door Explorer account. There are a few ways to get started:

• Use the claim form — Submit your details here and we'll verify your connection to the winery before sending a secure claim link.
• Booking Request email — If you've received a Booking Request for your winery, you'll find a claim link at the bottom of the email.
• Contact us directly — You can also email [email protected] from a winery-branded address (e.g. [email protected]) to request access or ask any questions.

Once your listing is claimed, you'll be able to access your winery dashboard. From there, you can manage your listing details, set availability and opening hours, set up payments, and view or respond to bookings.

Don't see your winery listed?

If your cellar door isn't on Door Explorer yet, you can submit an enquiry to request a new listing. We'll review your submission and get in touch with next steps.

If Door Explorer is free, how do you make money?

Great question.

Door Explorer's booking tools — including the booking form, calendar, experiences, and payments — are completely free to use for direct bookings made via your own website or entered manually. We don't charge any subscription or setup fees because we believe these tools are core to building a platform that benefits both guests and wineries.

We only charge a referral fee when Door Explorer brings you a referred booking — that is, a pre-paid tasting booked by a guest who discovered your winery on our platform.

You can read more detail in the next section, but simply put:

• Direct Bookings: Free — no referral fee, no commission, no catches
• Referred Bookings: $1 per guest — only for referred, pre-paid bookings

Our billing is simple: we charge only when we provide real value.

In future, we plan to introduce premium tools to help with marketing, sales, and guest retention — but those will be optional and shaped by feedback from wineries like yours.

Transparently, Door Explorer is still growing, and we're building it ourselves — without the big overheads of an expensive engineering team — which allows us to keep our costs low and pass that value on to wineries.

If you have questions, suggestions, or feedback: [email protected]

What is the difference between a Direct and Referral booking?

Door Explorer supports two types of bookings: Direct and Referred. The difference comes down to how the guest found you.

Direct Bookings

These are bookings made through the form on your own website, or manually added to your calendar from phone calls, emails, or walk-ins. These are bookings you've generated through your own channels, so:

• No referral fee or commission
• No limits to how many bookings you can take
• 100% of the tasting fee goes to you

Referred Bookings

These are bookings made by guests who discover your winery on the Door Explorer platform and book a pre-paid tasting.

• $1 referral fee per guest
• Applied only to pre-paid bookings
• No fees for free tastings, walk-ins, or unpaid bookings

Think of it as a cost-effective marketing investment — a new, pre-paid group of four guests could cost as little as $4 in referral fees.

Example Breakdown

How are payments processed?

Payments are securely processed using Stripe.

When you enable payments on Door Explorer, you’ll connect your business to Stripe using a Stripe Connect account. This requires a quick approval from one of your business directors, and we’re happy to help if you need guidance — either through the dashboard or over a call.

Once connected, you’ll be able to accept pre-paid bookings and receive payments directly into your nominated bank account.

Stripe, like all payment processors, charges a payment processing fee that varies based on the guest's selected payment method. To make sure this doesn’t affect your earnings, we add that fee on top of the tasting price — so the guest covers it at checkout.

How do refunds and cancellations work?

When setting up payments, you'll choose one of three cancellation policies. These give guests clarity, while allowing you to manage your bookings effectively:

• Flexible — guests can cancel up to 1 hour before for a refund
• Standard — guests can cancel up to 24 hours before
• Firm — guests must cancel at least 72 hours before

The cancellation policy you choose is shown clearly to guests before they confirm a booking and in their confirmation email.

Refunds apply only to the tasting fee. Processing fees are non-refundable.

You can update your cancellation policy at any time, but changes will only apply to future bookings — existing bookings will follow the policy that was in place at the time of booking.

What if a guest doesn't show up?

If a guest doesn't attend their booking and hasn't cancelled within your selected cancellation window, they're considered a no-show. You'll still receive payment, and no refund is issued to the guest. This policy is shown clearly during the booking process.

What support does Door Explorer offer to Wineries?

If we can help we will. While we don't pretend to know all the nuances of running a winery — we do have a lot of experience building websites, and growing businesses — and we're more than happy to offer any support and advice we can.

Website and Technical Support

If you're having trouble with your website, just reach out. We're great with websites and will either be able to help you ourselves or point you in the right direction.

Marketing and Business Growth

We'd also love to discuss any business challenges you're facing or any problems you have at your cellar door or with your guests. Let's hop on a call, and we'll do our best to help with either advice or maybe even develop features into Door Explorer that can help.