JUST LIKE THE COUNTRY ITSELF, AUSTRALIA’S WINE AND FOOD ARE SUGGESTIVE OF FREEDOM AND DIVERSITY

SUSAN TYRRELL EXPERIENCES THE TASTE OF AUSTRALIA ... AND FINDS THERE IS MUCH TO ENJOY!

Food and wine in Australia offers more freedom and diversity than perhaps any other nation on the planet. Australians have grown up with a broad influence from Indigenous, European and Asian cultures, so it is unsurprising that there is less of a national cuisine and a rather “magpie” like borrowing and contemporary interpretation of cuisine from around the world. There is an inherent free-spirited attitude in the kitchens and cellars of Australia that drives adventure, refinement and discovery when food and wine get together.
Our chefs and winemakers have learnt from the best, then bent the rules for a food and wine style all of their own. They’ve turned Australia’s sun-kissed produce into a melting pot of cuisine and award-winning wines. Whether you want a fresh seafood platter, a stunning shiraz, a modern Asian-fused meal or a racy riesling, Australia is the place to be.

South Australia

Some of the most famous wine regions in the world are dotted across South Australia. Winemaking in South Australia began in 1841 when the first vintage was recorded in the Adelaide Hills. More than 160 years on, it seems the offerings have simply improved and diversified. From shiraz in the Barossa, riesling in the Clare Valley, to the big reds of the Coonawarra, there is much to see, sip and taste.
With over 70 cellar doors and 150 wineries, it would take weeks to visit all in the famous Barossa region, which includes household names such as Jacob’s Creek, Yalumba, Penfolds, Peter Lehmann and smaller brands such as Henschke, Moorooroo Park, Rockford and St Hallett.
From personal experience, an overnight stay and degustation dinner at the boutique Moorooroo Park is recommended, with their range of Lottie’s Shiraz an outstanding wine.
One of the Adelaide Hills’ most famous towns, Hahndorf, is Australia’s oldest surviving German settlement. There’s still a strong German flavour in Hahndorf, most evident in the smallgood outlets and German bakeries that line the bustling main street.
You may visit the former home and studio of artist Sir Hans Heysen – The Cedars. Take a guided tour of this gracious old home, still owned by the Heysen family. It houses a fine collection of paintings and drawings displaying Heysen’s remarkable versatility in subject and medium. Also on the grounds, see Heysen’s working studio, his painting materials and tools, sketches, notes and more.
You can pick your own strawberries at Beerenberg or drop into Maggie Beer’s Farm, like we did.  Creating short-run products based on the best-quality produce in season is how Maggie started with the Farm Shop. Whether a ute full of peaches or a trailer of blood oranges, Maggies says “the produce always drives the product”.  Call in for a bite and the opportunity to pick your own collection of goodies from Maggie’s famous delectables; pates, Pheasant and Porcini Terrine, cheeses, olives, woodfired bread and quince paste galore. Love that quince paste!
The Clare Valley north-west of Adelaide has been compared to Tuscany. It’s a place where you can cycle an idyllic 35 kilometres through vineyards on the Riesling Trail, watch master vignerons at work in 150-year-old cellars and enjoy festivals among the vines.  The trail connects the townships of Auburn, Leasingham, Watervale, Penwortham, Sevenhill, Clare and White Hut. There’s a surprising range of foods that has been grown, farmed or produced in the region, from free-range chickens to chutney, carob to cod, saltbush hogget to organic lamb. You’ll see it available in shops, cellar doors, farm outlets, cafes and restaurants.

Western Australia

Western Australia’s wine regions have a laid-back atmosphere with the added sophistication of fresh produce and fine food. Here, whole afternoons can be spent chatting and eating over a bottle of wine and then meandering from restaurant to cellar door and back again for dinner.
Many wineries have restaurants, children’s play areas, art galleries, behind-the-scenes tours and even accommodation and tours of local attractions – so you can turn your visit into a full-scale holiday.
Food and wine trails are a delicious way to enjoy both Margaret River and the Swan Valley. Combined with other local produce, from cheese to chocolate, this is nothing short of a gourmet delight – irresistible for a day trip or longer stay.

New South Wales

There are plenty of ways to enjoy gourmet food and a wine-tasting adventure in NSW. Award-winning top-rated restaurants are liberally sprinkled across New South Wales with committed chefs attracted by the abundant, quality, seasonal produce. You can stock up on delicious gourmet goodies at the farm gate, artisan bakeries, family owned wineries and the regular farmers’ markets that are now a tourist feature of most major NSW towns.
Stay for a short break or long weekend to enjoy a regional cooking class or wine-tasting course. Impress your friends with rare vintages, organic hand-made cheeses and fresh seafood from some of the cleanest waters in the world, or a box of succulent organic figs, juicy peaches or crisp apples.
On your travels you’ll also discover that some foodie pleasures never fade. Lunch on the veranda of an old country pub, fish and chips on the beach, an afternoon cream tea in a quaint café or tasting fine wine made by a third generation wine-maker.

Hunter Valley Wine Region

Australia’s oldest continuously planted wine region, the Hunter Valley, is just two hours’ drive north of Sydney. The region is an acclaimed producer of the world’s finest semillon as well as Australia’s best shiraz. More than 120 wineries and cellar doors are spread through the seven sub-regions of the Hunter Valley, many open for tastings every day, some with wine tours and cooking schools as well as major events.
The Hunter Valley also has a vibrant food culture to match its beautiful wines. Handmade, boutique cheeses, smokehouse goods, olives and olive oil, beef and poultry have inspired chefs here. You’ll enjoy their fine fare at sleek and contemporary restaurants overlooking vineyards or in relaxed, vine-covered cafes.
As well as great food and wine you’ll find plenty to keep you entertained in the Hunter Valley. There is a wide range of stylish accommodation, treks and tours, galleries and golf courses, beautiful spas and exclusive retreats.

Poachers Way, Canberra Region

Located in Canberra and the region, Poachers Way is a collective inspired by land and life. Immerse yourself in the lifestyle and passions of these creators by planning your visit to discover exceptional artists, chefs, winemakers, galleries and rural retreats.
Visit cool-climate wineries, country cafes, art galleries and craft studios on this self-drive through the Canberra countryside. This is a region where you can enjoy the fruits of country labour – a table laden with delicious food and a bottle of last year’s vintage. Stay in a bed-and-breakfast where you sleep in crisp linen sheets and wake to birdsong on the veranda. Buy handmade glassware and pottery from the galleries and taste wood-smoked meats and homemade wine on a farm.
Visit: www.thepoachersway.com.au

Queensland

Queensland offers a gourmet paradise with delectable, award-winning wines, organic produce and fresh seafood.
Follow a food and wine trail and you’ll be sipping on a chardonnay or rolling a shiraz around your mouth on a grape-fuelled adventure. Wineries are often located in picturesque settings, and many offer the opportunity for picnics in grassy knolls overlooking vineyard slopes.
Queensland’s multicultural communities add spice to culinary delights. Australian cuisine blends fresh ingredients and uses European culinary traditions and the light touch of Asian seasoning.
You’ll taste some of the best food in the world in Queensland, and even the most discerning diner will be satisfied. With fresh barramundi, mud crab, exotic crocodile meat, mangoes and macadamia nuts… that’s how you’ll really know you’re in Queensland.
With an ever-increasing stable of award-winning wines available from all regions, the secret is out about Queensland’s flourishing wine industry.
Established in the 1860s, winegrowing has a long history in Queensland, but the success of its wines is only now starting to be realised on the national and international stage.
Charming cellar doors, friendly winemakers, vineyard restaurants, gourmet food, wine trails and cosy accommodation options help visitors make the most of the major wine regions, which stretch from the Gold Coast Hinterland, through the Scenic Rim and out to the Granite Belt, around the Darling Downs and Toowoomba, and up to the South and North Burnett. Further north in Tropical North Queensland fruit wines are generating increasing interest.
There are eight major areas in Queensland that boast a great selection.

Granite Belt

Thanks to its strong Italian community, the Granite Belt has had a long history of viticulture and winemaking. Its cool winter and spring climates make it an ideal viticultural area and an attractive holiday destination. The wineries of the region are small to medium size and are owned and managed by families or individuals whose passion shows in great Queensland wine.

Toowoomba and Darling Downs

Wineries perched right on the edge of the Great Dividing Range or nestling among rolling hills are some of the great finds in this area. Stop for lunch, try some wines and take advantage of the great views. Winemaking traditions are strong in this region, which produces award-winning whites and reds, tasty muscats and sweet table wines.

Scenic Rim

Within a short drive of Brisbane there are a number of vineyards and wineries that have been established in the Scenic Rim, which stretches from Mt Cotton to the picturesque Brisbane Valley. You can explore this picturesque area in a day, a weekend or longer, but you won’t come home empty-handed.

Gold Coast Hinterland

A spectacular wine region featuring boutique wineries and vineyards set in the rainforest beauty of Mount Tamborine and the emerald countryside of Albert River and Canungra. Although it’s only half an hour from the beaches of the Gold Coast, the area’s temperate climate has ideal grape-growing conditions. Look for superb restaurants, cheese tastings, gourmet picnics and vineyard tours at the cellar door.

Sunshine Coast

One of the most diverse and fastest-growing wine regions is centred around the Sunshine Coast, with small boutique vineyards that handpick their grapes and hand-prune their vines. Vineyards can be found high up in the cooler-climate Blackall Range, Kenilworth and Traveston areas, through to the milder climates in the valleys near the coast. A diversity of microclimates allows a wide range of grape varieties to be grown within the region.

South Burnett

The gentle, undulating countryside of the Stuart and Boyne River plain in the west and Barkers Creek in the east is the heart of one of the newer winemaking areas, the South Burnett, centred around Kingaroy. This award-winning region is the fastest-developing wine area in Queensland, with 600 acres in 25 vineyards currently in the area.

North Burnett

Most do not expect to find a winegrowing region this far north, but the unique, coastal, dry winter/dry summer climate in Central Queensland combined with prevailing sea breezes has created excellent conditions for creating dry and easy-drinking fruity styles perfectly matched to the Queensland climate.

Tropical North Queensland

The fruit-wine industry in Tropical North Queensland has gone beyond being the little cousin to the grape-wine industry by producing some award-winning wine with an abundance of flavour shown and consistent quality. Located in and around the Cairns Highlands, the wineries use tropical fruits such as mango, banana, lychee, pineapple, passionfruit, black sapote, pitaya and other tropical fruits, as well as citrus and other Australian native fruits, including the Davidson Plum and Lemon Aspen.
Visit: www.destinationqueensland.com

Tasmania

Tasmania has cool-climate wines made from grapes grown in climates similar to those of the famous European wines – with mild summers and long autumn days that ripen the grapes slowly and surely.
You can tour the Tasmanian Wine Routes easily by car or on guided tours. The island’s Wine Routes include the Tamar Valley, north of Launceston along both sides of the Tamar River and east to Pipers River; the Derwent, Coal River and Huon Valleys (together comprising the Southern Wine Route), an easy drive from Hobart; and the growing wine regions of the North West and the East Coast.
Tasmania’s first vineyard was planted at New Town, a Hobart suburb, in 1821. In 1848, its white wine won an award at the Paris Exhibition. Tasmania now produces such elegant cool-climate wines as pinot noir, riesling, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, cabernet sauvignon, pinot gris and sparkling wines.
Most vineyards and wineries are small, with many offering tastings at their cellar-door outlets. Several wineries have beautifully situated restaurants offering vineyard or water views.

Victoria

Victoria boasts over 850 wineries, of which 650 have cellar doors, in 21 distinct wine regions. Enjoy cellar-door tastings and dine on local produce at winery restaurants. From the cool-climate varieties of the Yarra Valley to the big reds of Rutherglen, create your own Victorian wine experience.

Around Melbourne

Melbourne’s surrounds are unique – five winegrowing regions within 90 minutes of the city. And where there’s good wine there’s always great food, markets and festivals.

North-East Victoria

Five individual regions – Rutherglen, Beechworth, Glenrowan, King Valley and Alpine Valley – producing a diverse range of wines from old-style fortifieds to the newer Italian varietals.

Central Victoria

Stretching from the bountiful Goulburn Valley, west to the opulent city of Bendigo, east to the magnificent High Country, and north to Echuca on the Murray.

Western Victoria

Head west to mountains, goldfields and four distinctive wine regions. Follow the Great Ocean Road and the Great Grape Road, tasting spectacular wines along the way.

South-East Victoria

Head east to Gippsland and three separate sub-regions with their own microclimates and wine styles. Discover over 100 individual vineyards and about 30 small, family owned wineries.

North-West Victoria

With its Mediterranean climate tempered by the Murray River, north-west Victoria is home to vast orchards, citrus and olive groves, grain fields and, of course, vineyards.
Visit: www.visitvictoria.com