The Auswine Forum

I am traveling to Australia this March-April and would appreciate advise on which wine regions are a must-see. I would like to visit wine regions where I will be able to spend a few days visiting wineries. My preferance is for red wine. We will probably fly into Melbourne and will be in country for about three weeks. Thanks!!

Hello there,

Australia is a big continent. May I asked wat style of wines do u prefered?

Cheers,

If you get to South Australia and can get to the Barossa make sure you visit Rockfords, they are located in Krondorf Rd , Tanunda. They have for my money the best cellar door i have ever been to. Very friendly, relaxed, knowledgable and the wines are great. Try the Basket Press Shiraz and the Sparkling Black Shiraz for an amazing experience for your senses. Sensational stuff. The vintage port is also great.All the other wines are very good examples of their varieties as well.

Cheers

Paul

OK guess my inquiry was a bit broad. here's the details:

There are four of us traveling (two couples) from March 21 through April 14th. We plan to do some traveling to different regions in Australia doing the tourist thing but would very much like to set aside 4-5 days for wine country touring and winery visits.

We are all wine lovers and have spent considerable time visiting wine regions aong the US west coast (CA, WA & OR)

Our interest in wine is broad but tends towand reds. We have a combined cellar of about 800 botles and about 15% is Australian Shiraz or shiraz blends, 15% is French mostly Rhone with a bit of Champagne, 5% Italian reds and the rest CA, WA and OR Cab, Syrah & Pinot with a smatering of whites. We eat a lot of game meat, salmon and halibut so tend to have wines to match.

Hi Taz

From Melbourne, u may fancy a day trip to yarra valley (rent a car, drive up early, taste and SPIT, drive back to town, and given summer is almost here, the day might actually be longer which allows u even more daylight time to drive back). pay a visit to Moet & Chandon's australian vineyards, Chandon Australia, excellent cellar door, beautifully designed tasting room, spectacular view, etc. the sparklings are also very good, in particular the vintage stuff and the cuvee riche (sweeter).

and since you got the time, why not do a road trip along the great ocean road from melbourne to adelaide thru coonawarra. I did it over 3 days with stop overs for the nite at the town of penola (very near coonawarra) and robe (seaside town with live lobsters!!), lovely and leisurely driving.

coonawarra - go to majella, great shiraz and cab in 01, along with a sparkling red which u shd like too

From adelaide, u can spend 2 days in the surrounding wine regions (clare valley, mclaren vale, barossa, adelaide hills) ... etc

barossa - go to grant burge (excellent reds)

can i come along with u? .....

Don,

Hi & Dry has some great suggestions, just make sure you drive carefully & on the left hand side of the road, the Great Ocean Road is a fairly treacherous piece of road & not a relaxing drive, for us anyway, with continual tight bends & multiple tourist buses. There is a pub, half way along, I can't remember the name, which surprised us with their bistro's half decent winelist, with a Guigal Cotes du Rhone 1998 for around $30.00 , which we grabbed 1 with dinner & another for the camping site, great little wine, especially after quite a bit too much Mornington Pinot Noir!!

Safe trip,
lantana

Don

The easiest wine holiday in Australia would be out of Adelaide-Barossa, the Hills, Southern Vales etc. Almost guarranteed a great experience with the guidance of the forum.

I am not convinced of the Yarra Valley-nice but not special. If you are at Melbourne International airport, on a Sunday, Craiglee is open and just 15 minutes away in Sunbury-a very nice cool climate shiraz.

Present as much of your itinerary as possible, and I'm sure the forum will guide you to the very best cellar doors, as opposed to the commercial traps.