wineries
 

If you could pick one, which would be the best wine vineyard to visit in Australia? Maybe the equivalent of Napa Valley (USA) in AUs?

There's no single district that produces the best wines, but arguably the Barossa Valley, outside of Adelaide, would come closest to being "Australia's Napa", with a good variety of wines and a very attractive setting - especially if you combine it with a drive through the nearby Adelaide Hills. Adelaide is a very congenial, compact city, easy to navigate with good dining.

If South Australia is too far out of your way, you can reach the Hunter Valley as a day trip from Sydney.

Fora rundown on Australia's wine regions have a look at www.wineaustralia.com.au - also www.winestay.com if you're interested in overnighting.

If you are going to make us give you a comparison then please tell us how many Gold International Awards do the wineries of the Napa Valley get in one year please.

Sorry - hit the wrong button.
What I mean is, best..... in terms of what? Equivalent......in terms of what AND what time of year would you be visiting? All those factors have a bearing on our answers.

rv224 - I agree with Neil, thats a hard one to answer. You must realise, that different wine regions of Australia, specialise so well in particular grape varieties, eg. Clare Valley in South Australia for fine Rieslings. Coonawarra in Sth Australia, for those great bold red wines. Barossa is also a fine wine region, for a number of wine varietals.
Then the Hunter Valley for the best semillons and verdelho.
Then the Margaret River Region in Western Australia, really knows how to blend Semillon & Sauvignon Blanc.
Gee, just so many great wines in Australia, now how about Tasmania, with the their cool weather, and slow ripening, which produces some great Rieslings, especially, Bay of Fires wines...so drinkable with Tasmanian seafood, especially a nice crayfish.
Hmmm, did I miss any other great wine regions of Australia, I guess I might have, but then thats another story to tell.

And don't forget Victoria. The Yarra Valley is only about an hour's drive from Melbourne. Then there the wineries around Rutherglen and (our favourite) Brown Bros at Milawa. Plus more wineries in the Mildura region.
I guess it all depends on the type of wine you prefer.

If you associate "America" with "wine" most people are likely to think "Napa Valley" before any other region, even though there are many other regions and the Napa Valley may or may not produce the best pinot gris, zinfandel or whatever.

I would submit that the Barossa's image in Australia is analogous to that of Napa's in the United States, with the Hunter Valley as runner-up. I took this to be what rv224 was asking for, even though the word "vineyard" rather than "region" was used, and I did preface my recommendations by saying that "there's no single district that produces the best wines".

If rv224 were an oenophile and intent on finding the best region for cool-climate Rhine rieslings, or whatever, I think he/she would have asked a more specific question.

We live about an hour from Napa valley and visited Barossa and Adelaide Hills two years ago and just visited Hunter Valley and McLaren Vale in November. We LOVED the Barossa and the whole Adelaide area when we were there. However, this past trip I was quite surprised with the Hunter Valley. Many, many, more wineries than I expected and very high quality too. And many, many good restaurants--probably a bit more than the Barossa in my opinion. Also lots of other attractions. You can't go wrong in either valley but I'd have to give a slight advantage to the Hunter.

You will also find some great wines in the Mudgee area. Cheers!

OK, I'd better chime in with the Canberra region then!

rv224, do you mind elaborating as per above discussion, please?

Not to forget the outback of Queensland - its not called a bottle of Roma Coma for nothing!

You can purchase wine in a bottle shop which is cheaper than going to a winery. In the winery everyone acts like they know about wine instead of acting the lush they really are.

If you do have a real serious taste for wine then research, research, research to get a golden moment.

Otherwise stay in Sydney and buy a bottle same stuff and have fun.

Honest most wineries are for lushes like me that are willing to pay twice the price because it is in a "winery" but really are just getting same junk that is half the price down at the local bottlo.


If you make the journey to any wine area make sure you have a real special destination, not just a grape farm.

Tassietwister...so true I have just got back from Tassie where we went to Pipers Brook and the same wine was dearer than in my local supermarket!