Food & Wine of Australia

(9 Days - Departs Daily on a Private Basis)

Melbourne, Yarra Valley, Adelaide, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Sydney

Australian cuisine was once based solely on the recipes brought by the English settlers, such as roasts, meat pies, sausage and potatoes. Contemporary cooking—some of the best in the world—reflects more recent immigrations with Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese and other Asian cuisines offering a diversity of cooking ingredients and styles to the mix. Large urban food markets stock a huge range of local foods, such as olive oil, organic vegetables, goat cheese, wood-fired bread and live crabs.

For generations, Aborigines prepared meals from foods gathered in the wild. Traditional “bushtucker” cuisine includes kangaroo meat and witchetty grubs (moth larvae) as well as native berries, nuts, seeds and citrus. Many of these ingredients have found their way into the kitchens of contemporary Australian chefs exploring the flavors of the continent.

Australian wine has become a worldwide phenomenon in recent years and the country is now one of the top ten wine producers in the world. Wine-growing regions of the Barossa Valley, the Hunter Valley and the Yarra Valley produce some of the world’s best chardonnays, shirazs, pinot noirs and merlots. Australia also has a strong pub culture.

This private gourmet adventure includes Australia's premier wine regions, insider visits to specialty food purveyors, market visits, superb dining, and tours of locations offering the freshest and most creative cuisine in Australia.