VisitVineyards.com – bringing you the best of wine, food and travel
Wine, food and fun for Australia's long summer
Boynton's Feathertop Winery, near Bright, Victoria
Welcome to VisitVineyards.com – Australia's leading online wine, food and travel guide – as we roar into 2012, the Chinese Year of the Dragon. Reputedly the luckiest year of the Chinese calendar, 2012 has got off to a great start over most of Australia, and we sure hope that continues for you all.
We hope that you've enjoyed a fabulous summer – at VisitVineyards.com HQ it's certainly been the best for many years, with plenty of beach, camping, fishing and barbecue weather, great tennis and cricket to watch, fantastic events, concerts and festivals to chill out at, and lovely food and wines to enjoy – everything you could want really!
In the wine regions, vintage has already started in the Hunter and Queensland; further south, vines are being netted as veraison arrives and the grapes colour up. The growth of vines has been astonishing this year, and many vignerons have been busy over summer keeping their vines and yields in check, to ensure the quality of the 2012 harvest ahead. Stay tuned for futher vintage reports as we get them in.
But summer is not over yet! Even though we may be back at work and with kids back at school, the beautiful weather continues over much of the country, the evenings are still long, and there are plently of opportunities to enjoy our fabulous wine, food and (increasingly) our boutique beers.There's also Valentine's Day and more long weekends to come.
So if you are planning some wine country adventures, you might like to check out our wide range of (self drive) suggested itineraries in all Australian wine regions (and a few in NZ, too) here »
If you want someone else to do the driving, there are plenty of tours listed there too, from limos and minibuses, to balloons and helicopters.
VisitVineyards.com has Australia's largets and most current list of wineries, vineyards, and cellar doors, so whatever you are looking fo, you can find it here. The easiest way is by using our advanced search, where you can search by state, region, grape variety, or whatever you like really (you can do the same for restaurants, accomodations, fodo makers and growers, and much more – we have nearly 30,000 listings on our website).
Or perhaps you just want to stay put and enjoy some great wines? Read more about what's on in the world of Australian wine here »
And, of course, there's food – dining out, visiting the markets and provedores, or cooking up a storm at home – we have lots of ideas for you culinary adventures here »
On our website you'll find lots of information, including
- Wineries and vineyards – over 4700 at last count, including many boutique producers and hidden gems that you won't find elsewhere. (We find new ones almost every week).You can search by state, region, name, if they have a cellar door, by wine varieties, opening days, and lots more by using our advanced search (tick 'wine') here »
We're now expanding to New Zealand, and maybe including some producers in South Africa in 2012, too
- Food growers, makers and producers – from cheese, bread, cakes and chocolate to truffles, tomatoes, vincotto and wasabi, you can discover where to find the best local and regional food here (using our advanced search, tick 'food'), too;
- Self-drive itineraries and tours in wine and food country around Australia, up-to-date and by leading writers;
- Wine news and articles – wine reviews and tasting notes, and reviews of the latest wine books and iPhone apps;
- Food and dining news and reviews from the regions, including restaurants, cooking schools and markets;
- What's on – there are literally hundreds of events every month in Australia's biggest calendar of wine and food events »
- Reviews of the best cookbooks, food and wine (or beer) matching tips and ideas (check out the latest on the VisitVineyards.com home page);
- Delightful regional accommodation – we select beautiful places to stay in food and wine country that you won't find on big, impersonal directory sites – many are bookable direct;
- Feedback from wine and food lovers like you – read current reviews by real people in our forums, and find out if that cellar door or restaurant really is as good as it sounds.... You can post your own comments on places you've been, too;
- Monthly giveaways where we share fabulous wines, hampers, food produce, wine and food books, holidays and lots more from our wonderful producers around the country, on our popular Win page »
Even if your nearest grapevine is hundreds or thousands of kilometres away, if you enjoy wine or food you'll find something on VisitVineyards.com for you.
All our cellar door, restaurant, accommodation, food and other information is now also available on the Visit Vineyards iPhone app, so you can access it on the go, wherever you are. Download the app from iTunes here »
We've recently had another big celebration of our own, too, welcoming our 40,000th subscriber with some delightful summer wines.
So come and join* over 40,000 other happy wine and food lovers – it's free »
Don't forget to keep sending us your feedback, too – we love to hear from you, and learn about your new discoveries, the wine and food you've enjoyed, the events you've been to, whatever! Email us here anytime.
Best wishes for 2012 from Robyn, Kerry, Andrew, Trish and all the VisitVineyards.com team.
For the best of wine and food country on the go, download our free iPhone app here »
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[* When you subscribe to VisitVineyards.com, you can opt to receive our seasonal newsletter, to keep up with the latest wine and food news, reviews, events and competitions. (We realise some of you have enough email already; it's not compulsory) ]
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