Australia is a fantastic country for wine touring. There are so many regions to choose from, many of them close to the major cities, and the majority of wineries are happy to welcome visitors.
Touring, as opposed to buying from bottle shops, gives you the opportunity to taste the wines before you buy, and also to talk to the winemaker and get their opinion. Also, some bottles may be available from the cellar door that are hard or impossible to get from bottle shops. Many smaller wineries only sell via cellar door and mail order. If you want to talk to the winemaker, try and choose the least busy times and the smaller wineries and you are unlikely to be disappointed.
The downside is that often cellar door prices are not as cheap as those in liquor stores. This is particularly true of high volume wines from the larger wineries. One way of making the best of both worlds is to buy a couple of bottles on the basis of your tastings, and try them again at your leisure. If you still like them, order half a dozen or a dozen from your local discount bottle shop.
Tom Brennan : tomb@poboxes.com : last updated 980803