Throughout the week, groups of fellow wine lovers would travel by train, bus or car to various outlying viticultural areas including The Barossa, the Adelaide Hills and the Clare Valley. Some of the strictly serious wine writers would sip and spit, a practice confounding to many, particularly those who happen to step into the path of an earthbound wine missile. I think I'm glad to say that the non-spitters were in the majority, a conclusion derived from the extremely congenial mood on all the homebound journeys back to Adelaide. Naturally, fine dining was a highlight of Tasting Australia and you can bet we sampled some of the best the area had to offer. Adelaide has a well-earned reputation as a wonderful restaurant city, and Ron and I found the food to be on a par with some of the world's finest.
Australian cuisine is typically innovative and exciting.
Red Ochre chef Andrew Fielke focuses on indigenous foods, creating tantalizing menus using ingredients with 40,000 year-old origins. In the end, I'd be hard-pressed to say we had a dining experience we didn't enjoy. I promise you'll be salivating by the time you're through reading. Tasting Australia's closing weekend featured the City of Adelaide's Feast for the Senses festival in scenic Botanic Park. Carolyn's South Australian segment includes highlights from some of Adelaide's notable restaurants and its remarkable Central Market, a wine lover's tour of The Barossa and the wild beauty of Kangaroo Island.