Wine Lovers' Guide to Australia

The first episode features interviews with two of the most celebrated wine experts in Australia - industry leader Len Evans, and rare footage of the late Max Schubert, who created Penfold's Grange Hermitage, Australia's most celebrated wine. Maryann recommends sparkling wine with Sunday morning's yum cha, and Grant warns us not to be seduced by wine that has a gold sticker on it.

White wine with white meat, and red wine with red meat - true or false? Maryann also takes us through the merits of chardonnay - Australian chardonnay has distinctive qualities not necessarily found in all regions throughout the world. Pria Viswalingam takes us to visit a great establishment of wine history in Australia - Jimmy Watsons' wine bar in Melbourne and Grant introduces us to a destructive little aphid known as phylloxera.

Explore the wineries of Queensland's Granite Belt - established by the sons of Italian and Greek grape growers, and the Great Southern Region in Western Australia. In the 'Wine & Wherefore' segment, Grant explains when it is appropriate to return a bottle of wine in a restaurant.

The Hunter Valley in NSW produces some of the best semillon in Australia and Grant talks with winemakers, Karl Stockhausen, lain Riggs from Brokenwood and Phillip Ryan from McWilliam's Mount Pleasant about the changes in production of Hunter Valley semillon over the years. In 'Food Match', Tetsuya Wakuda creates two dishes that bring out the flavours of Hunter Valley semillon. Pria meets up with Beppi Polese to find out more about the custom of drinking grappa in Australia.

Pria visits Brown Brothers at Milawa in North East Victoria where the Browns have been producing wine for six generations. Maryann talks with Pam Dunsford, first woman graduate from Roseworth College in S.A. and winemaker at Chapel Hill Winery in McLaren Vale. Grant explains the role of a sommelier in Australia. We also visit Swan Valley just outside Perth - one of the oldest grape growing regions in Australia.

Maryann talks to Dr. John Middleton about his label Mount Mary. Grant goes to Mclaren Vale where some of the oldest shiraz vines in the country are being nurtured by d'Arry Osborn and his son Chester, and to Jasper Hill near Heathcote in Victoria where Ron and Elva Laughton are also producing fine shiraz. In 'Food Match' Grant discusses the best food to have with a glass of shiraz. In the Rutherglen region in Victoria, Pria meets fifth generation winemakers who have built a formidable worldwide reputation for their fortified wines.