Ben Groundwater's guide to the ultimate food and drink experiences in Australia

In the world of cellar doors, it can pay to at least be able to fake it till you make it, to say just the right things and act in just the right way to impress the winemakers and find yourself being steered towards the premium tastings that only go to those who appear to know what they're doing. Fortunately, for that, help is at hand.

There's a standard progression for tasting any wine, anywhere. Pick up the glass and hold it up to a light source, a window or a light bulb. Pretend to study the wine's colour for a while. Next, stick your nose right into the glass and take a big whiff. Then, remove your nose from the glass, and give it a vigorous swirl (the glass that is, not your nose). Stick your nose in it again and take another good nostril-full. Give the glass another little swirl, then take a sip of wine. Rinse and repeat, and insert knowledgeable comments - see below - in between any step.

Once you know what you like, it's handy to be able to express it to the people offering tastings of their product to help them steer you in the right direction. Saying, "Um ... red wine?" is not all that helpful. So ask yourself these questions:

These are all legitimate and helpful ways to describe your preferences.

I once found myself at a wine industry champagne-tasting event, where all of France's best champagne houses were pouring their finest drops for sommeliers and other professionals. I, clearly, was an imposter. However, a knowledgeable friend taught me a couple of things to ask about to cover my ignorance: "dosage", and "cepage". Dosage is the amount of sugar added to the champagne; cepage is the varieties of grapes used. The winemakers lapped it up.

If you want to sound like you know what you're talking about at Australian wineries - and thus find yourself treated to tastings of the premium drops - you just need a few similar words and phrases. Talk about the nose instead of the smell. Mention something about the long finish. Ask if they use a basket press. Easy.

Saying things like, "wow, lots of black cherry", or "smells like leather and wood, right?" is only going to make you look knowledgeable if you're right. If you're wrong, and you're just throwing words out there to see what sticks, you're going to look like you have no idea what you're talking about (because, you don't). So, rein in the chat. There's no need for that stuff - the person pouring the wine will probably tell you about it anyway. All you have to do is smile and nod and say "oh yeah, totally ...".

It's fine to have preferences when it comes to wine (see the descriptors above). But to say, flat out, "I don't drink chardonnay", or, "I hate cab sav", could be taken as fairly ridiculous. No grape is that much different to all of the others, and you can certainly stomach a sample to see if you like this winemaker's treatment of it. If you still don't enjoy it, no worries. Tip it into the spittoon. Move on. But as soon as anyone hears you shut down an entire varietal without even tasting anything, they won't take you seriously.

Winemakers are usually intensely proud of their product - this is a year's worth of tinkering and toil in a bottle. So, feel free to gush with as much praise as you feel is necessary. Say it's beautiful, say you love it, say it's the best thing you've drunk in months. Your flattery will probably take you all the way to the premium tastings.

Though it certainly helps to appear to know what you're talking about when you visit a cellar door, and to be open to trying new things and give them the proper amount of consideration, by far the most important thing to decide is this: what you actually like. Wine is entirely subjective, and you should never feel ashamed of your tastes or your choices - whatever it is you decide you like, it was made by the winemaker in front of you, and they will be proud of it. So, go in with confidence, not fear. As long as you're open and inquisitive, what you like and don't like is up to you. People will respect that.

The wine-tasting experience has changed markedly since the enforced shut-downs and increased regulations during the COVID-19 pandemic. It used to be that you could just turn up at a winery unannounced, walk up to the bar and have someone pour you a whole lot of samples for free. That isn't the case anymore, and you shouldn't expect it. Paid tastings are the norm in pretty much every region and every winery in Australia now - these fees will range from as little as $5 to anywhere into the hundreds, some will be redeemable if you buy a few bottles, some will not, but the fact remains that you will have to stump up. That's just how it is.

You will also have to book ahead - most tastings are seated now, to comply with density limits and provide visitors with a more personal experience. If you don't book, there's a good chance you won't get in. Do the right thing by everyone, and let people know you're coming - and more importantly, let them know if you're not.

People who are serious about wine (or even just properly interested) visit wineries with the intention to buy wine. Some will buy whole cases, others will only buy a bottle or two, and it's pretty easy for the people doing the pouring to tell if their customers are genuinely interested in making a purchase, or genuinely interested in getting boozed on tastings.

Remember: this is supposed to be fun. Whether you're super-serious about wine or you just like to have a drink every now and then, visiting a winery is meant to be enjoyable. So relax, and have a good time. Do the tasting ritual, ask the right questions, try to say the right things. Have a meal in a beautiful setting. Enjoy some local produce. Hang out with family or friends. And above all else, just have fun. Wine can attract its fair share of painful wannabes and difficult customers. You'll instantly put yourself in the good books if you're just there to enjoy.

A wine's "vintage" is the year the grapes were grown and harvested, and will be displayed on the label. Generally, wineries will release their most recent vintage as soon as it's deemed ready to drink, say, in the year the grapes were grown, or maybe the year after. Sometimes, however, wineries will release a "back vintage": a wine they've been holding onto for several years, allowing it to age.

This is a wine-making technique in which wine is clarified and stabilised using one of a variety of different agents, most of which are animal-based, such as egg whites or milk casein. Wines that are fined are then filtered to remove any solids that gather during this process.

Slang for "natural wine", which itself is a nebulous term without a set definition. Any wine classed in these pages as lo-fi will probably use organic grapes, with fermentation from wild yeast rather than something artificially introduced, with possibly no fining or filtration, and minimal sulphur added at the end.

The method employed in the Champagne region of France - among other places - to produce sparkling wine.

This is a style that is growing in popularity, in which winemakers take a hands-off approach, though it's notoriously difficult to define and categorise.

This denotes the standard blend of grape varietals - say, cabernet sauvignon, merlot and petit verdot - that a winery is known for, and will attempt to repeat each vintage. For makers of spirits, for example whisky or rum, a signature blend would be the blend of spirits used to create their standard product.

This is even more refined than "single-vineyard" (see below): a wine made from grapes harvested from a single block of vines within a vineyard. These wines tend to be more expensive and sought-after.

A lot of wines, particularly those on the lower end of the price scale, will be created using grapes from a variety of locations, blended to create a product that will taste very similar year after year. A single-vineyard wine, meanwhile, uses grapes from just one location, which means more vintage variation, and wine that is more reflective of the "terroir" (see below).

This is how all red wine is made, with the grapes pressed and the juice then left to ferment with the pressed skins, which impart colour, some flavour, and "tannins" (see below). There's a growing popularity, however, for white wines that are made in this same way, with the juice of the grapes given extended contact with the skins, giving the wine much more colour, body and texture, and changing the flavour. These wines are sometimes known as "orange" or "amber" wines, though we're working on a sliding scale here - the juice can be left on skins for anywhere from a few hours to a few months, meaning the effect can be subtle, or powerful.

A natural compound found in grape skins, seeds and stems, which, when present in wine, creates a drying sensation in your mouth. Drink a cup of strong tea, and notice the way your mouth feels. That's the effect of tannins - you'll know it, now, when you sip a glass of strongly tannic red wine.

Fancy French wine term for every environmental factor that contributes to the growing of grapes: the landscape, the soil, the temperature, the rainfall, the hours of sunlight, the drainage and aspect. Most winemakers are attempting to capture and display that terroir in their product - they're usually pretty passionate about their patch of earth - while also coaxing out the best results possible from the terroir they're dealing with.

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