Ten thousand and ninety-two miles is a long way to go for a glass of wine. But your first taste of Australia's finest can make 21 hours in an aeroplane seem worthwhile.
My soft landing was at Penfolds Nuriootpa Winery in the Barossa Valley, where I nosed and slurped my way through 22 wines ranging from a £6.99 shiraz cabernet sauvignon to a £110 Grange.
The Barossa is one of the world's greatest wine producing areas, home to some 400 grape growers. It was settled in the early 1840s mainly by Silesian and Prussian refugees, and there is still a very distinctive Barossa Deutsch spoken. In most towns, German bakers sell vollkornbrot and bienenstich .
Because South Australia was phylloxera-free (unlike other states that had to import replacement vines after entire vineyards were wiped out), it can lay claim to having some of the oldest vines in the world. And although the grapes - to my inexpert eye - looked too small, raisin-size, it is their high skin-to-juice ratio that gives the wine its complex flavours. The fruit is left on the vine longer - "berry shrivel" is quite acceptable - to intensify the flavour. The original concept of Grange, when it was developed in 1951 by Penfolds winemaker, the legendary Max Schubert, was the combination of a rich fruit character from primarily shiraz grapes and the complexity of oak, particularly new American oak which allows ageing.
But South Australia is also good for whites. And unlike many UK Australian wine drinkers who are guided by the ABC principle (Anything But Chardonnay), in Australia chardonnay is revered. Penfolds even bills its Yattarna chardonnay as its "white Grange" and prices are appropriately high.
In the Barossa, Adelaide Hills, Clare Valley and McLaren Vale, most wineries offer free wine tastings. Many also offer simple lunches using fresh local produce. At Skillogalee winery in the Clare Valley, a good chilled tomato soup or smoked salmon starter is followed by vine pruners' (ploughman's) lunch with local cheese, ham, salad, pickle and home-made bread.
About 90 minutes north of Adelaide, Clare Valley is slightly cooler than the Barossa and is particularly known for its riesling. The riesling trail - a 27km route for cyclists and walkers through the beautiful gum tree-lined valleys - is designed so you can sample both "shy young" and "honeyed, toasty" older rieslings... you see, a couple of days' sampling brings out the worst in would-be wine buffs. Descriptions such as "damsons", "white pepper" and "cigar box" simply roll off the tongue. And if you ever wondered how a chardonnay could be "tight", then I can tell you it is the opposite of "fat": restrained but with length on the palate.
Another great wine region, McLaren Vale is some 30 minutes south of Adelaide on the coast, and it was here, overlooking the sea, that I ate one of my most memorable lunches in south Australia. The Star of Greece at Port Willunga is a charming clifftop café named after a shipwreck off the coast in 1888. John and Zanny Garcia bought the former bait-and-tackle shop in 1997, and though initially John cooked, they now have a brigade headed by chef David Swain. Salmon carpaccio, pan-fried sardines with lemon caper sauce and bouillabaisse looked divine, but being by the seaside I opted for beer-battered garfish and chips, and I wasn't disappointed.
An afternoon on the wide, clean, deserted beach two minutes down the cliff, lying on one of Zanny's crisp cotton tablecloths (towels had been forgotten) was equally memorable.
Way to go
Getting there: Qantas (08457 747767) flies from London to Adelaide return from £740 plus taxes, British Airways (0845 7733377, britishairways.com) from £674 inc tax.
Where to stay: Radisson Playford Adelaide, 120 North Terrace Adelaide (+8 8213 8888, radisson.com). Thorn Park Country House (hotel and cookery courses), College Hill, Sevenhill, Clare Valley (+8 8843 4304, thornpk@capri.net.au). Martindale Hall, PO Box 21, Mintaro, Clare Valley (+8 8843 9088).
Where to eat: Magill Estate Restaurant, 78 Penfold Road, Magill, Adelaide (+8 8301 5551). Red Ochre Restaurant War Memorial Drive, Adelaide (+8 8211 8555). Charlick's Feed Store, Ebenezer Place, Adelaide (+8 8223 7566). Star of Greece Café, The Esplanade, Port Willunga (+8 8557 7420).
Vineyards to visit: Penfolds, Tanunda Road, Nuriootpa (+8 8560 9389). Edwards & Chaffey, Seaview Winery, Chaffeys Road, McLaren Vale (+ 8 8323 8250). Skillogalee Winery (and Restaurant), Hughes Park Road, Sevenhill, Clare Valley (+8 8843 4311).
Extras: Barossa Helicopters (10 minutes to hour flights over the Barossa), PO Box 58 Lyndoch 5351 (+ 8 8524 4209). Gourmet tour of Adelaide's famous Central Market (+8 8336 4075).
