The Best Food and Wine Experiences in Queensland

1. Taste wine across Queensland’s Granite Belt

Boasting an increasing stable of award-winning wines, the secret is out about Queensland's flourishing wine industry. Wine growing has a long history in Queensland, stretching back to the mid-1800s, but success of on the national and international stage only came about a few decades ago.

Today, boutique cellar doors set amongst charming vineyards in friendly villages offer a vineyard experience like no other. You can meet the wine makers while you sip wine and sample gourmet food at any of the major wine regions stretching from the Gold Coast Hinterland, through the Scenic Rim and out to the Granite Belt, and west to the Darling Downs and Toowoomba.

It’s an easy drive between vineyards in Queensland’s southeast, but if you’re keen to sit back and relax while someone else does all of the heavy lifting, a number of tour operators in the Granit Belt region. Filippo’s Tours offers a full-day guided exploration of the great wine, fine foods and popular icons of the Granite Belt, while Stanthorpe Tours will get you around the region in a kitted-up luxurious limousine bus. For something a little more customised, Wine Discovery Tours offers a personal prestige 4WD wine tour, taking in the cellar doors, antique shops and local craft markets in the Granite Belt.

2. Explore the Sunshine Coast’s market scene

When you consider the phrase ‘from paddock to plate’, have you considered just how fresh it can get? On the Sunshine Coast, produce that is delivered straight from the farmer to you is the latest trend, and locals and visitors alike love the results!

At the Noosa Farmers Market on at Noosaville, where all products are grown, reared, caught, baked or prepared by the stall holder, you’ll find some of the Coast's best produce every Sunday morning. From farm fresh fruit and veggies to just-baked breads, artisanal cheeses, tasty preserves and local seafood, poultry, beef and lamb, this is your chance to discuss your goods with locals who produce them.

The Eumundi Markets, held twice every week, are another food lover's delight, with everything from fresh produce to taste sensations you'll find hard to resist. The range and quality of local seasonal produce will impress, so be sure to pack a cold pack in case some fresh seafood or meat takes your fancy.

3. Learn about Aboriginal culture on The Bama Way

From interpretive indigenous tours to bush-tucker journeys through the outback, the sunshine state boasts some of Australia’s richest and most diverse cultural indigenous experiences.

Take a journey along The Bama Way, an Aboriginal journey through Tropical North Queensland, and discover the area through the eyes of its original inhabitants. You can choose from three Aboriginal-owned and operated tours, the Guurrbi Tours, The Walker Family Tours and Kuku Yalanji Cultural Habitat Tours, with each experience providing a unique and powerful insight into traditional Aboriginal culture and history.

Here, you’ll visit sacred and historic local sites, learn about bush tucker and natural medicine, and hear the myths behind rock paintings. For instance, traditional story-keeper and Nugal-warra Elder Willie Gordon takes visitors to his ancestral rock sites, where he shares the stories behind the artwork, which can only be told by Elders of the clan. Truly a unique experience.

4. Dine out in cosmopolitan Brisbane

Expect to be impressed by Brisbane's thriving food scene, where award-winning bars, innovative eateries and the finest in fine dining establishments continue to raise the bar. You can dine out on just about any cuisine from around the world, with each of Brisbane's distinct dining precincts displaying their own character.

You can sample the delights in The Valley, home to the Emporium complex, a luxury dining precinct that includes everything from premium deli produce to cutting edge and restaurants and trendy bars.

In the city, browsing Ann and Wickham Streets will lead you to discover Brisbane's urban night life, while in Paddington and Rosalie, you'll happen across cute cottages and shops converted into modern restaurants and hip coffee shops.

Multicultural West End offers a wide choice of authentic ethnic restaurants, and Park Road, Milton – a long established fixture on the food scene – boasts an eclectic selection of restaurants. Perhaps Bulimba's Oxford Street is more your scene; the popular eat street offers everything from high quality dining to tasty yet casual take away.

5. Improve your skills at one of Queensland’s popular cooking schools

Once you've tasted the delicious, locally-grown produce that Queensland has to offer, there’s a good chance you’ll want to know how to recreate the magic in your own kitchen – so it’s handy that many of the state’s most celebrated chefs enjoy imparting wisdom at a range of cooking classes!

You could take a class with top professional chefs at Black Pearl Epicure or James St Cooking School, both in Fortitude Valley, or learn how to make your own cheeses, discover vegetarian cooking from the experts at Mondo Organics in Brisbane city.

On the Sunshine Coast, the Asian cooking classes offered at The Tamarind in Maleny, The Spirit House Restaurant & Cooking School at Yandina and Amytis Gardens Retreat and Spa are frequently booked out, so it pays to book ahead.