Australia's best wine regions: Six of the most underrated

GRANITE BELT, QUEENSLAND

If you never realised Queensland produced wine, make your way to this high-altitude, cool-climate region straddling the NSW border, centred on Stanthorpe. Among the 50-plus wineries are interesting boutique operations making forays into more unusual Mediterranean grape varieties such as durif, fiano and nebbiolo, encountered by following the Strange Bird tourist trail. At Ballandean Estate Wines, established in the 1940s, you can even try saperavi, a red-wine grape native to Georgia. As befits an emerging wine region, you'll enjoy matching good restaurants. As an added bonus, beautiful Girraween and Sundown national parks produce robust landscapes. See granitebeltwinecountry.com.au

PIPERS RIVER, TAS

Bay of Fires Wines.

This cooler wine region in Tasmania’s north-east around George Town at the top end of the Tamar Valley wine region was established in the 1970s and features 20-odd vineyards amid pretty seaside villages, orchard farms, forests and the odd gold-mining settlement. Chardonnay, pinot noir and premium sparkling are the go-to wines, with Jansz Tasmania taking you through a curated tasting of its notable sparkling wines. Delamere offers tastings on its vine-shaded terrace. Bay of Fires Wines offers sparkling wine and riesling masterclasses. See winetasmania.com.au

MUDGEE, NSW

Despite its history - vines were planted here in the 1840s, and Mudgee was Australia’s 1970s chardonnay pioneer - this region has only a modest reputation. Its strengths are big red wines, successful Spanish and Italian varietals, and now rieslings. What also makes this wine region especially pleasant is the low-key approach, chance to meet the winemakers, and the town and surrounding countryside. Logan Wines and First Ridge Wines have especially striking cellar doors. See mudgeewine.com.au

CANBERRA DISTRICT, NSW/ACT

You’ll be pleased at the drops produced in the cool-climate vineyards that skirt our capital, especially around Murrumbateman, Bungendore and Lake George. Clonakilla was a pioneer of the popular shiraz-viognier blend and nearby Eden Road Wines offers a one-hour tasting of the region’s chief grape varieties. Small and often only open at weekends, various cellar doors can be linked - along with restaurants, craft shops, farm gates and colonial-era villages - on a drive through rolling countryside. Tallagandra Hill Winery has self-contained cottages. See canberrawines.com.au

KING VALLEY, VICTORIA

Italian immigrants were mostly responsible for establishing vineyards in north-east Victoria so, not surprisingly, star grapes include sangiovese, barbera and pinot grigio, while cellar doors dish up great Italian cuisine. Although you’ll find one of the widest varietal densities in Australia, light prosecco is the focus for many, with a tourist Prosecco Road connecting Pizzini Wines, Dal Zotto Estate and Milawa Estate, where the Brown Brothers began 130 years ago. Indigenous and bushranger history and the landscapes are other reasons to visit. See winesofthekingvalley.com.au

CLARE VALLEY, SA

This wine region two hours out of Adelaide is overshadowed by the Barossa and McLaren Vale but, with far fewer visitors, allows encounters with winemakers in a relaxed ambience at small, family-run cellar doors. The riesling is excellent, but Clare Valley reds are becoming better known. Sevenhill Cellars, one of Australia’s oldest wineries (1851), has a very atmospheric cellar door and interesting self-guided site tour. If you’re after luscious views with your riesling, stop by Paulett Wines for lunch. Undulating pastoral landscapes and pretty colonial-era Mintaro are other lures. See clarevalley.com.au