Part 1 of this blog appeared on October 17^th.

Actually, the seduction began even before I arrived in Australia. It began as I took my seat on the Qantas Airways plane in Dallas, anticipating a lot of reading, music and sleep on the 16 hour flight to Brisbane. Immediately upon seating myself, a steward approached and asked, “Would you like some Champagne, Mr. Stobbs?” Well, it wasn’t truly Champagne, but it was Katnook Founders Block Chardonnay Pinot Noir, a crisp, well-balanced, elegant sparkler containing hints of pears, yeast and bread with nice floral aromas, which James Halliday rated at 91 points. This, and a few glasses of Yering Station Shiraz Viognier (94 points, Halliday), with my dinner was a strong indication of the pleasures to come.

After almost 30 hours of traveling it was a welcome relief to arrive at the Intercontinental Hotel in Adelaide, where I had a couple of hours to freshen up before attending the Welcome Reception. Fortunately this was a relaxed affair held at the Adelaide Central Market, the largest covered market in the Southern Hemisphere. It was a pleasure to stroll around the stalls, taste wine, enjoy samples of Australian food (the oysters especially a treat!) and chat with some of the 750 other attendees from all around the world.

I imagine that many of us were expecting this event--Savour Australia 2013--to be a trade show. Trade shows are important to those of us in the business because they allow us to discover and taste wines that are new to us and to make new contacts in the wine world. But they can also be somewhat daunting. To be dropped in a maze of hundreds and sometimes thousands of stalls offering a dozen wines per table can be overwhelming unless you have a preconceived plan of action or a few guides who you trust.

But Savour Australia was so much more than a trade show. It was a wine forum, packed not only with wine tastings but with seminars, master classes, themed dinners and a lot more. Many of the myths about Australian wine were duly busted, and I must say we all need to look at Australian wine with fresh eyes (and fresh taste buds) rather than continuing to parrot the generalizations of 10 years ago. Cleverly, the wine industry now ties itself in with the food and tourism industries. Food and wine defines a country’s international image and its culture more than ever. Modern tourists no longer visit a country primarily to view its historical sites and landmarks. They come to experience and share a unique culture and way of life, of which food and wine play a key role.

My first afternoon I had the pleasure of taking part in a Chardonnay master class, moderated by award-winning wine writer Tyson Stelzer and with the amazing James Halliday--wine writer, wit, vigneron and unmatched authority on Australian wine--on the panel. We tasted 16 of the best Australian Chardonnays from various regions and in vintages between 2004 and 2011. The result was an amazing confirmation of the quality of what Jancis Robinson calls “arguably the varietal that Australia is best at currently.” These were Chardonnays that could stand proudly beside the best in the world.

That evening I attended a dinner at Jolley’s Boathouse which showcased the wines of Western Australia. These unique regions--small and over a thousand miles distant from Australia’s other major wine regions--offer an amazing range of award-winning, highly scored wines ranging from Riesling, Semillon and Sauvignon Blanc to Chardonnay, Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon.

As I walked through the nighttime streets of Adelaide back to the hotel, I thought about all the lip-smacking, palate-boggling quality Australian wines I had tasted in this, my first full day at Savour Australia. The seduction was beginning.

Part 3 of The Australian Seduction will appear here in two weeks.

Bill Stobbs, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits Wine Supervisor

Follow me on Twitter @abcwinebills