Australia�s famous Hunter Valley, wine country, and the Harbour Kitchen & Bar of the Hyatt in Sydney, laid out for a feast of food and drink. It has one of the best wine lists and sommeliers (Tony Venn) in the country..

PENFOLDS

Penfolds, owned by the giant Southcorp, is unique. It is the only company in the world held in equally high regard for wines ranging in release price per bottle from under 10 to more than 250 Australian dollars, and in status from everyday drink to global wine icon.

At every point in the hierarchy - red and white - there is consensus that Penfolds offers an exceptional combination of quality and value. And where there is argument on this issue, Penfolds is content to allow time and the market to make the final judgement. New dimensions have been added to Penfolds' profile since 1994.

A progressive reinvention of the Penfolds white wine portfolio, which reached a climax with the spectacular debut of Yattarna Chardonnay in April 1998, has taken place beginning a process which will continue until Penfolds is as well known for its white family as it is for its red. Penfolds' chief winemaker is John Duval with a team of professionals including Peter Gago with whom I tasted a range of Penfolds' wines included in the 'Pick of Australia's Best'. Penfold wines are available in India in major luxury hotels.

CRANSWICK

The description of The Cranswick Estate as an "export hero" perfectly captures the vision held by Cranswick's management team when the company was established in 1991. Not only is this vision still held strongly today, but, it has come to fruition as Cranswick climbs the list of Australia's leading wine exporters.

In 1976, the Cinzano group established a modern winery at Griffith NSW, in the heart of the Riverina wine industry. The location was a strategic choice as Griffith is centrally located between the ports of Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide, and is the largest wine grape-growing region in NSW.

Initially, production focussed on Cinzano vermouth and bulk varietal wines. However, sales of vermouth declined in the late 80s as table wine sales continued to grow, and seeing this trend, General Manager Graham Cranswick-Smith proposed to Cinzano that they develop an Australian wine brand. Cinzano rejected this proposal and in September 1990, they decided to sell the Australian operation to Cranswick.

Initially, only export sales were targeted. At this point in time, Cranswick Estate was ranked as Australia's seventh largest exporter of table wine and was featured in the list as a top ten wine exporter since 1994. Cranswick was exporting to 17 countries including the UK, Europe, North America, South East Asia, Japan and the Middle East. Cranswick's strengths are their bulk white wines and their award winning Botyritis Semillion "sticky".

Cranswick has just entered into a joint venture for supplying bulk wine and bottling them under a jointly owned brand in India with Chateau Indage. The first of these wines will be a Shiraz and a Semillon Chardonnay to be launched later this year and represent the first Australian wines to be available in the open markets in India. The two varietals are the most popular wine export from Australia. The brands will retail for approximately Rs. 550 and will be available in all good licensed establishments and shops in the major metros in India.

ANDREW GARRETT

The only way I can truly describe this winemaker is to call him the "Maverick of the Australian wine industry". After a loss of control of Andrew Garrett Wines in a hostile acquisition, he declined an offer to stay out of the industry and decided instead to pursue his passion making great wines, acquiring vineyards and his greatest talent of all, marketing it all.

He is a ball of energy and excitement and you cannot help being totally charmed by him. In one day, he will show you around his new offices, entrance you with his new project Globe Wine Bars and then talk firm business sense when it comes to Rothbury Park, a food and wine tourism development incorporating a winery, hotel, restaurant and cellar door.

Yet another project is on the anvil, The Winemaker's Club, to promote Australian wines. It's both exhausting and exhilarating. "I can't drive in the slow lane," he confesses. "I believe that for products such as ours, and given we are not the cheapest wines in the world, people have every right to expect more than just a bottle of wine when they draw the cork. They should have an experience from that bottle. So I'm not out here selling just wine - I'm offering a lifestyle product." Andrew Garrett wines are at present available in India at the Hyatt Regency in Delhi and will soon be available all over India.

BRL HARDY

History was created in 1853 when Thomas Hardy shipped two barrels of wine back to England in what is recorded as Australia's first export of wine to the world. His original instruction in those days that echoed in the efforts of his people was "...to create quality wines that will be prized in the markets of the world".

Combine the time honoured traditions of basket pressing with Australia's world renowned, state of the art technology and add to this the pick of Australia's premium fruit and control the entire operation with Australia's finest winemakers, it quickly becomes easy to see why Hardy's is considered amongst the most dynamic and quality inspired wine producers in the world today.