Wine On DVD Part II - SBS Wine Lover's Guide To Australia

Written by Ian Robertson on 4th April 2009

And so, wine on DVD brings us to SBS’s ‘Wine Lover’s Guide To Australia’ series. I have to admit – I never really watched this when it was screened on TV. At the time, I was probably not convinced that wine was a topic I wanted to watch TV about. But, given that the series was first produced in 1998, the show has stood the test of time well. There are some ‘issues of the day’ that are discussed, but the focus is on universal education and on the stories of the wines and their people.

Well, this series certainly selected topics and subjects most interesting to me. In the first few episodes we see Len Evans, Max Schubert (creator of Penfold’s Grange) Tetsuya Wakuda (Tetsuya’s), Keith Mugford (Moss Wood), Ron Laughton (Jasper Hill), Dr John Middleton (Mount Mary), Peter Gago (Penfold’s) and John Wade (Howard Park) as the subject of stories. If you want more than that, then you are a pretty demanding individual!

The show is easily digestible, and caters well to both novice and pro alike with quick, to the point explanations of points that require it. The stories all have an individual angle, and it is easy to ease into the flow of the show.

The production values are not top notch – but they are certainly presentable and don’t really interfere with the presentation. Perhaps every so often you see some nice scenery in a vineyard and think to yourself “if only they had a helicopter and more time to film this in better light…!!!”

Probably the area that lets the show down the most is the presenters. Pria Viswalingham is adequate, if slightly uninteresting. Maryann Egan is the most watchable, presenting quite well and being almost animated at times. But, the highly annoying and stilted Grant Van Every would have been a better bet left in the restaurants in which he was acting as a sommelier at the time.

For those who want a crash course on all things wine, this is not how the show is set up. Each 20 minute episode tells about three or four stories, focused in on specific topics such as grape varieties, regions, food matching and show judging. But, if you simply want to sit back and enjoy a well put together show that tells various wine stories for 20 minutes, then this is one of the best wine DVD’s that is out there.