Good Food & Wine Show

Good Food & Wine Show is an Australian touring food and wine exposition that presents culinary demonstrations, wine tastings, and retail exhibitions. Launched in the 2000s, the event has featured a broad array of chefs, vintners, and food brands, drawing attendees from major urban centers and regional markets. The show has intersected with institutions, media personalities, hospitality venues, and culinary schools, shaping contemporary public engagement with gastronomy and viticulture.

History

The festival was initiated amid growing interest in celebrity chef culture influenced by figures such as Jamie Oliver, Gordon Ramsay, Nigella Lawson, Anthony Bourdain, and Marco Pierre White, and coincided with television platforms like MasterChef Australia, Iron Chef, The Great British Bake Off, Top Chef, and Hell's Kitchen. Early editions paralleled exhibitions like Taste of London, Salon du Chocolat, SIAL Paris, Good Food and Wine Show Sydney 2008 and trade fairs such as Fine Food Australia, Melbourne Food & Wine Festival, and VIV Australia. Organizers collaborated with promoters comparable to IMG, Reed Exhibitions, and media partners like Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Nine Network, Seven Network, SBS Television, and Foxtel. The show’s timeline intersected with culinary movements championed by Alice Waters, Ferran Adrià, Heston Blumenthal, Yotam Ottolenghi, and Rene Redzepi, reflecting shifts visible in publications such as Bon Appétit, Delicious., Gourmet Traveller, The Guardian, and The New York Times.

Format and Features

Programming typically includes live demonstrations reminiscent of stages used by Alain Ducasse, Jamie Oliver and Massimo Bottura, alongside wine masterclasses similar to events hosted by Jancis Robinson, Robert Parker, and Tim Atkin. Exhibitor pavilions showcase producers like Penfolds, Jacob's Creek, Yellow Tail, Henschke, and Yalumba as well as artisan chocolatiers akin to Lindt, Valrhona, and Toblerone. Retail zones mirror market concepts from Borough Market, Pike Place Market, and Queen Victoria Market, offering cookware from brands such as Le Creuset, KitchenAid, Breville, and Zwilling. Educational elements draw on curricula associated with institutions like Le Cordon Bleu, William Angliss Institute, Tafe NSW, University of Gastronomic Sciences, and Cordon Bleu Australia and include wine accreditation references comparable to Court of Master Sommeliers, WSET, and Australian Wine Research Institute. Multimedia partnerships recall collaborations between YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and food media platforms such as Epicurious and Eater.

Notable Chefs and Guests

Guests have included domestic and international personalities in the vein of Curtis Stone, Miguel Maestre, Donna Hay, George Calombaris, Shannon Bennett, Colin Fassnidge, Adam Liaw, Matt Preston, Queen Victoria-era culinary figures in exhibition form, and visiting stars analogous to Nigella Lawson, Marco Pierre White, Gordon Ramsay, Jamie Oliver, Alain Ducasse, Massimo Bottura, Heston Blumenthal, Ferran Adrià, Yotam Ottolenghi, Alice Waters, Nigel Slater, Rick Stein, Paul Bocuse, Thomas Keller, Anthony Bourdain, Rene Redzepi, Clare Smyth, Dominique Crenn, Grant Achatz, David Chang, José Andrés, Carlo Cracco, Anne-Sophie Pic, Gastón Acurio, Helena Rizzo, Maurice Guillouët, Marco Pierre White Jr., Bobby Flay, Masaharu Morimoto, and Nobu Matsuhisa. Wine and beverage experts comparable to Jancis Robinson, Robert Parker, Tim Atkin, Oz Clarke, James Halliday, Peter Gago, Chris Ringland, and Huon Hooke have led tastings.

Locations and Touring

Tours have covered major Australian venues analogous to Sydney Showground, Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre, Adelaide Convention Centre, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, and regional arenas echoing Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre and Canberra Theatre Centre. Internationally, the model mirrors itineraries used by festivals like Taste of London, Good Food & Wine Show Auckland-style events, and touring fairs such as World Food Moscow and Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. Logistics involve partnerships with venue operators, ticketing platforms comparable to Ticketek and Ticketmaster, transport networks like Qantas, Virgin Australia, Australia Post, and accommodation providers including AccorHotels and Marriott International.

Reception and Impact

Critical and commercial reception has been mixed across editions, with praise akin to coverage in The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Australian, Herald Sun, and The Daily Telegraph for accessibility and celebrity programming, alongside criticism similar to reports in Broadsheet and Crikey concerning ticket pricing and commercialisation. The event influenced food tourism trends linked to regions such as Barossa Valley, Yarra Valley, Margaret River, Hunter Valley, and McLaren Vale, and impacted retail channels akin to Coles, Woolworths, IGA, and specialty grocers like Harris Farm Markets. Academic discourse in journals comparable to Food, Culture & Society and Journal of Culinary Science & Technology has examined the show’s role in mediating celebrity influence and consumer behavior. Charitable collaborations have echoed partnerships with organisations such as SecondBite, OzHarvest, Royal Flying Doctor Service, St Vincent de Paul Society, and Cancer Council.

Category:Food and drink festivals in Australia