I had the distinct pleasure - and I say that with all sincerity - of visiting the Brown Brothers Vineyard in Milawa, Victoria, on a recent trip to Australia. By which of course I mean that I had the distinct pleasure of a wine tasting at their cellar door, sampling many varieties of their exceptionally good wine. I have found my local favorite so far, which makes me only all the more sad that Brown Brothers does not export to the US. So if you do find your way to their vineyards, be certain to purchase several bottles to bring home with you. Even if I don't make it back to their cellar door on my next trip to Australia, you can be certain that I will be ordering some bottles delivered to wherever I am staying, so that I can bring them home with me!

I feel it only fair to note that there are over 400 wineries in Victoria, and I've only visited (so far!) a fraction of them. Even so, however, Brown Brothers has won a place in my heart - and I think the over 90,000 visitors to their cellar door each year agree with me.

Brown Brothers is a family-owned wine company (now fourth generation), that was founded in 1889 by John Francis Brown. The first grapes were actually planted in 1885, consisting mainly of Riesling, Muscat, and Shiraz. Today, Brown Brothers cultivate the largest selection of grape varieties grown in Australian vineyards, and they continue to experiment with plantings of new varieties. As a result, they have even pioneered new varieties of wine, notably the Tarrango and the Cienna. The Patricia line, named after Patricia Brown, wife of John F. Brown, is the flagship wines of Brown Brothers. They offer a number of "traditional" styles, as well as many non-traditional (such as viognier, zibbibo, and crouchen-riesling blend, some of my favorites), some of which are only available at their cellar door. They take careful note of what wines visitors to their cellar door enjoy, and many of their experimental wines and new styles of wine are directly a result of feedback from visitors. Many of these are a direct result of the "Kindergarten," a mini-winery where experimentation is cultivated and encourage, free from the pressure of the full winery. Several of these have gone on to become part of the regular styles of wines offered by Brown Brothers, all ultimately chosen by visitors who clamored for more.

But though the exceptional wine is of itself the best reason to visit the Brown Brothers cellar door, the other reason is that they make you feel quite at home when you do arrive. Many cellar doors have a strong "sell" component to them; you often feel that you are tasting their wine with the expectation to buy. And while that may be the case regardless of where you are, no one really wants to feel the sales pressure.

At Brown Brothers, the casual, friendly, and receptive nature of the Brown family and those who work there truly make you feel like a welcome guest, and you feel like they are very eager to just see your reaction to their wines - who cares if you buy! Of course, if you're at all like me, you'll leave trying to figure out just how many wines you can pack safely away in your luggage for your trip home (advice: bring a padded wine-carrying suitcase just for them!).

Sadly, too many people in the U.S. think that Australia produces only cheap wines, when the reality is actually quite different. Part of this is no doubt due to the large corporations that have sent primarily the lower end wines abroad. But Brown Brothers, who have won numerous awards for their wine excellence and for their innovation in the industry, are here to show you differently.

Milawa is only a few hours from Melbourne, and the Brown Brothers cellar door lies both on the main road from Melbourne to Canberra and Sydney via the Victorian Highlands, but is also on the way to ski country. It is thus a perfect stop on just about any itinerary that takes you out of Melbourne, and you'll quickly find that the picturesque countryside of Milawa, King's Valley, and the Victoria Highlands makes for an amazing vacation destination. So take up my challenge: visit the Brown Brothers cellar door, and determine for yourself if this is also your new favorite Victorian wine.