Good Food & Wine Show Sydney 2026: A Few Finds and Familiar Faces
The Good Food & Wine Show always delivers a mix of old favourites and new discoveries.
Before the doors opened, we teamed up with the Good Food & Wine Show crew to give away 15 double passes to our community. Seeing our followers head off to the show with tickets in hand was a pretty good way to start the weekend.
Familiar Faces
The first stop was the Laithwaites stand. Trent was keen to revisit the Great Park Windsor after trying it earlier this year. Sometimes a second tasting changes your opinion. This wasn’t one of those times. It was still bloody good.
From there, we caught up with our mate, Merrick Watts, over at the Posca Hydrate stand. As always, Merrick had a recommendation, “Go try the Whistler Grenache.” So we did.
While waundering pass De Beaurepaire and immediately spotted a familiar face. Our mate, James Follent, was on pouring duties for the day.
Don’t forget Thibault from LeCavist, our resident handsome Frenchie. He gave us a look at the sexy new 68-bottle slimline wine fridge, which arrived just in time for the EOFY sale. We’ve spent plenty of time talking about wine storage over the years and why the right fridge matters once your collection starts growing.
That’s the thing about this show. You never move in a straight line. One stop turns into a catch-up, then a tasting, then another conversation. That is how you end up spending the entire day at the show!
Wines That Caught Our Attention
The Whistler Grenache had plenty going on. Bright fruit, spice and enough energy to keep you coming back for another sip. Even better, we got to meet Sam the winemaker.
One of the best things about the show is these random moments. You head over for one wine and end up in a conversation with the person behind another. We had no idea that Fancy Fine Wine was exhibiting and there we met Francesco who is importing Chinese wines into Australia.
Chinese wine still feels like uncharted territory for many drinkers. That’s exactly what made it interesting. Not every wine was a revelation, but the conversation certainly was.
We didn’t expect this conversation, we met Scott McWilliam from With Wine. We hadn’t met before, but that’s exactly why we enjoy events like this. You can walk in expecting a few tastings and leave having discovered new people and new stories.
Barossa Still Knows What It’s Doing
Thanks to Sam who had previously sent us 2 bottles of the Gibson Prospect, Shiraz Montepulciano we got to hang out at the Gibson stand. We also spent some time with Adam Gibson and tried the entire range including the 2018 Bin 70 Shiraz.
The 2018 Bin 70 Shiraz immediately grabbed our attention. It was everything you expect from a mature Barossa Shiraz. Dark fruit, spice and enough savoury character to keep things interesting.
The Australian Old Vine Collection Shiraz also demanded a second pour. Judging by the photo of Trent with his nose buried in a glass of red, it was pretty clear where his attention was.
Food Breaks Matter
No visit to the Good Food & Wine Show is complete without a few food stops.
It was also the first year of Baker’s Alley. We caught up with our friends at Home Croissanterie, who continue to turn out seriously good pastries and their sausage rolls were sold out before midday!
We’re big supporters of good bakers getting their time in the spotlight, so it was nice seeing something different on the floor.
Prima Taste was on show this year. If you’re craving Singaporean or Malaysian food at home, this is the brand we recommend. The laksa and chicken rice kits have achieved near cult status in our household. Even Singaporeans will hand you a few packs before you leave the country. That’s usually a pretty good sign.
The Japanese Shokunin Store also deserves a mention. Their udon and dashi might have been our favourite food find of the day. During our chat, we learnt that udon was once reserved for Japanese royalty. We also discovered that dashi forms the foundation of many Michelin-starred kitchens and remains one of Japan’s great culinary secrets.
Simple, comforting and exactly what we needed between tastings.
Why We Keep Going Back
This year’s event delivered memorable wines, delicious food and great conversations. If this article has you planning your next bottle purchase, you can also browse our latest wine reviews and Boutique Wineries Directory for more discoveries.
