![DELICIOUS: 'Truffles' the pig about to devour a few Balfours frog cakes in Rundle Mall, Adelaide, South Australia. Photo: UniSA DELICIOUS: 'Truffles' the pig about to devour a few Balfours frog cakes in Rundle Mall, Adelaide, South Australia. Photo: UniSA](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/hjGLvKmBu3FndBd8dEiKQr/9f687cc7-6269-4649-90fc-0a15861c793f.jpg/r0_278_4032_2867_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
MOUTH-watering, sweet, flakey - you know your local bakery makes the best pies in the state (and possibly all of Australia).
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And those baked goods are bringing in the tourists, with local foods becoming a major drawcard for visitors.
Science is backing the trend, with research from the University of South Australia and University of Technology Sydney showing food can potentially increase visits to local areas by tenfold.
"Tourists who are culturally motivated to consume local food, will seek out new, unique and authentic food experiences," said UniSA's Dr Janine Williamson.
So which foodie destinations should we fill our plates with?
Griffith in NSW's Riverina region is a must to put on the menu.
The town has a strong food and wine culture, in part due to the European population that settled there after World War II. There are a number of excellent wineries and food producers to sample - a good time to visit is during one of the numerous food festivals, so you can sample as much as possible.
The Tuscan-style cellar door in Griffith offers a number of tasting experiences, including cheese and wine matching and a group tasting, with a real warmth and Italian hospitality. Yarran Wines is a smaller winery overlooking Cocoparra National Park, producing sauvignon blanc, pinot grigio, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon.
Along with wine, there are numerous fruit and vegetable farms in this fertile region. Discover the impressive range of fruit grown at Catania Fruit Salad Farm on one of the daily tours and taste pickles, relishes, seasonal fruit and jams.
In Western Australia, the Margaret River region is world famous for its food and drink - and with good reason.
The region has recently welcomed the opening of a number of new cellar doors, adding to the existing 100 plus venues in the region.
LS Merchants has opened a brand new cellar door in Cowaramup. Winemaker Dylan Arvidson produces small batch, minimal intervention wine consisting of 20 different varieties, styles and blends and handmade with wild fermentation where possible. Bookings are recommended, and wines will be available by the glass and bottle to drink at the venue.
Only minutes from Gracetown beach is Grace Farm - a small, family-owned vineyard that uses organic principles to produce premium hand-crafted wines. Offering personalised wine tasting experiences, the new cellar door is open Wednesdays through to Sundays, with a number of special tasting events to be held throughout the year.
And for the beer drinkers, well-loved winery Aravina Estate has recently started serving up craft beer. Brewed onsite by chief brewer Dr Brad Hutton - who is also one of the winemakers - the new taphouse is currently pouring five of its own brews under the 8 Waves Brewing Co label.
One of the Margaret River region's founding wineries - Cullen Wines - celebrates its 50 year anniversary this year - marking 50 years since planting the first Cabernet vines. The Wilyabrup winery - founded by Diana Madeline and Dr Kevin John Cullen, and now owned by their six children including renowned winemaker Vanya Cullen - has grown from humble beginnings to a world-class biodynamic and Australia's only carbon positive winery.
Cullen Wines is also one of Australia's most awarded wineries. Recent accolades include Best Winery in Australia 2020 by The Real Review and one of the top nine Most Beautiful Biodynamic Wineries in the World by USA magazine Architecture. Winemaker Vanya Cullen was also awarded Halliday Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year 2020 and Women in Wine Winemaker of the Year 2019.