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The Clare Valley is known for its beautifully structured Rieslings and Stuart arrives there determined to see a lot of it on a bicycle, armed only with cheese and crackers.

Located about 140 kilometres north of Adelaide (about a two hour drive) it's situated in a high altitude pocket of the Northern Mt Lofty ranges and supports about 50 wineries. It's one of Australia's oldest and prettiest wine regions - known not just for its Riesling but also its Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz wines.

First stop on the wine tour is Kilikanoon. Kevin Mitchell is the owner and winemaker at this successful boutique winery which has won two awards at London's Prestigious International Wine Challenge. Their Mort's Block Watervale Riesling 2006, won the best white in the world, and their Oracle Shiraz 2005 won the best red at the London Wine Challenge. Kevin attributes the success of his Riesling to the climate, soil, age of the vines and also to making wine he enjoys drinking.

O'Leary Walker Wines at Leasingham was established just seven years ago by David O'Leary and Nick Walker who have entrusted the expansion of their wine production to young winemaker Keeda Zilm. She and Stuart chat on the concrete slab of their soon to be constructed Cellar Door which enjoys sweeping panoramas of the Valley. They source from two areas in the Clare Valley - Watervale and Polish River - which produce wines with distinctly different acid structures. Watervale Riesling is more steely, direct and refreshing while Polish River more pithy or textured and a little bit more mouth filling.

Next Stuart hooks up with Greg Cooley from Greg Cooley Wines at the Mintaro Maze. Greg has a colourful past in a variety of different industries and in 2001 turned his hand to wine production. His first Riesling in 2003 came in last at the Clare Valley Wine Show, an inauspicious beginning. Things have improved since then, his TD and Winchey Reserve Chardonnay is a beaut, he's the only Pinot Noir maker in the valley and The Barton Pinot isn't a bad drop.

At Crabtree Watervale new young winemakers are reinvigorating old traditions. Richard Woods and Rasa Fabian took over from Robert Crabtree about a year ago. Kerri Thompson is one of their winemakers - she was already familiar with Watervale fruit before she started working with them and loves its characteristic punchy, citrus spice. Stuart samples some of their new wines: their Estate range Riesling and their Pomona range. Kerri sums up the difference between the two types of wine saying the Pomona (planted on slate soil) has a tight mineral, austere, restrained character… whereas the Estate is more slippery and curvaceous.

Spell olive backwards and you have: Evilo. Evilo Estate is a small family run business where they grow olives to make olive oil and grapes to make their own Shiraz jelly and red wine vinegar. The wine is produced in a little shed using Malbec and Tempranillo grapes. Owner Giulio Dichiera chats to Stuart about his wine and the fact his shed-red has won a couple of Wine and Beer Show awards. Giulio's wife Debbie shows Stuart how she makes their Shiraz Jelly using apples, star anise, sugar and red wine.

While in the Clare Valley Stuart stays at Skillogalee House. Built in the early 1900s it has been tastefully restored to a five-star country residence and best news for wine lovers - it's in the middle of a working winery of the same name. It's a family run business with father Dave Palmer and son Dan as joint winemakers. Mum Di cooks in the restaurant and their daughter Nicola runs the Cellar Door.

As for Stuart's cycling tour - this starts in the town of Clare where, on the main road north a little gourmet food shop called Wild Saffron can outfit you with a cooler bag of cheese and accompaniments for $30. Stuart hops on his bike and follows the signs.

His first stop is Knappstein Wines located in a 19th century brewery building which is protected by the national trust, so not surprising senior winemaker Paul Smith is also a master brewer. The first wine he gets Stuart to taste is the Knappstein Fortified Shiraz - a sweet 100% shiraz that has spirit added during fermentation (hence the 18.5% alcohol level!). It contrasts really well with Stuart's powerful blue cheese because the rich voluptuousness of the Shiraz balances the sharpness of the cheese.

The second stop on the cycling tour is the super modern Kirrihill Winery built to reduce its energy and water consumption. Donna Stephens their senior winemaker has the Watervale Riesling on hand to go with Stuart's creamy goat cheese. Donna describes the wine as having a nice lime quality with a mineral slate finish and it's the acidity of the Riesling that cuts through the creamy mildness of the cheese.

Sevenhill was founded by the Jesuits (Society of Jesus) in 1851 and the winery is still run by the religious order. Apart from being a commercial winery, it's the biggest supplier of sacramental wine in the country. General Manager Neville Rowe and Stuart chat over wine tasting in the underground cellar which was dug when the priests first arrived in the middle of the 1800s. Sacramental wine or alter wine - comes in dry white, sweet white and sweet red varieties and costs around $15 a bottle. Stuart's next cheese, a brie, is matched with the Sevenhill White Spider Semillon Chardonnay. The crispness of the Semillon is nicely balanced by the weighty Chardonnay and it's the crisp acidity that cuts through the creaminess of the cheese.

For his cheddar and wine matching, Stuart's final stop is Mitchell Wines, where winemaker Andrew Mitchell gets him to sample it with their GSM blend. Mitchell use Sangiovese in their GSM blend rather than Shiraz. The bite of the cheddar is smoothly ushered down the throat by the soft full flavours of the wine.