An epicurean has come to mean someone who appreciates good food and wine, but the word actually owes its origin to something far more flavoursome.

I suspect the good people were not channelling Epicurus when they devised the Epicurean Way, an (almost) circular self-drive trail through four of Australia’s best-known food and wine regions.

Yet, the 400km round-trip is far more than a gorge-fest for the like of Monsieur Creosote – indeed it may even be a pathway to higher things.

Lunch in the Fleurieu Peninsula

If you’re going south to the McLaren, try new star restaurant Leonard’s Mill, old star restaurant shining brightly once more, the Salopian Inn or The Star of Greece.

The last, named for a shipwreck, serves top-drawer seafood overlooking a blissful beach; it also offers the very apogee of simple Epicurean pleasures – the opportunity to kick off one’s shoes between courses and take a splash through the shallows.

Lunch in the Adelaide Hills

If you’re lunching in the Adelaide Hills, try Mount Lofty Ranges Vineyard to feel the soothing embrace of steep vales under vine, perfectly paired with an earthy unpretentious menu; or take to the deck of The Lane, its a la carte menu outshone only by sun on the vineyards of sauvignon grape.

Dine in the Barossa

In the Barossa you can eat country fare in the farmhouse owned by national treasure Maggie Beer. Or enjoy one of Australia’s greatest eating experiences at Hentley Farm Cellar Door and Restaurant: astonishing both diners and critics, Hentley Farm offers no menu, only the choice of whether you want the two-hour lunch experience or the four-hour lunch experience; the chef then serves what’s best right now – a degustation of wild and good things foraged and harvested from gentle surrounds.

Wine taste in the Barossa

You can taste the history at Langmeil Winery in the Barossa (Christian Auricht’s original 1843 Shiraz vines are still producing fruit), Sevenhill Cellars in the Clare Valley (run by Jesuits since 1851 and still producing sacramental wine) and Hardy’s in McLaren Vale (Thomas Hardy set to work in 1839 and went on to become the largest producer in Australia).

For some unusual layers of history, don’t miss Seppeltsfield in the Barossa.

The approach to the 1851 property is via an extraordinary avenue of 2000 date palms, effectively a job-creation scheme during the Great Depression.

The winery is also home to The Centennial Cellar where barrels of fortified wines (port) have been stored since 1878 – you can try a drop from the barrel marked with your birth year.

At weekends, artists and artisans work in the old stables demonstrating skills with steel, leather and textiles.

Adelaide Hills wineries

Sam Scott in Hahndorf is a winemaker who’s making waves with his Fiano; Larry Jacob’s Gruner Veltliner regularly sells out of Hahndorf Hill Winery; and Justin Lane at Alpha Box and Dice draws a young crowd with his funky cellar door and even funkier ‘united nations of varieties’ including Barbera, Sangiovese and Aglianico.

Sample the oil from Evilo’s hand-harvested olives, Willabrand’s chocolate-dipped figs, and the traditionally cured small goods of Linke’s in the Barossa. And if you don’t believe your tastebuds, then get hands-on: learn to make cheese at Udder Delights (home to the $150 ‘King Saul’ raw blue cheese), blend your own wines at Penfolds (yes, that Penfolds) or spend a day using locally-grown ingredients under a chef at Chapel Hill, Casa Carboni or The Sticky Rice Cooking School.

Walk or cycle

And finally don’t be afraid to surrender the car, find a walking trail and nourish nothing more than your soul.

Some of the grandest views can be enjoyed from Mount Lofty Botanic Gardens (overlooking the Piccadilly Valley in Adelaide Hills), Onkaparinga National Park (near Chapel Hill winery in McLaren Vale) and Mengler’s Hill (Barossa). If you have the time, hire a bike in Clare or Auburn and cycle the disused railway track that is now the Clare Valley Riesling Trail.