Tasmania is a gourmet paradise, where people live close to the land and sea and there is an easy flow from harvest to plate. The island has four distinct seasons that make it perfect for producing prime cheeses, mouth-watering berries, wide-ranging vegetables, stone fruits, herbs, premium beef, specialty honey, mushrooms, cool-climate wines and some of Australia's leading beers.

Enjoy regional fare, friendly encounters with growers, makers and chefs, and celebrate the delights that come with the changing of the seasons.

On Saturdays, visit Salamanca Market in Hobart, and you'll find a range of local produce. You can sample special herb vinegars, mustards, bush honeys, organic goods and meet the producers.    Or visit one of the specialist delicatessens across Tasmania to taste locally produced condiments, smoked and fresh produce and luscious cheeses.

Cheeses are consistent award winners; made by international and boutique producers and include specialties like wasabi, sheep's milk pecorino and goat's milk varieties. Seafood and fish is highly sought after interstate and overseas, including Atlantic salmon, ocean trout, blacklip and greenlip abalone, scallops, pickled octopus, rock lobster (crayfish) and Pacific oysters.

In Tasmania, the locals can still dive along coastal reefs for abalone, harvest oysters from the rocks, or catch a wild trout in a highland stream. And visitors quickly learn that the man in the vineyard with his sleeves rolled up is just as likely to be the property owner.

Organic farming is also growing and includes production of vegetables, herbs, milk, cheese, yoghurt and honey. Speciality mushroom varieties such as Tasmanian white, honey brown, shitake and oyster mushrooms are plentiful. Other quality produce includes wasabi, gourmet sauces, the velvety smoothness of handmade chocolates and fudge, and ice cream featuring organic berries.

Tasmania has more than 200 vineyards producing superb sparkling wines that attract national and international attention, as well as delicately flavoured pinot noirs, sauvignon blancs, chardonnays and rieslings.

The island also grows top quality hops for its own beer producers and those interstate. Its two major beer producers, J Boag & Sons and Cascade Brewery make two of the best-selling premium beers in Australia with Boag's Premium one of Australia's most awarded beers. Meanwhile, the Lark Distillery in Hobart produces single malt whiskies and a range of liqueurs.

On an island with so much bounty, food and wine is good cause for celebration. Leading the food and wine festivals is the waterfront favourite, the Taste of Tasmania, in Hobart (late December-early January), where the buzz of the finish of the ocean racing classic, the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, sets the pace.