WINE CELLAR
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY MARG OSBORNE
VINE AND SHINE The Granite Belt wine region forms an integral part of the Queensland Vine and Shine Trail.
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY MARG OSBORNE A TRIP TO QUEENSLAND’S GRANITE BELT is one of our favourite car journeys. While it’s not possible to visit each one of the 50 or so wineries in a long weekend, following the Vine and Shine Trail we plot out three days of indulgence visiting vineyards and artisan food producers stretched across the region. To those who think of Queensland as a tropical destination, the Granite Belt is a surprise package. The largest of Queensland’s two recognised wine regions, its growing conditions are comparable to both the Clare Valley and northern Rhône. Named after the boulder-strewn landscape and the elongated shape of the region, the Granite Belt is also one of Australia’s highest wine-producing regions, ranging from over 650 to 1000 metres, its high-altitude cool climate and well-drained decomposed granite soils conducive to the production of excellent wine. The only area of the state to experience four true seasons, the region is a popular winter escape, a land where coastal dwellers can
54 covemagazine.com.au
– Issue 83
encounter frost and snow, curling up in front of a fire with a glass of red. Grapes have a long history in the Granite Belt dating back a century to when Italian immigrants cleared the land with winches and dynamite, planting stone fruit, apples and berries on their farms, as well as the first grapevines. “My grandfather made wine from table grapes in the 1930s, not only for the family’s consumption, but also to send by barrel to Innisfail where his friends were cutting cane,” says Angelo Puglisi, veteran winemaker and owner of Ballandean Estate, the oldest and one of the most established wineries that we visit. Having read a lot and seen the German wine traditions in the Barossa, Puglisi planted his shiraz and cabernet vines in 1968 despite stiff criticism, these two varieties remaining staples of Ballandean Estate’s award-winning range. Although mainstream varieties make up 60 per cent of the region’s wine production, more than 50 emerging varieties are grown here, the foresight of adventurous pioneers, such as Puglisi, who thought outside the square.
The famous Strangebird Alternative Wine Trail features Granite Belt wine made from lesser-known varietals; wines such as Verdelho, Nebbiolo, Tempranillo, Barbera and Saperavi. Travelling the length of the Granite Belt, it’s possible to see some variation in the microclimates. It’s interesting, too, to note the difference in viticulture techniques and the variation in vintage times across the region. Just three hours by car from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, the northern part of the region is well known for its apples and stone fruit. It’s also home to great wineries, including 5-star Boireann Winery and Summit Estate and the Queensland College of Wine Tourism, which has its own vineyard and restaurant. At an altitude of 930m, Heritage Estate, rated a 5-star winery by James Halliday for the past five years, has taken wine tasting to the next level with their Nips & Nosh food and wine pairing by presenting a luxe 5-course lunch degustation from Friday to Sunday in their classically themed restaurant.
