Every year I travel to The Granite Belt for a longer stay in winter, usually in July. The journey has always been written up elsewhere but will now be a post on this blog. In 2020 I left Brisbane on Saturday 11th July and returned on Saturday 18th July.
Saturday 11th July:
Stopped for lunch at Varias at The Queensland College of Wine and Tourism for a Pandemic caused 1:15pm sitting. Lunch at Varias on the way through to Ballandean seems to have become a ritual, we have been doing this for years and have never been disappointed. We tasted a few wines to decide on what to have with lunch, one of us choose the Grüner Veltliner the others went with the Petit Verdot. Banca Ridge – the college brand – Petit Verdot has always been a solid wine. We were all booked into Essen for dinner that night so lunch was a much lighter affair that usual, just entrees and burgers but nevertheless delicious. We had two vineyards booked for the afternoon, the pandemic madness meant that everything had to be booked and planned for the entire trip. The first was a tasting with Brad Rowe at Boireann Winery @3pm the second with Mark Ravens Croft at Ravenscroft Wines @4pm, but plans and reality never seem to quite align.
We arrived at Boireann Winery at 3:30pm. I noticed someone on the tractor in the front right paddock as we drove in, happily it wasn’t Brad as he emerged from the tiny Boireann Cellar Door as we parked at the front.
Brad explained that the two front, previously empty, paddocks were being developed into vineyards so the tiny Boireann production will soon be increased. I have met Brad twice before but hadn’t done an extended sit down tasting with him and to do this was a real pleasure for all of us. Brad is such an amicable guy and he’s disarmingly honest in the nicest possible way. Brad had never made wine before and was taught by Peter Stark after the vineyard sale in late 2015. Brad readily admits that it’s been a daunting task with a very steep learning curve. Peter and Brad made the 2016 and 2017 vintages together and then Peter withdrew for awhile but soon Brad was in contact again with a long list of questions, currently Brad has a hotline to Peter, just in case! Although there’s a lot to learn Brad is enthusiastic and it shows that he is in a very enjoyable and exciting time of his life.
Brad had six 2019 wines on tasting, The quality of five of these wines was excellent with the 2019 Nebbiolo needing quite a bit more time. Boireann vintages have always been released very young so I am used to tasting young Boireann wines at the cellar door and immediately recognising that they all need a big sleep, with the exception of the Barbera and the Rosso. The quality of these 2019 Boireann wines was immediately apparent, we tasted: Sangiovese, Barbera, Mourvedre, Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, Tannat.
To be fair to the Nebbiolo which does need years I will only comment on the other five wines. These five wines are possibly the best Boireann’s I’ve ever tasted. It appears as though Brad, in combination with the extraordinary 2019 vintage, is well along that learning curve! Most unusually you could drink any of these Boireann wines now but I’d really only recommend that for the Barbera. The Sangiovese showed typical varietal expression, good length and lovely savoury tannins. I’ll be drinking my first when it turns 5. The Barbera is a softer wine than the others with lovely Barbera flavours, you could drink this one now, I’ll leave mine sit for a couple of years. Sadly there will be no Barbera Superiore in the 2019 vintage. The Mourvedre has classical big mourvedre black fruits, lovely savoury aspects and driving chalky tannins, I won’t even consider popping any of these babies until they’re at least five. I’m pretty much lost for words about the Cabernet Sauvignon, it’s just sensational! (We returned for a second tasting on Thursday and again I was blown away by the Cabernet). Big cabernet fruits slide along the entire length of your palates ability and the tannins are fine, drying and powerful. When this wine enters it’s drinking window – for me 10 years down the track – it will be quite an encounter. Tannat loves The Granite Belt and I love Granite Belt Tannat, it’s a hard call but this 2019 may just win a photo finish over the 2016 but keep encouraging it in your cellar for many years. This was such a great tasting we didn’t notice the clock until it was 4:30 and we were due at Ravenscroft Wines at around 4pm. I tried calling Mark but Boireann is in an Optus mobile phone dead spot. We made arrangements to return to Boireann on Thursday afternoon, bought a bottle of the 2019 Mourvedre to put in a Mourvedre blind tasting at Pyramids Road Wines on Sunday night and started to leave. In saying farewells we mentioned to Brad that we were going to Essen for dinner that evening, Brad disappeared to the home cellar and re-emerged with a 2016 Sangiovese and a 2004 Nebbiolo to accompany our Essen experience. Those boxes on top of the barrel in the photo contain Guala Closures, it looks like the screwcaps at Borieann are about to be upgraded. We thanked Brad enthusiastically and began to drive towards Mark Ravens Croft. We finally raised Mark on the mobile and although he had closed his cellar door for the day he said come anyway, we arrived at Ravenscroft Wines around 5pm.
This was another extremely enjoyable tasting and consequently we didn’t manage to leave until 6:30pm. It was so good of Mark to leave his cellar door open for us, we certainly felt privileged! We tasted through some of Mark’s range beginning with a 2020 Sauvignon Blanc, a good fruit expression which will be very enjoyable drinking this summer. A Sagrantino Rosé made with fruit sourced from Chalmers Wines. I believe, if my memory is accurate (I didn’t take any notes) that Mark also sourced his 2020 Verdelho and 2020 Sauvignon Blanc fruit from Chalmers but his Chardonnay is local GI fruit. Both the Rosé and Verdelho were solid wines, the Verdelho was certainly up to the usual standard we have come to expect from Mark. The ‘Bad Girls’ Chardonnay was a long seamless fruit expression, which transitioned to a little oak expression later on the palate. This fruit-oak transition was managed very well and helped by the use of water washed oak rather than ‘fired oak’.
There was a new wine for Mark, a 2020 Joven style Nero D’Avola again made with fruit sourced from Chalmers. This will be a great wine to drink in Queensland summers, it has lovey berry flavours and spice so a great accompaniment to pizza and tapas. I was keen to once again try the 2018 Waagee, I already have some but you never pass up an opportunity to taste this wine. OK I can now confirm this is the best Waagee I have tasted – get some while you can! I was on a mission in this trip to try Marks 2019 Pinotage, there was no 2018 due to hail damage. This is a lovely Pinotage, if you were tasting this wine blind you’d be highly likely to call it an elegant pinot noir but with some serious body. Mark is a great personality and throughout the tasting he entertained us with stories from his life, we were constantly laughing loudly between sips.
Tasting notes will eventually appear on this blog and Instagram as the wines we bought are consumed. So at 6:30pm we waved goodbye to Mark and a great wine tasting experience and began to prepare ourselves for dinner at Essen.
We first tried Essen Restaurant in January this year and were very keen to return after that experience. The restaurant is a family affair, the kitchen is run by owner chefs Clarissa and Stu and the dining area is managed by Clarissa’s mum Claudia. The atmosphere here is welcoming and the service friendly and excellent. The food is delightful and those of you who have dined at The Food Project (which was the previous restaurant at this location) will experience at least an equal overall standard. The entree was Kingfish Crudo, citrus, fennel, radicchio and puffed grains. Main of, Goulash, polenta, gremolata and sour cream. Dessert Chocolate and kumquat tart.
Clarissa made a second dessert for some of us who are gluten and dairy free, this was Citrus flavoured coconut yoghurt on a pavola base. At the beginning of the evening we decanted the Boireann 2004 Nebbiolo and opened the Boireann 2016 Sangiovese to allow both wines to breathe. The Sangiovese was right in a drinking window but will go many more years, red and black cherry fruits, spices and lovely savoury aspects with a fine tannin structure that is so well suited to food. The Nebbiolo was something else, well into tertiary development, the wine was silky smooth with mellowed fruits that still expressed lots of flavour and a long finish … thank you so much for this rare treat Brad!
We left Essen quite late and went to our accommodation in town. We had intended staying with Tony and Julia Hassall at Just Red Wines for the entire trip but due to pandemic unpredictables had to spend one night in town before moving to Syrah Cottage at Just Red.
Sunday 12th July:
We headed to Jamworks at Glen Aplin for breakfast booked for 9:15 as we had a very full schedule this day. If you haven’t experienced Jamworks it’s a place I can highly recommend, since they opened their cafe/restaurant I have visited them for either breakfast or lunch every time I’m on The Granite Belt. The food is excellent in a friendly relaxed environment and the products that line their shelves are a must purchase. We purchased some of their products before we left, for myself the Chilli Jam is a necessity, I couldn’t imagine breakfast sausages without Jamworks chilli jam spread liberally. We also bought Caramelised Capsicum and Chilli and Caramelised Capsicum and Onion which we use as condiments or add directly to cooking.
Our next stop was Ridgemill Estate where we had booked a 10:30am tasting. We arrived on time to experience a very accurate wine forecast.
Usually I catch up with winemaker Peter McGlashan but it’s difficult to plan in a pandemic so our tasting was hosted by owner Martin Cooper. I did make a very quick call-in another day and briefly caught up with Pete – hence the pic, see below, with our little girl Aria. Ridgemill Estate has long been on my ‘must visit every time list’. The range of wines is excellent and Peter never stops producing something new. Everyone was very impressed with one of these new inventions, the 2019 Joven Style Malbec/Mourvedre. I’ve already reviewed this wine on the blog here. If you like your wines full of slurpable primary fruit then you can’t go wrong with this one. We tried the 2018 Pinot Noir again simply because it’s the best Granite Belt Pinot Noir I’ve ever tasted and it seems I have to pinch myself every time to remind myself, ‘Yes this is a Granite Belt Pinot’. We also tried the 2017 Lincoln, a shiraz with some co-ferment viognier and some whole bunch. It’s a solid wine, good shiraz fruit lifted a little by the viognier and the whole bunch component is well judged. In some very exciting news for the region Martin together with Peter has made the decision to plant the Spanish variety Mencia. I have thought this variety may be well suited to the region for a few years now and will follow it’s development with keen interest. So another Strangebird for the region and delivered by one of the two people, the other being Andy Williams, who came up with the original concept.
Peter McGlashan, winemaker at Ridgemill Estate with our 7 year old daughter Aria. The short and the tall we hope Aria doesn’t get that tall.
We left Ridgemill in time to be approximately 15 minutes late for our 11:30am tasting at Jester Hill Wines. We didn’t stay very long at Jester Hill as we agreed to a short visit when we made the booking as Mick and Anne had quite a few bookings in their restaurant and would become very busy from 12noon onwards.
When we arrived the restaurant tables were all arranged according to pandemic rules, the restaurant was completely empty but it didn’t stay that way for long. I had bought most of the Jester Hill range during our visit in January earlier this year but there was one new comer to the list, the 2016 Touchstone Cabernet Sauvignon. 2016 was a solid Granite Belt vintage and this was reflected in the wine. By the time I had tasted this wine and our friends had purchased two more of Mick’s 2018 Sparkling Roussanne, a very popular wine, people began walking through the front door and lining up at the bar – things were becoming busy. I purchased just two bottles before we left to have a quick drink at the Brass Monkey Brew House on Donges Road, Severnlea.
Next stop after the Brass Monkey Brew House was lunch at Hidden Creek Winery which we had booked for 1:30pm. Hidden Creek is a very picturesque setting with a separate dining area adjacent to the cellar door.
Lunch was very enjoyable, Lamb Rogan Josh was a favourite.Tastings were offered in flights of three or five @$10 and $15 respectively with 50% off for diners. Our group chose various flights of three. I included the 2017 and 2018 Shiraz and 2018 Tempranillo in mine. The 2017 shiraz from a cold, wet challenging vintage was a lighter style and had difficulties competing with the excellent fruit weight of the 2018 which is a very good Granite Belt wine. The 2018 Tempranillo was the wine I choose to accompany my lunch. I kept a little of this wine from the tasting aside to compare with the larger glass that came with lunch.
The wines were quite different in the varying glassware. The tasting flights were in small flat bottom glasses probably ordered to cope with the pandemic conditions as they came in a wooden tray set accompanied by small bowls containing food accompaniments. Unfortunately the small glasses in the tasting flights significantly hindered the wines expression, there was very little bouquet and the flavours were somewhat subdued. If you experience a tasting flight at Hidden Creek using only these sets don’t assume it’s a true indication of the wines quality. I’d suggest, if you are interested in purchasing, that you ask if it’s possible to try the wine in a larger glass and please understand if this just can’t be offered in current times. I can assure anyone reading this that you can purchase the 2018 Tempranillo and the 2018 Shiraz with high confidence. I didn’t have opportunity to try other wines in this visit but Andy Williams is an excellent winemaker. It would have been interesting to spend more time here but we had other commitments so had to leave Hidden Creek a little too early. We bought some wines and tasting notes will come as these wines are consumed. During this trip to The Granite Belt I encountered more great Tempranillo wines than ever before, this variety now seems to be thriving under local conditions. I have a strong feeling that I’ll be back for more Hidden Creek Tempranillo and Shiraz.
We left Hidden Creek around 3:30pm, our friends Graeme and Pauline headed north to look at a few houses and we went to Just Red Wines to book into our accommodation, offload the SUV’s contents and grab a few minutes rest before our next engagement.
Graeme and Pauline, myself and my wife Liliana and our 7 year old Aria arrived at Pyramids Road Wines at 5pm for our annual Mourvédre blind tasting. We have been doing this annual tasting for around 8 years with one or two misses. It’s a great night, lot’s of fun and always packed full of interest. It’s genesis was around ten or so years ago when I started visiting Warren with a bottle of someone else’s mourvedre and we would compare it with his. Craig Robinson ‘Robbo’ appeared on that occasion and he has attended every one since except for tonight’s. The two wines on that first impromptu tasting were Pyramids Road 2009 Mourvedre and Ducks in a Row 2009 Erect Habit Mataro. The attended wine list has grown since then, there were 8 Mourvedre’s from around Australia the next time and all were tasted blind Peter McGlashan, Peter and Therese Stark also attended that one. These days people bring a few other wines as well and we play taste and guess with these first and then move onto the mourvédre tasting. On this occasion the people who attended were Graeme and Pauline, myself and my wife, Sue and Warren Smith from Pyramids Road Wines, Steve and Lisa Messiter from Girraween Estate.
The Mourvedre tasting began with the 2016 Cirillo, then the 2019 Boireann, L&S Merchants 2019 100% Whole Bunch Mataro, Bondar 2018 Mourvedre, 2010 Marius Matarius Mataro and a 2018 (may be 2019?) Seppeltsfield Mourvedre. The 2019 Boireann performed really well in this lineup but the group favourite was the 2010 Marius. Perhaps not a fair comparison between a 2019 and a 2010, I will be looking forward to the Boireann as a ten year old. People found the Cirillo to be a good wine but not what they were expecting from a mourvédre as it’s a lighter style with virtually no oak influence, it seemed a little pinotesque. Marco Cirillo always says to open this wine one day and drink it the next but this was a pop and pour. The wine did start to show a little meatiness much later in the night. There was an issue with the L&S Merchants Mataro, I have no information about the vinification process the back label says “100% whole bunch, organically grown”. The wine appeared to have chemical faults, and in fairness to L&S Merchants it may have been just this bottle, the closure was a wax sealed cork, probably Diam but I didn’t take note.
I had brought a Golden Grove 2011 for a previous tasting in which there were way too many wines so it became a leftover. We decided to pair this one in a bind tasting with one of Warrens 2011’s. 2011 was the very wet vintage, it was the year of the Brisbane River flood and The Granite Belt was saturated as well. Both wines performed very well and it was quite difficult to pick which was which but good information that Granite Belt Mourvédre from a most challenging and unique vintage can be good drinking 9 years down the track. Blind tastings can be very difficult, at least half the group thought the Pikes Traditionale Riesling was a young Semillon! We left Warren and Sue’s around 9:30pm after one of the more interesting Mourvédre tastings to date – there was so much variation across all the Mourvédre styles. A huge thanks to Warren and Sue for continuing to host this event over the years.
Monday 13th July:
We had booked a tasting with La Petit Mort (LPM) for 10:30am but due to a last minute event that tasting had to be moved to another day. Glen said that same time Tuesday 14th would work. We had booked Whiskey Gully Wines for the Tuesday but luckily a quick call to Denise at Whiskey Gully resulted in them being very accomodating and able to swop the date and time with LPM. Monday was a cold day, we woke to very thick fog which cleared and was replaced by a lazy cold wind. We arrived at Whiskey Gully Wines on time at 10:30am. John Arlidge met us at the front door and ushered us into a separate tasting room, there was a gas fireplace burning but it needed some time to offer genuine competition to the elements. The room was noticeably warmer by the time we left but I suspect our bodies and the wine tasting were partly responsible for that outcome. Denise made a brief appearance to say hello but then said she would leave us to be entertained by John, her words were prophetic!
John is another one of the many unique local personalities on The Granite Belt and we did enjoy the ‘entertainment’. John, who is most articulate, has thespian qualities and he seems in his element gifting the operation of his significant gifts upon guests. Whiskey Gully produce the only Colombard in the local GI and we began the tasting with their Betty’s Bloc Colombard. This wine would be a great match for Thai food. Next was the 2017 Reserve Chardonnay, a lovely well balanced Chardy with a long seamless palate. Next was the 2018 Division Bell Shiraz, another very good shiraz from an excellent local vintage, followed by the 2018 Upper House Cabernet Sauvignon a wine that, while pleasant drinking now, needs more time to unleash it’s secrets. Last one was the 2015 Pangloss which is a late harvest Colombard/Chardonnay and well suited as either a dessert wine or an aperitif. We were quite unexpecting what happened next, John left the room while announcing he would be back in a moment. He re-entered soon clutching an acoustic guitar and commenced playing and singing to our little girl, “There was an old lady who swallowed a fly”. Aria has the book in her library, we used to read it to her at bedtime. She was truly delighted with this impromptu performance by John who then proceeded to play and sing two more songs to us adults.
Above: Entrance to Whiskey Gully Wines taken on a beautiful day, Saturday morning 18th July 2020.
We left Whiskey Gully at 12:50pm and headed to our 1pm lunch booking at The BarrelRoom a restaurant inside and immediately behind the Ballandean Estate cellar door. When you dine at The BarrelRoom for the first time you’ll immediately realise where the name comes from. Unfortunately I didn’t take any photos but there are some on this site here. The BarrelRoom has always been an excellent local restaurant, a quick perusal of the lunch menu and the wine list resulted in us ordering a bottle of the 2017 Sinatlis a Saperavi/Durif blend, there’s a tasting note on this site here, this wine is already better than it was a month ago and, cellar storage permitting, I’ll be grabbing a few more on my next visit. We only ordered mains and were later informed that desserts had run out yesterday as they were somewhat unprepared for the tourism onslaught the region received when pandemic restrictions were relaxed recently. Due to pandemic required scheduling we had to leave The BarrelRoom before we would have liked, so although this is a short post about this restaurant please don’t make assumptions as this has long been one of the best places to have lunch or dinner in the southern regions of The Granite Belt. The Ballandean Estate 2019 Malvasia is a wine just pleading for Thai/Asian cuisine or you can easily consume it with cheese and crackers. A lovely varietal, there’s a tasting note on this site here. Leanne caught me on the way out, appearing with a bottle of the iconic wine The Late Harvest Sylvaner – the not yet released 2019, tasting note here. We drove away around 3:15pm.
Next up was a visit to Steve and Lisa Messiter at Girraween Estate on the Old Wallangarra Road at Wyberba. Although the cellar door is closed on Mondays Steve had kindly offered to open it for us.
Girraween Estate was acquired by Steve and Lisa in 2009. Before that it was known as Bald Mountain. Dennis Parsons, the owner/winemaker at Bald Mountain had retired and the vineyard was essentially unattended for awhile so Steve and Lisa had a lot to do to nurture the vines. Strongly in their favour was the quality of the old Bald Mountain vineyard and the excellent fruit from those vines. I can remember in the Autumn of 2000 sharing a late nineties vintage Bald Mountain Shiraz/Cabernet with two others at a Greek Restaurant in Brisbane’s West End. I was lucky to get any as they downed the bottle in record time and then sheepishly asked if I’d brought any more.
We tried Steve’s 2017 Reserve Chardonnay and again were impressed with the quality of chardonnays from this vintage. This emerged as an ongoing theme as we traversed The Granite Belt wineries. This Chardy is barrel fermented spending 12 months on French oak that was cured by water rather than fired, this process allows a gentler more seamless expression of the oak. Steve’s 2019 Shiraz is a wine to try now and decide to drink or cellar. I’ll be cellaring for awhile, it’s a strongly fruited and spicy wine with long silky tannins. We saved the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon for last. I had tried this wine from barrel, actually two different barrels, in January and was anticipating it’s bottling. It’s a great Cabernet Sauvignon from an exceptional Cabernet vintage. It has big fruits and it’s point of difference with other local wines is Steve’s gentler hand. I’m not sure how much of this Steve made as I’d expect the drought year volumes to be low so it’s a wine to put on your radar asap.
Lisa left after we’d been there for around 45 minutes as she had to attend a local committee meeting. Our friends Graeme and Pauline left at 4:15 as they wanted to call into Pyramids Road Wines before they closed at 4:30. We left just after 5 and I remarked to Liliana as we drove past the sign pointing up the road to Pyramids Road Wines that I’ll bet Graeme and Pauline are still there. Sure enough they told us the next day they left Warren and Sue way after 5pm. When ardent wine lovers, both consumers and winemakers, start sampling and talking the feeling magically creates a time bubble.
Tuesday 14th July:
The day began at minus 4°C and didn’t get above 7 but, due to wind gusts, the felt temperature didn’t “feel” like it got above 0, Brrrrr Tuesday. After breakfast in our cottage and eventually prying ourselves away from the fireplace we headed to Bents Road/La Petite Mort Winery – LPM hereafter. I hadn’t been to LPM previously so this was a very interesting visit. When we arrived there was already quite a group present, probably due to the schedule change from the day before. We were greeted by owner and winemaker Glen Robert, Andrew Scott is the other winemaker. Glen walked us over to the winery to show us the tanks, bottling run, a new Gin Distillery, and the barrel room.
Glen with a brave slightly stiff pose in the face of cold swirling winds but courageously staying on task explaining the wine tanks to the group.
An animated and very relaxed Andrew talking about his exciting new project – a gin distillery on the bench at the right.
After walking and talking the group through the winery, Glen walked us over to the clay Qvevri vessels. The use of Qvevri originated in Georgia where fermentation occurred in these clay vessels which were buried in the ground to add support to the large vessels and which also provided a degree of protection from airborne temperature variation. At LPM the fermenting grapes can be left on skins for an expended period of time this results in white wines that are orange in colour and also adds flavour to all the wines.
Left: Qvevri vessels buried in the ground and full of fermenting wine at LPM. Right: A large clay Qvevri vessel.
Eventually and only after an extensive and very informative tour of the winery the group entered the church building which functions as a tasting room. Here Glen took us through a range of LPM wines.
First up was a 2017 Chardonnay fermented and aged in new French Oak – a 500 Litre Puncheon, this was a well structured Chardonnay with spice from the oak in balance with the fruit. An oaked 2017 Marsanne followed and then a 2017 Rosé which is usually made from Pinot Noir but in this vintage some Sangiovese was added to the Pinot. The colour of this Rosé, due to extended pre-ferment maceration on skins was impressive, so was the flavour and with some tannin structure as well. Check out that Rosé colour (on the left):
Next in the lineup was the 2019 Gentil Qvervi (above right) a not often encountered, in fact I’ve never encountered one before, blend of Muscat and Gewürztraminer and to add even more weight to the difference of the experience this wine was an orange colour. The orange from extended maceration on skins in the Qvervi vessels. If memory serves, Glen told us that the Gewürztraminer fruit came from Mark Kirbys Toppers Mountain Vineyard in the Tingha forest. A very interesting wine that promises some sweetness from the bouquet but instead delivers a quite dry palate with spice, lychee and a complex arrangement of fruits.
Next came the 2019 Qvervi Saperavi. The back label, or is that the front?, says 180 days on skins in clay, 13.4% alcohol/volume. Saperavi is the ancient ‘inky’ grape of the Georgian Republic which grows so well on The Granite Belt that local wines have been awarded Gold Medals in the Georgian wine show. The wine is left on both skins and seeds during fermentation and afterwards for 180 days. This is an excellent example of the ancient art and the only one I’m aware of in Australia. It’s possible that Brash Higgins in McLaren Vale is doing something similar, but I’d have to check on that. Unfortunately we had to make a hurried exit at this stage as we had a lunch booking elsewhere. Glen poured each of us a glass of his 2018 Amphora Shiraz/Viognier to try as we made our way to the winery to place some orders. This wine at 13.4 a/v spent 136 days on skins. I will have to spend some time at home with one of these and write an extended tasting note which will eventually appear on this blog. Thank you Glen and Andrew for a most informative, and different, winery experience.
I have previously enjoyed the La Petit Mort 2019 ‘Rosso’ a Nebbiolo/Barbera blend, there’s a tasting note here. The Rosso is a way to make Nebbiolo approachable much earlier as the relative ‘softness’ of the Barbera moderates the assertive tannins of the Nebbiolo.
The wine tasting at LPM added to the extremely cold day demanded an immediate lunch. We drove quickly to our next appointment at The Blue Pot Pantry.
Eugene who is both an attentive and entertaining host welcomed us upon arrival. This is not an ‘upmarket restaurant’ but it has genuine quality in the food and wine which suited the very cold day perfectly. The Red Hat Ladies were having a luncheon, they were seated in the front section so Eugene seated us inside – those Red Hat Ladies certainly know how to enjoy themselves! Casely Mt Hutton wines are on the wine list, I ordered a glass of the 2010 Shiraz and it lived up to the moment. I didn’t take any photos during lunch so I’ve borrowed, or more accurately, unashamedly stolen Pauline’s photo from her Facebook page. The photo is Pauline and Graeme’s choice for lunch, “Piroshkis”. We were afflicted, once again, with pandemic organisational issues. Our lunch booking at Blue Pot Pantry was for 12:30 but we didn’t arrive until just around 1:15pm and we had our next engagement booked for 2:30 at Tobin Wines with Ian. We managed to leave The Blue Pot Pantry at 3:25, I had tried calling Tobin wines but no-one picked up so I could only leave a message. Pauline and Graeme left before us as they needed to check out a few more houses. So myself, Liliana and Aria headed for Tobin.
We arrived at Tobin Wines at 3:45pm.
As we entered I explained to Adrian that we had called but no-one answered. Adrian said that he was so busy he was ignoring the phone as he was there by himself because today is Ian’s day off. Luckily it all fell into place as there were just a few people there and we were able to Covidly fit. Adrian at 80 years young is still full of enthusiasm but had been weathering the restriction lessening storm for awhile and did start to look a little tired by the time we left. It’s always an enjoyable tasting with Adrian as he has many stories to tell and attends to tasters rather like they are all royal guests. You will receive a clean glass for every pour not just when you change from white to red. The day had continued very cold and we decided to only taste red wines which were all 2018 vintage. All the reds are oaked often in the combination 25% new, 25% 1 year old, 25% 2 year old and 25% three year old. We began with the Jacob Tempranillo which is another one to add to the growing list of very good Granite Belt Temps. Next was the Elliot Merlot a well balanced wine with hints of sweetness compared with the other reds. Although the standard merlot is a good drink it was overshadowed by it’s big brother Elliot Reserve Merlot a superb merlot which is a guaranteed monty for the cellar. Adrian said that both merlots are vinified the same, the only difference is vine age with the standard Merlot made from 20 year old vines and the reserve from 50 year old vines. Then we tried the Max Shiraz Block One Vs the Block 2. Block 1 is a lighter Syrah style and the Block 2 a full bodied shiraz showing the power of the 2018 vintage fruit, both well made wines again from an excellent vintage. Of course some people like wine and for others devices are their go to (below right).
Lastly we tried the Luella Plum Cabernet Sauvignon. A medium bodied but powerful Granite Belt Cabernet loaded with cassis an other delights and with a great tannin structure which will see it live for many years. So by 5:45 after another great Granite Belt wine tasting experience we said goodbye to Adrian and headed back to our cottage for a small rest before dinner at The Ballandean Tavern at 7pm.
Dinner at The Ballandean Tavern was pretty standard pub fare, enjoyable and a quiet break from restaurants and wine tastings. They were serving Tony Hassalls Just Red Wines 2018 ‘CMT’ (CabernetSauvignon/Merlot/Tannat) and we couldn’t resist. This wine has come together nicely since I first tried it in August 2019, perhaps I need some more!
Wednesday 15th July:
We had set Wednesday aside as our 7 year old daughter’s day. Aria announced that morning that we should take her on a shop-a-thon in town while also reminding us how good she’s been not complaining while we’ve been spending all that time at wineries.. She started at the suggestion of $200 and quickly moved up to $2000.00. We were able to talk her down but I think I’ll be in trouble as she hones her negotiation skills. We had booked our second lunch at Varias for today, again at their second sitting 1:15pm, so shop done and it was time for lunch. Liliana opted for a glass of Marsanne with her Snapper and Sea Scallops with tomato & basil salad on cauliflower puree. Predictably I went red so the very good Petit Verdot with my Mellow Organic Lamb on green pea bed.
Dessert for one (moi) – I’ve learned not to share desserts with Liliana but apparently ordering dessert for moi produces the same result, still who could blame her. Gluten and dairy free dessert of Poached Pear with coconut vanilla gelato on a bed of toffee crushed nuts.
If you haven’t experienced Varias you really cannot say you’ve done The Granite Belt. As it was Aria’s day we had to call into The Christmas Tree Farm.
End of day saw us relaxing back in our Syrah Cottage at Just Red Wines. We had dinner in with a glass of Tony’s 2018 Shiraz/Viognier – a tasting note on this GI unique flavoured wine will be coming a little later and it’s worth waiting for.
Thursday 15th July:
Today we had made an arrangement with Nick at Summit Estate to open the cellar door for us. Once again the pandemic organisational requirements had us driving north – south – north, but it was worth it. After brekky in the cottage we arrived at Summit Estate at our pre-arranged 11am time. It had been a few years since I’ve been at Summit Estate and I had none of their wines left in my cellar. Nick together with the estate owners had made the decision to re-commence Thursday openings – 1 to the humans 0 to corona virus. Both of us really enjoyed the NV Sparkling Marsanne. It looks like John Handy from Heritage Estate has become the new Summit Estate winemaker which can only be a good thing. The Alto, a very popular wine which I believe was first made by Paola Cabezas and this time an NV, was really on song. It’s an NV because it’s components: Monastrell; Grenache; Shiraz; Tempranillo; Tannat, were a mix of different vintage wines. The component wines were made by Mike Hayes and they were subsequently blended into the Alto by John Handy. It seems from the quality of this NV blend that these two know how to sync. Next were the 2015 The Wickerman Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2015 Soltice Red a Cabernet Malbec blend that Liliana really liked. My pick of the reds, aside the always enjoyable Alto Blend, were the 2017 Reserve Tempranillo, 2017 Tannat and the powerful 2016 QC Cabernet ( 85% Cabernet Carmenere/10% Merlot/5% Petit Verdot ). Summit Estate has a large tasting room:
Tasting and then purchasing wine is a juxtaposed fun – serious activity and there were lots of decisions to be made at Summit Estate. We left Summit Estate a little before 12:30pm and headed to our next engagement.
We had booked lunch at St Judes Cellar Door and Bistro for 12:30 and arrived approaching 1pm. This restaurant and cellar door is located in the building where Shiraz restaurant used to be. Shiraz, run by John and Jenny had quite a reputation and Rob Davidson at St Judes is delivering another great establishment to the region. The Bistro initially doubled as a Sirromet cellar door but that has changed. Now Rob has a range of wines made by himself and Andy Williams (from Hidden Creek). This new label is 4382 Terroir, wines which are all made within the Ballandean Postcode. Rob purchased the old Mary Byrne vineyard but lost almost all of it in the fires and has since acquired a significant portion of the old Rees Road vineyard. I tasted the 2020 Aliganico Rosato and the 2020 Langrein Cerasuolo both truly different and interesting wines for the region. I will clarify this with Rob via email but my memory is that all the fruit for the wines also comes from within the 4382 postcode, however I’m not aware of these two varieties being grown on The Granite Belt but it’s possible they’re in the ground at Rees Road. All the wines are made in a fruit driven style and are for immediate consumption.
I was so hungry after the tasting at Summit Estate that I ate lunch completely forgetting to take any pictures, but I can assure you we all thoroughly enjoyed a high quality lunch in the laid back atmosphere of St Judes.
Rob keeps a conversation going with staff and with himself as he cooks, it’s quite entertaining. Rob reminded me of a combination of Marco Cirillo (Cirillo Estate) and Paul Petagna (Sellicks Hill Wines) which means he’s a really nice bloke with just the right amount of crazy.
We had arranged a second tasting with Brad at Boireann back at The Summit so we booked a breakfast at St Judes for Saturday morning and then headed north to meet with Brad Rowe. We arrived at Boireann Winery at 3:30pm. Boireann has a tiny cellar door – see below …
so we decided to sit at a table outside which was a good decision until the sun was way too low. We tasted through the lineup we had tried last Saturday and reached the same conclusion, in particular I was happy to note for a second time that the 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon is a truly spectacular wine. The temperature drop as the sun dipped combined with the arrival of a lazy wind was too much and we headed in doors for some barrel samples. Inside, between shivers, we tasted the 2019 Lurnea, 2019 Shiraz and 2019 Shiraz/Viognier. All great wines, on song for their signature styles but showing the big vintage influence, I’ll be there when they’re released! Fans of The Lurnea will long remember this 2019. The Shiraz/Viognier is currently sitting at 16% Viognier and Brad thinks that will be final but for so much Viognier it isn’t recognisable as a taste on the palate. Instead it does it’s intended job – lifts the bouquet, lifts the fruit a little, lifts the colour, provides a very slight viscosity. Myself and Brad were in conversation about methods of familiarising one’s bouquet and palate to fragrance and taste in wine. I mentioned that Philip White would often lick vineyard rocks and taste the soil. Brad replied that he had tried that awhile ago and amid the experience of a mouthful of vineyard soil thinking to himself “this wasn’t such a good idea”. Another extraordinary Granite Belt tasting in great company, we were getting really spoilt on this trip. We bought some wine as it was now approaching 5:30pm and headed back to our cottage at Ballandean to have a relaxing dinner in.
Friday 17th July:
First up today was a quick visit to Warren (Sue was elsewhere today) at Pyramids Road Wines. We arrived at 10am and tried just a few wines.
Warren decided to pick the 2019 Shiraz in two lots, so higher baumé for the Second Pick Shiraz which hasn’t been released yet. Warren gave us a mostly full bottle of the Second Pick Shiraz to try with dinner that night at Essen. I didn’t take any notes but can confirm it’s an excellent shiraz with the powerful 2019 vintage fruit easily handling a little more oak, shiraz drinkers are going to love this balanced and adeptly structured wine. Warren makes red wines built for the cellar but, like many of the 2019 vintage reds they are approachable earlier than usual, nevertheless all of the reds will benefit from cellaring. Tasting notes for the wines we purchased from Warren and Sue will appear on the blog in time.
Another busy schedule saw us leave Pyramids Road way too soon, so at 11am we said our goodbyes to Warren and drove up the New England Highway to town – some more shopping was on the agenda, this time for both Aria and Liliana. A takeaway Campos coffee from Brinx Deli kept me warm while Liliana and Aria visited some shops. There were no available seats in Zest Pastries but we were able to have a light lunch at Cafe 77. Time flies and we were booked for a 2pm tasting with Ray Costanzo at Golden Grove.
We drove into Golden Grove Estate and saw Ray on the forklift unloading a delivery truck – winemakers at boutique wineries have to be multi-skilled. There were just a few vehicles in the carpark and we walked towards the entrance hoping not to encounter a crowded interior.
There were only a few people inside although that didn’t last long as a tasting group appeared in a few minutes and later Eugene from The Blue Pot Pantry arrived with a tourist bus. The Golden Grove range of wines are all sporting very colourful new labels these days, you can see new Vs old labels on the shelves in the photos below:
Ray soon appeared with a few wines for us to taste. First was the new 2020 Vermentino, there’s a tasting note for this wine on the blog here but the wine has moved a little since then. This is still a very textural wine with just a little creaminess and well judged acidity. As you spend time with the wine some tropicals begin to emerge on the bouquet and palate. Ray remarked that Golden Grove Vermentino grapes don’t usually show tropicals but this wine, due to the drought, was made with fruit sourced from Chalmers Wines Vineyard.
Tropical fruit divergence is about all you will note as the wine is true to the footprint Ray has been developing with his Vermentino. I’ll be interested to open another one this coming summer to compare. Ray then produced his 2020 Rosé Brosé. This one also from Chalmers fruit but different varieties for the Rosé – Sagrantino and Vermentino. A lovely crisp ready to drink wine with Ray’s signature textural quality added from partial barrel fermentation. Next was the 2019 Nero D’Avola, a wild ferment with classical Nero red fruits, great balance and good length this wine can be drunk now or put down for 5+ years. Ray saved, at least for me, the best for last as he disappeared for a short moment and re-emerged with his 2018 Mourvédre. There’s a tasting note on the blog here. I probably don’t need to say anymore than the note except that for true Mourvédre Aficionados this is the wine you want to be drinking, it has the powerful black fruits and lovely driving chalky tannins that signal a classical varietal expression. This was another great tasting, much kudos to Ray for what he’s doing with the wines at Golden Grove. Ray had to leave for the school pickup and he left the almost full bottle of 2018 Mourvédre with us to enjoy afterwards. We did so and in the aftermath of that I’ll be lining up when it’s released! After Ray left Liliana remarked, he’s making wines like this and he’s still so young with some much more to learn – I guess we can anticipate a great future for Golden Grove. We spent approximately an hour with Ray tasing and talking, the time raced by so fast and we forgot to take the customary photo of Ray and Aria, something for next time.
We had a lose arrangement with Therese and Rob at Heritage Estate that we would call in some time away from peak hours and finally a window had opened so we were hoping to be there at 3:30pm today, it was 3:50pm when we drove away from Golden Grove. Thankfully Rob and Therese were very flexible, Therese (being far more organised than us) kindly texted me Google map directions. We arrived at Heritage Estate Winery around 4:30pm.
There are some cellar doors on The Granite Belt which compare very favourably with the best that South Australia have to offer (I’ve visited McLaren Vale, Barossa, Clare and Langhorne Creek at least 6 times in the last 10 years) and Heritage Estate at Cottonvale is certainly one of them.
Inside Heritage Estate Winery:
Heritage Estate Winery surrounds:
We began a tasting with Therese. First up we requested the 2018 Marsanne which Warren Smith at Pyramids Road had recommended to us. Warren was spot on as this wine is the most impressive Granite Belt Marsanne I have tasted to date. I believe the fruit comes from the old Winewood Vineyard at Ballandean which is at the right of Sundown Road just before Ballandean Estate. The wine has a long complex palate, wild yeast fermentation and French oak add to this complexity. As the wine ages you can expect the colour to deepen along with the flavours as it begins to transform itself into delightful honeyed fruit characters, I’m putting mine down for quite a few years and then doing a side by side with Tahbilk. I’m going from memory here (no notes) but I detected a little mandarin on the bouquet and palate of this wine, also but just the bouquet of the 2017 Chardonnay. Therese then showed us an impressive collection of French bottled fragrances used as an aid to educate and familiarise wine drinkers with the various bouquets you can encounter in wines. There was at least one notable omission so apparently mandarins aren’t an acknowledged fragrance in their wine industry. I’m not sure what the famous perfumeries would comment on that but of course being French sometimes does mean being French. Next was the 2017 Single Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay. It was a pleasant surprise on this trip to realise just how good the 2017 Granite Belt Chardonnays are and this one is truly impressive. I see Mr. Halliday awarded it with 92 points – sliver medal equivalent – this is a gold medal wine, I guess I’ll just have to forgive him for having a fatigued palate on that particular day. There’s a tasting note on the blog here.
Next was the 2019 Cabernet Rosé. Another great quite dry wine with raspberries and strawberries complexed on a background of crushed granite and a driving acid profile. Liliana is a much bigger fan of Rosé than I, nevertheless I can usually talk her into purchasing just one, suffice it to say that, similar to Golden Grove, we included two in our 6 pack. I had a quick taste of the 2019 Tempranillo, a wine I already have and for which a tasting note is here but whenever a wine is this good it’s self deprivation not to take advantage of every opportunity to taste. Last in the lineup for us was the 2018 Old Vine Shiraz. I believe the fruit for this one is also sourced from the old Winewood vineyard at Ballandean. The advantage of fruit, especially for red wines, sourced from further south in the GI is that the elevation decreases in that direction, so it is a little warmer and the fruit consequently can sometimes have a little more weight. Of course this is a rule of thumb and would be unwise to apply it as a broad brush. These Shiraz vines may be some of the oldest if not the oldest in the GI. One project I would enjoy doing given the time would be to map vine age and grape varieties across vineyards in the Granite Belt GI. Even more interesting but requiring a lot more resources would be to include the geology in the map – back to the wine. This wine deserves your respect and I recommend you spend some time experiencing the bouquet as it will significantly add to what your palate detects. There are some lovely red and black fruits, liquorice and dark chocolate, spices, minerality and a fine spine of supportive tannins that add a long and enduring finish. This was a tasting that generated great focus and I was somewhat incredulous to suddenly discover it was 6:20 pm – we were booked into Essen for a 7:30 dinner. We had to thank both Therese and Rob for being such gracious hosts in keeping their cellar door open beyond the call for us. We ordered some wines and made a hasty exit by 6:38pm.
Aria, unbeknown to us, had selected her “Essen Outfit” before we left our cottage in the morning and that outfit was where? (in the cottage of course). We found ourselves driving from Cottonvale to Ballandean, where Aria performed a quick change and then back to MacGregor Terrace Stanthorpe and amazingly made it to Essen right on 7:30. Arriving at Essen we were greeted by Clarissa’s mum Claudia and ushered to our table. Water and menus, two and three courses, materialised immediately and we ordered the three course dinner.
Menu and Entree:
Main and Dessert:
The crackling on the pork belly main was nothing short of sensational and Warrens 2019 Second Pick Shiraz was the best condiment we could have asked for. Essen always delivers across all dishes.
Clarissa – creator of that fantastic – Crackling:
To have our last dinner at Essen during this trip is akin to some kind of epicurean pilgrimage, we had pencilled this one in at the very beginning of the pandemic required planning for our trip. Thank you Clarissa, Claudia and Stu for accepting the challenge and maintaining the standard at this location.
Saturday 18th July:
After packing the SUV it was time to return to Brisbane. We stopped at the cellar door to say goodbye to Tony, ordered a few wines and headed to St Judes for breakfast.
Tony and Aria, when you live there the cold doesn’t bother you as much!
It was another glorious Ballandean day as we pulled into the kerb in front of St. Judes. The inky blue sky combined with some of the sunsets we had experienced reminded me of the Greek Islands. The coffee at St Judes, sourced from Fonzie Abbot roasters at Albion in Brisbane, is something you want to experience.
Breakfast at St Judes was so relaxing and enjoyable it was difficult to leave.
I said goodbye to Rob and obtained his email address from a waitress on the way out. I’ll be emailing Rob with lots of questions about his wines and the Rees Road Vineyard when I find some time. We bought two of Rob’s 2020 vintage wines to try this coming Spring/Summer in Brisbane and began the drive north on the New England Highway. Pandemic restrictions allowing, we’ll be back on The Granite Belt later this year.
The Wine Haul:
Banca Ridge
1 x 2019 Grüner Veltliner
Ravenscroft Wines
1 x 2020 Sagrantion Rosé
1 x 2020 Verdelho
2 x 2020 Nero D’Avola
1 x 2018 Waagee (I already have some but couldn’t resist buying another)
3 x 2019 Pinotage
Ridgemill Estate
1 x 2018 WYP Chardonnay
4 x 2017 Lincoln Shiraz
3 x 2018 Pinot Noir
3 x 2019 Malbec/Mourvedre
2 x 2017 Joshuas Pup (Shiraz/Grenache)
1 x 2016 Bennys Blend (Merlot/Malbec)
Jester Hill Wines
1 x 2016 Cabernet Sauvignon
1 x 2017 Trinculo – a lighter style Shiraz/Cabernet Sauvignon
Hidden Creek
2 x 2018 Tempranillo
1 x 2018 Shiraz
Whiskey Gully Wines
3 x 2017 Reserve Chardonnay
2 x 2018 Upper House Cabernet Sauvignon
1 x 2015 Pangloss
Ballandean Estate
3 x 2019 Malvasia
Girraween Estate
1 x 2019 Shiraz
3 x 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
2 x 2017 Chardonnay
La Petit Mort
1 x 2019 Gentil Qvervi
1 x 2017 Rosé
1 x 2018 Qvervi DM (a Durif/Mataro blend)
2 x 2018 Amphora SV
1 x 2016 Tempranillo ‘Reserva’
Tobin Wines
2 x 2018 Jacob Tempranillo
1 x 2018 Max Shiraz Block Two
1 x 2018 Luella Cabernet Sauvignon
1 x 2018 Elliot Reserve Merlot
Summit Estate
2 x NV Sparkling Marsanne
2 x NV Alto Blend
1 x 2015 Wickerman Cabernet Sauvignon
1 x 2015 Soltice Red Cabernet/Malbec Blend
1 x 2017 Reserve Tempranillo
2 x 2017 Tannat – I always love Granite Belt Tannat!
1 x 2016 QC Cabernet
Boireann Winery
2 x 2019 Sangiovese
2 x 2019 Barbera
3 x 2019 Mourvédre
3 x 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
3 x 2019 Tannat
Golden Grove
2 x 2020 Rosé Brosé
1 x 2020 Vermentino
2 x 2019 Nero D’Avola
1 x 2018 Malbec
Heritage Estate
2 x 2018 Marsanne
2 x 2019 Cabernet Rosé
2 x 2018 Old Vine Shiraz
When our 6 pack arrived Therese must have noted our response to the chardonnay as the 6 pack had been transformed into a 7 pack by the addition of a bottle of the 2017 Single Vineyard Reserve Chardonnay – much gratitude to Therese and Rob.
Just Red Wines
3 x 2018 Shiraz/Viognier
4 x 2018 CMT (Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot/Tannat)
4382 Terroir
1 x 2020 Aliganico Rosato
1 x 2020 Langrein Cerasuolo
Pyramids Road Wines
A members pack in process of ordering:
6 x 2019 Second Pick Shiraz
3 x 2019 Cabernet Sauvignon
1 x 2019 Mourvédre
2 x 2019 Bernies Blend
Some General Observations
The Granite Belt is going from strength to strength. Anyone who has bought into the old myth in Australian wine circles that Queensland wine is a lesser cousin would be pleasantly surprised by suspending all expectations and engaging in a broad visitation of The Granite Belt GI. Allowing for pandemic restrictions, if you reside in Queensland now is a great time to visit. The region has just experienced two exceptional back to back vintages – 2018 and 2019. 2018 vintage wines are available at most cellar doors and 2019’s are beginning to be released. You may, as a general rule, purchase any of these vintage wines with confidence. Granite Belt vineyards are boutique and consequently at most cellar doors you can expect a more personalised experience in which you often get to taste and chat with an owner/winemaker, this adds enjoyment, education and validity to the overall tasting. If you visit often enough you will make many friends and don’t be surprised when you begin to receive invites into personal residences or after hours tastes at cellar doors.
The 2019 vintage may just prove to be the greatest Cabernet Sauvignon vintage the region has ever seen. So include Cabernets in your tastings and, if agreeable to your palate, be sure to purchase a few so you can experience their developmental complexity over many years. I intend taking my own advice when I revisit the region later this year.
One last comment, apologies to the many wineries I couldn’t fit into my crowded schedule for this trip. The good people, Cheryl and Brad, at Savina Lane had offered to open their cellar door for me but I just couldn’t fit them in. Savina Lane is on my bucket list for my return, most likely October, this year. Same applies to Robert Channon. I was also most interested to try a local Alvarinho and had pencilled Sancere Estates View Wine in but had to erase them as commitments and reality clashed and struggled with each other.
Granite Belt Diaries Links:
The Granite Belt Diaries May – June 2023
