The Diaries this year are in two parts which could overlap somewhat. The first part involves a two night stay on 5th and 6th May so we could attend the Members Day at Pyramids Road Wines on 6/5/2023. The second was a three night stay on 25/26/27 June. So we covered less ground this year but may return before year end.
I began the diaries last year by listing all the varieties currently in the ground across the region with the rather obvious conclusion that the signature grape variety of The Granite Belt is variety itself and how well this fits with the Strangebird concept originally mooted by Peter McGlashan and Jim Barnes. Variety is still healthy and thriving throughout the region and I believe this offering works very well for consumers. The region is unique among Australian wine regions as, in addition to the variety offered in wine, it offers so much variety beyond just wine. The totality of the variety across the region and its uniqueness in Queensland means that the region has become an area of major interest to travellers. For wineries the combination of tourism and wine club members means that a large percentage of sales occur across the cellar doors and many other Australian GI’s would welcome such a process. All of this variety works together to benefit consumers and local businesses alike and especially underlying this is the friendliness and community feel of the region most of which is generated by family owned and run businesses and the local people themselves. This I have always seen as the bedrock of The Granite Belt – long may it endure!
Many of the local attractions and activities are listed in a new publication by Granite Belt Wine & Tourism.
The Essential – Little Black Book above is a useful guide for new and experienced tourists alike. It includes a lot of detail about the entire region and is small enough to be easily carried in a handbag or manbag. Reading the book will help you plan your trip and perhaps influence you to go to places you haven’t visited previously, or even do things you have never done before! The Little Black Book is a free publication widely available across the region.
I got the one shown above at Jamworks. The picture at the top of the second photo is a view of Casley Mount Hutton Vineyard – Hi to Grant and Sonya.
Before I write about the 2023 stay itself first some news.
Marley’s Little Kitchen has Closed
Matt and Bobbi Wells who previously ran The Barrel Room Restaurant at Ballandean Estate have made the difficult decision to permanently close Marley’s Little Kitchen. We dined there last year and thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This also means the larger restaurant they had planned further along Maryland Street will not eventuate. We wish Matt and Bobbi, two very talented chefs, an exciting and rewarding future wherever they land next.
New Kids on The Block
A few new vineyards/wineries have developed since my last visit and one has changed hands.
New Wineries
rokkwell
I was fortunate enough to spend two hours with Dawn Walker in her and Jaymie’s new winery at Ballandean. I really enjoyed my time talking with Dawn details of this visit are covered within these diaries.
Storm King Wine Company
I was also fortunate to spend two hours with Ray Costanzo talking about his and Jen’s new venture and how it differentiates itself from Golden Grove. Details are discussed later but this one is very exciting.
Serrena Que Estate
A new vineyard and cellar door a little higher than others on the strip at 1498 Eukey Road. We ended up out of sync and I was unable to visit and will have to call in next time. I was particularly interested in visiting this winery as two years ago Andy Williams told me they had planted Menćia and the vines will be ready to produce wine very soon. So Serrena Que will have the first Menćia produced from local GI grapes. They have also planted and are now producing from Cortese vines, a variety I have never tasted. So one to add to my bucket list for my next visit. The wines were originally made by Andy Williams but now Cindy from Serrena Que is making the reds and Andy is still involved with the whites.
Mason Wines is now Flamehill Severn River Winery
Flamehill Severn River Winery and Cellar Door
Mason Wines at Booth Lane Ballandean was purchased early in the second half of 2022 by Tony Thompson from Flamehill, you may be familiar with the Flamehill Cellar Door and Winery at Montville. From the photos it appears that Mason Wines Winery Facility has been rebadged to Flamehill Severn River Vineyard. I emailed Tony to clarify some of this, Tony replied and also called my mobile for a brief but pleasant and informative chat. Tony expects that the Flamehill Severn River Cellar Door will open during the week beginning Monday 24th July. The first wine from the surrounding vineyard will be a rosé style labelled as a Rosato. All the wines will be made by Frances Futter. Every wine sold at the Severn River Cellar Door will be from Flamehill local GI grapes. Tony is very committed to supporting the local region and has a strong intention to only use Granite Belt GI grapes.
Flamehill have approximately 50,000 vines planted in the Granite Belt GI, including Lagrein. I’m unaware of any other Lagrein in the region. They plan to graft Grüner Veltliner and Zinfandel onto Verdelho root stock in the Severn River Vineyard in November this year, I believe the only other Grüner in the region is at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism although there doesn’t appear to be a current release, the last one was 2019. I haven’t yet encountered Zinfandel on The Granite Belt and believe the Flamehill vines will be a first in the region. Additionally Flamehill have some of the Spanish variety Verdejo. Flamehill also have two regionally different Barbera clones, an Italian clone, 424, and another, 84, which Tony grafted onto 40-year-old shiraz vines. Tony sounds very excited about the Barbera so we can expect his passion for these clones to continue to give us some enjoyable outcomes in the glass. Tony explained that the Kurrajong label is Flamehill’s premium label and the Traprock label super premium. This development can only be good for the region so we can look forward to more excitement coming to The Granite Belt via the Flamehill Severn River Cellar Door. I intend to catch up with Tony and Francis, if available, during my next trip to the region. Photos of the rebadged winery facility and freshly painted cellar door are below.
Vintage 2022
Vintage 2022 on The Granite Belt was cool and wet consequently fruit set volumes were reduced, baumes were lower, harvesting in general later and alcohol levels lower especially for red wines. As reported last year The Granite Belt is mostly small boutique wineries and vineyards and consequently almost all viticultural activities are hands on. So vineyards are managed and tended ‘in miniature’ with great attention to detail. Certainly sprays were needed to halt downy mildew etc but overall the fruit and subsequent wines are very good. Ray Costanzo told me he is very happy with his 2022 wines and I can certainly concur. His 2022 Vermentino won a gold medal (see page 41) at the National Wine Show in Canberra. The NWS has the most validity of any of our Australian wine shows. Further it is true that ‘vineyards aren’t vintages’ so while hands on management mitigates effects of nature individual vineyard terroir has it’s own micro mother nature. I have now tasted many 2022 red and white wines from northern and southern Granite Belt wineries and have been impressed with overall quality. Beyond 2022, vintage 2023, although mostly cool again, has produced huge fruit volumes across the region.
Friday 5th May
We managed to leave Brisbane a little earlier at 9:15AM, quite an achievement when you have a 10 year old. We encountered two stoppages the worst was roadworks just past Aratula and then a shorter one on the northern side of the range. It was a glorious Autumn day and, stoppages aside, the drive to the Granite Belt was a genuine pleasure although that is the view of a relaxed passenger and you may need to clarify that with Liliana as she did all the driving 😁
We are certainly creatures of habit but it’s very difficult to break the Varias habit, so naturally we lunched at Varias on the way through to our accommodation. It’s so easy to eat and forget to take the photos at first. I’m often guilty especially after a long drive (Oophs, sorries Liliana! long passenger experience) from The Gap in Brisbane to Stanthorpe. Anyway, the mains were scrumptious as usual. I’ve mentioned this before but The College under the label Banca Ridge does make an excellent Albariño and the Petit Verdot continues to outshine the other reds. Not that our daughter Aria is remotely interested of course these days as she fully embraces Device Addiction.
After our lunch where I limited myself to one small glass of PV and a quick taste and purchase of some 2022 Albariño at The College Cellar Door on the way out we headed for a pre-arranged stop at the relabelled Ravenscroft Vineyard. I’m sure most are aware by now but Ravens Croft Wines was purchased from the founder Mark Ravenscroft recently by Nick Roberts and Caitlin Hawkes Roberts. Unfortunately for us but (extreme jealousy!) very fortunately for them Nick and Caitlin were away on a European Holiday but Caroline looked after us at the cellar door.
We arrived at Ravenscroft Vineyard and were immediately stunned by the autumnal beauty.
Nick and Caitlin have increased the range of wines available for purchase at the cellar door.
The 2021 Tempranillo is a true Crianza style, it will cellar well. The Reserve Petit Verdot has really come together since I tasted it pre-release and is drinking beautifully now and for years to come. Both the 2021 Waagee and the recently released 2022 Pinotage are lovely wines, the Pinotage is especially elegant and flavoursome. There are tasting notes, pre-release for the Tempranillo, and for the Waagee and Pinotage here:
2021 Tempranillo
2021 Waagee
2022 Pinotage
A 2022 Skin Contact Fiano is an interesting addition to the lineup.
We left Ravenscroft Vineyard and headed straight to our accommodation for an early night to conserve our energies for the Pyramids Road Members Day at 10:30AM preceded by brekky of course at St Judes Cellar Door and Bistro.
Saturday 6th May
We arrived at St Judes Cellar Door and Bistro just after 9AM. Didn’t take any photos but both brekky and coffee were the usual very enjoyable standard that Rob Davidson has managed to maintain for a few years now since opening just before the extreme drought. I bought a few 4382 Terroir wines, these are all made by Andy Williams with input from Rob. When I returned in late June I called in again to buy a few more of the 2021 Arinto which I enjoyed enormously.
We arrived at a very busy Pyramids Road Wines on time. First activity, after name tagging, was a vineyard walk. The Members Day Schedule was:
10:30am to 1:00pm
Vineyard walk and chat
Discussion on growing different grapes varieties – ripening times, tannin development, sugar ripeness.
Canopy management.
Pruning techniques.
Winery tour
Sample some 2023 wines in barrel.
Tour of the winemaking processes.
1:00pm
Lunch in the cellar door.
2:30pm to 3:30pm
Taste the new release wines at the cellar door.
Finish the day with coffee, tea and cake.
The attention to detail and the hands on love that the Pyramids Road Vineyard receives was immediately apparent. The maintenance is truly labour intensive with great attention to detail and consideration and application of sustainable principles.
Below: The man himself purveying his flock.
Below Left: Soybean mulching at the base of rows, this is a lot of work to lay by hand. It creates it’s own micro ecosystem, Warren and Sue merely lay it and Nature’s expertise mostly does the rest. Some Magnesium is added to the soil as testing revealed a shortage. Warren said that Magnesium shortages across Australian soils is quite common. Some Soybean plants have sprouted from the mulch and as these are legumes Warren and Sue have decided to let them grow at least for the shorter term. The attention to detail in this vineyard is also extremely important in water retention. During the extreme drought these vines did not require additional watering.
Below Right: It’s in my nature I must ‘reach for the sky’ .. Who am I (the vines not the human)?
Below First: Beautiful colours of Autumn displayed in these happy Mourvèdre vines. Warren consistently makes one of the best Mourvèdre wines in Australia.
Below Second: Sue’s first choice for the new house. It was eventually constructed elsewhere, it’s a long story!
Below Third: From Muscat, through Merlot, then Mourvèdre and Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon (I think I got that right?).
After the vineyard walk and talk we all returned to the cellar door for group discussion/questions while we waited for the feasts (liquid and solid) to arrive. Below First: Relaxing in the cellar door question and info time. Below Second: Group sampling from tank in the winery.
During the wine tasting Warren reached deep into his cellar and gave members samples of his 2010 Occasional Blend. During their 20+ years of operation Warren has only made two blends which weren’t labelled as ‘Bernie’s Blend’. The reason is that Warren didn’t think, at the time, that those wines were quite up to the Bernie’s standard. I wasn’t at Pyramids Road to taste the previous one so who knows but wine, especially young cellaring style wine, is a dynamic beast and listens to no humans opinion. This 2010 shortly after bottling said to Warren, “OK, next time we do need to talk and you need to acquire way more patience”. The wine is brilliant but somewhat peeved at Warren because he has to make an early judgement call to order labels etc. Anyway, apparently they’ve made up, Warren and everyone else really enjoyed sampling ‘The Occasional Blend’ on Members Day! The wine currently has lots of Mocha notes, the fruit is still very apparent with good weight, the acidity while conveying cool climate characteristics is balanced with the fruit, the fruit still commands the oak and the tannins have some drive. This one is a blend of Mourvèdre, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz, all estate fruit. I have one left and myself and Warren are in an agreed mission to crack it in 5 years.
The Pyramids Road Wines Members Day is an annual event and is an unbridled show of gratitude by Sue and Warren to their ‘Repeat Offenders’ Wine Club members. You can believe that the appreciation flows generously in both directions! Thank you Sue and Warren.
Following such and enjoyable but big day we headed back to our accommodation to rest awhile before our 7:30PM dining reservation at Essen.
I’m sure everyone has heard about Essen Restaurant by now so hopefully you’ll forgive me my further undisciplined gratuitous ramblings. Essen and together with it’s predecessor The Food Project is the best restaurant in the region and it’s BYO. Clarissa’s brother Tristan is no longer in the kitchen but has developed a small crops farm that allows him to produce excellent organic produce for Essen – the Pabst family it seems continues to display hidden talents. Who packed the wine – in utter abject disloyalty to Pyramids Road Members Day we had arrived at Essen with a 2021 Ravenscroft Vineyard Tempranillo when I was expecting a Bernie’s Blend.
Below left: Essen Menu. Below Right: Ravenscroft Tempranillo
Video below: Some of the lovely food we all salivated over at Essen, yep we know you’re jealous but there is a happy solution, up to you 😁
Sunday 7th May
Not a lot to report here, it was my intention to grab a quick brekky in town and head back to Brisbane as Monday was looking pretty hectic. I was out voted, sometimes I suspect Aria gets two votes for every one of mine. Immediate outcome was we headed south to St Judes Cellar Door and Bistro again for breakfast so Aria could have what she has decided are the best scrambled eggs on the planet – take a bow Rob! Two places emerged at St Judes as must visits enroute back: Summit Estate to get a few bottles of the Sparkling Marsanne as I had been so impressed with the 2019 vintage. There’s a tasting note for the 2019 here. The other was Heritage Estate especially to get some of the 2022 Somme Riesling which I hadn’t yet tasted. I’ve since tasted the Somme Riesling and have returned for more, tasting note is here.
Sunday 25th June
So here we were, back on The Granite Belt again. Previously in late Autumn and now in Winter. The differences were dramatic, the natural beauty of both stunning. Varias Restaurant no longer opens on Sunday for lunch so we booked a platter lunch at Hidden Creek Winery and drove straight through.
I had arranged to catch up with Andy Williams after lunch but he wasn’t feeling great and Leanne had ordered him to bed. We did catch up, briefly, on the Tuesday. The setting at Hidden Creek, especially when the gusty wind bursts aren’t frollicking too much and allow you to sit outside next to the lake, is quite extraordinary in both view and relaxation. Below are some of the views from the outside tables.
The platter was lovely and combined beautifully with the 2021 Syrah and the 2022 Joven Tempranillo.
Tasting notes are here:
2021 Syrah
2022 Joven Tempranillo
As mentioned earlier we had intended to catch up with Andy after lunch but that was rescheduled for early Tuesday afternoon. We had also attempted to arrange a visit to Serrana Que Estate but, as it happened, we were both out of sync. After a most enjoyable lunch in one of the most picturesque places on The Granite Belt we headed for our accommodation with Tony and Julia Hassall at Just Red Wines.
The two cabins at Just Red are picturesquely located overlooking vineyards and visited by multiple kangaroos each day late afternoon and early morning. During the stay I drove in just after dark and was halted by a large owl perched on the ground in the middle of the road. Completely unfazed and asserting a local ownership right the owl refused to move. I had to slowly drive around it. When you visit be careful of the Just Red Owls, I only wish I had taken a photo. Below: Tony’s winter vineyard
Below: Tony has a new cellar door and there’s a new ‘Commemorative’ release of Nikki’s Vineyard Syrah.
From the back label: Nikki, during her university holidays and weekends, planted and tended the vines that have made this wine. She felt this vineyard was her own. She did not live to see the maturity as she was killed in a car accident on the way to pick the first vintage. The ‘terroir’ of Nikki’s Vineyard has been found to produce exceptionally high quality wine. NICOLA BELINDA HASSALL 05-03-83 to 14-03-03.
After checking in and a brief catchup with Tony we relaxed in Syrah Cottage for a short time before heading to the annual Mourvèdre Blind Tasting at Pyramids Road Wines located deep in beautiful Wyberba country. This year the tasing was attended by the same palates as last year: Sue and Warren, Steve and Lisa, Graeme and Pauline, myself and Liliana and the garrulous girl “is it time to go home yet” Aria. This year we tasted through an accumulation of mainly older Mourvèdre wines that we hadn’t managed to open over years of previous tastings. I didn’t take any notes this year – Sue and Steve compiled them on Sue’s iPad. This is always an enormously enjoyable night generously hosted in Sue and Warren’s home. The smile on Liliana’s face at the end of the evening trumps any words you could write. The wines tasted were from around Australia, they were decanted into numbered Pyramids Road bottles for the blind tasting.
Monday 26th June
Monday morning and we needed an ‘Aria’ plan. I had arranged to catch up with Rob at Heritage Estate Winery at 10:30AM followed by a quick lunch at The Granite Belt Brewery, which I hadn’t visited since the early days of what was then Happy Valley Vineyard Retreat. After lunch I was to visit Ray at Golden Grove Estate and then, time allowing, Serrena Que Estate followed by the very remote possibility of Sue and Warren to finalise our members pack. The first part of the plan became that we would have a quick brekky in the cottage, then I would drop the girls off in town to do some shopping while I visited Heritage Estate and returned to collect the girls in time for lunch at 1:15PM, we would then ‘rebalance’ the plan.
I drove into the Heritage Estate Winery car park right on 10:30AM, Whew! No I hadn’t been speeding but can you believe how crowded Maryland Street in Stanthorpe is on a Monday winters morning. I was so grateful to the person who pulled out from just past the K-Mart Hub as I arrived creating probably the only car park available on that side of the street. I walked into the Heritage Estate cellar door and Rob immediately spotted me with a friendly ‘hello Peter’. Therese followed shortly but then became very busy with customers arriving. I was very interested in a new vineyard that Rob and Therese have recently gained access to as it has some Sangiovese in the ground. Rob very kindly offered to drive me to this new vineyard at Thulimbah – the vineyard is owned by Dave Cox.
Below: First row -> Sangiovese vines, at far left, in the Thulimbah Vineyard. Other vines are Verdelho, Savagnin and just two rows of Mourvèdre. I’ll take the two rows of Mourvèdre though, I’m always more than happy to encounter another instance of Granite Belt Mourvèdre.
Sangiovese isn’t a grape that enjoys the Granite Belt conditions, its bunches are tightly packed with thin and soft skins and it also tends to be a later ripening variety. The combination of those characteristics make Sangiovese susceptible to disease during wet veraison conditions and this is common on The Granite Belt. Ray Costanzo jokingly says that, ‘a cloud goes over and Sangiovese develops a cold’. Rob has taken some recent advise from Mike Hayes and is now using a product called Agrisilica. The Silicon nutrient in the product is absorbed by the vines and strengthens the cell walls including the cells in the grape skins. The outcome is that the Sangiovese grapes should be more resilient. My interest in Sangiovese is that it makes superb food wines with rather different characters than other red wines and this coupled with having tasted some great local versions. Despite his somewhat satirical comments Ray at Golden Grove does make a good Sangiovese, Mike Bourke at Jester Hill Wines has also produced some good ones. In recent years Brad Rowe (in consultation with Peter Stark) has produced the best local Sangiovese I’ve encountered – the excellent 2019. So when I heard that Heritage Estate now has access to Sangiovese grapes I just had to get some further info – currently looking like a 2023 straight Sangiovese is a possibility! It’s also interesting to note that, despite it’s inclination to sneeze at clouds, plantings of Sangiovese have almost doubled in the region from 1.8 Hectares in 2007 to 3.2 in 2018.
The following is a list of varieties Heritage have planted in their own vineyards and varieties they access at other Granite Belt GI locations.
Cottonvale
Chardonnay
Fiano
Merlot
Pinot Gris
Savagnin
Tempranillo
Verdelho
Vermentino
Ballandean
Cabernet Sauvignon
Grenache
Merlot
Marsanne
Mourvèdre
Nero D’Avola
Shiraz
Viognier
Thulimbah
Mourvèdre
Sangiovese
Verdelho
In addition to the above they accessed Riesling grapes from the Somme Lane Vineyard for the 2022 Riesling and I believe they will continue to access these grapes. There has been a recent upsurge in interest in viticultural practices at the Somme Lane Vineyard with a resultant increase in fruit quality. Heritage have made what I believe is a great decision to include vineyard names on the labels. Tasting notes for two such wines follow.
Somme 2022 Riesling
Sundown 2022 Shiraz/Marsanne.
I finally caught up, somewhat briefly, with Stephen Oliver the new wine maker for Heritage. It seems Stephen is multi-skilled, he was helping out with the fit-out of two new units where guests will be able to stay when completed. These units are in the middle of the Cottonvale Vineyard and have stunning views over the vines.
Stephen makes wines in a style somewhat similar to the previous Heritage Estate wine maker John Handy. The wines give most consideration to allowing the fruit to express so they tend to be pristine and while not ‘fruit bombs’ are full of grape flavours. John was often keen to use wild yeasts and here there may be some departure in the wine making process. Wild yeasts are designed by nature and can be unpredictable. I noticed that the 2022 Shiraz/Marsanne has been inoculated with three different yeasts none of them wild. Stephen has been a wine maker for many years and part of the process at Heritage is for the entire team, including cellar door staff to taste wines during the production and give feedback to eventually decide on the release version. I did manage a quick taste of some of Stephen’s wines at the cellar door but more about that a little later.
Rob drove me around the Cottonvale Vineyard – he seems very skilled at driving his truck in a straight line between rows while applying some pedal pressure. At any rate it seemed a quick journey to arrive at the northern end of the vineyard. Just before our conversation with Stephen Oliver Rob was keen to show me his ‘new toy’.
Below: Rob in a rather meditative pose supported by his recent Christmas Joy, a new Kioti Tractor. Apparently the kid inside every adult needs a new toy every now and then, please note how completely placid Rob is when he’s in new toy company.
While driving me around the property Rob also talked about something else Heritage do extremely well. A range of dinners are hosted at Heritage Estate and they have a new chef Dallas Tacey who trained in France working in Biarritz. Rob seemed especially enthusiastic about the ‘POETS’ Progressive Dinner. POETS is held each Friday at 4PM. Vignerons and Rob/Therese are your guides. POETS begins with tasting a bottle of wine accompanied by Hors D’Oeuves during sunset over the vineyard – some of the Granite Belt sunsets remind me of those at the northern end of Santorini at Oia. Next, seated in an ATV and accompanied by a bottle of wine, you’re taken to the section of the vineyard where the grapes in the wine are grown. Here you taste the wine accompanied by Entree. Mains are in the Cellar Door followed by a stroll through the engine room of Heritage Estate – the working winery. Desserts are then illuminated by candlelight in the Barrel Room. The spectacular starry nights on The Granite Belt then demand your attention and tranfix you with a short stroll under their radiant company. Of course there are some further takeaways, chocolate and red wine jelly to accompany the included four bottles of wine.
In addition to the POETS Heritage also have a 5 Senses Degustation Dinner on the 2nd Saturday of each month and a Vine and Dine Lunch Thursday through Monday. Therese and Rob are exceedingly meticulous in their attention to detail and care of their customers. You can always expect an exquisite experience at any of their culinary events.
After catching up with Stephen Oliver, Rob drove me back to the cellar door so I could sample a few wines. Time was now limited and I had to keep a close eye on the clock to collect the girls in town in time for lunch. Below: The Heritage Estate Wines Cellar Door Wine Servery.
I’m already familiar with many of the wines in the range and so familiar with the 2022 Somme Riesling that I bought some more! I was interested to try the Pet Nat made with Marsanne grapes and also the Savagnin. The Marsanne grapes were picked early due to a hail storm passing over the vineyard. Hail on The Granite Belt is a Vintners nightmare, you can lose a significant portion of your vintage in one afternoon. The high acidity in the early picked grapes led to the decision to make a Pet Nat. I haven’t really enjoyed any Pet Nats I’ve tried so far all of which have been made with red grapes but this one was different. You have to get past some initial funky characters but then the wine is incredibly refreshing with great green apple acidity and a packham pear character infused with nut flavours. I bought two of these and will be opening my first when the weather warms significantly a full tasting note will be coming then. The 2022 Savagnin has lots of citrus on the palate with some tropicals, it is dry with some lemony acidity producing verve and flavoursome length. A full tasting note will eventually appear in Instagram and The Blog. The clock chimed and I had to depart quickly to collect the girls. I thanked Rob for an especially interesting and enjoyable tour of the winery and left for town.
After lunch we drove to Golden Grove Estate to catch up with Ray Costanzo whom I missed last year as he was very busy setting up a large bottling run for Rosé the following day.
We arrived at Golden Grove Estate at 3PM. Aria refused to go to the cellar door so both Aria and Liliana remained in the car while I entered the cellar door. A quick hello to Grace who said Ray is waiting for me and disappeared into the winery to find her son. Below: Two Different Views of Golden Grove Estate
Ray with wife Jen have started a new wine label.
I was keen to chat with Ray about the new Storm King Wine Co. Ray emerged about 30 seconds after Grace had disappeared to find him. Ray was surprised I was by myself and I quickly explained about Aria to which Ray responded he can remember as kids having to accompany their parents to wineries so he can empathise with Aria. I had decided to focus on Storm King first and then move on to Golden Grove. We began a discussion and tasting of some Storm King wines. Ray was very enthusiastic and effusive seemingly brimming with energy and excitement as he talked about Storm King – this was contagious! Ray explained that the wines produced under the two labels Golden Grove and Storm King will be very different styles. It’s important to support the loyal Golden Grove Estate customer base so wines produced under that label will continue in the style that consumers have enjoyed. The Storm King Wine Co wines are completely different with no fining or filtration, pressed in Ray’s dad’s old basket press and sealed under waxed Diam. The label gives Ray further opportunity to be creative and express himself through his wine making differently to the proven and widely enjoyed Golden Grove style wines. This arrangement certainly appears to be an excellent idea, I’m not sure I’ve seen Ray so excited previously. Below: The current four new Storm King Wine Labels
The 2022 Tempranillo is made using a 60% Whole Bunch carbonic maceration process. The 2021 Mataro/Graciano was wild fermented, saw 116 days maceration and matured in French Oak for 3 months. The wine has won gold at the 2022 Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show. The 2021 Shiraz/Malbec is an equal blend of wild fermented, extended maceration (56 days) old vine Shiraz and Malbec. Matured in French oak for 8 months. The 2021 Vermentino was wild fermented on skins and hand plunged for 10 days prior to basket pressing. This is certainly very hands on labour intensive wine making but that, and especially the basket pressing, allows more control over the process.
The 2022 Tempranillo, tasted in Storm King Wine Co labelled Plumm Number 3 glasses – a very nice touch – was thoroughly delicious and the most smashable young Tempranillo I’ve ever encountered. There’s a tasting note here. It was an interesting exercise to taste the Golden Grove 2022 Vermentino side by side with the 2021 Storm King Vermentino. They are both excellent wines with the Golden Grove recently wining a Gold Medal at the National Wine Show in Canberra which is arguably Australia’s most valid wine show. Despite their mutual excellence the wines are chalk and cheese. The Golden Grove is made using Ray’s four components one of which is barrel. The wine is clean, bright and fresh with lovely lifted aromatics. The palate has some creamy textural aspects from partial barrel fermentation. The Storm King Vermentino is a far more textured wine than the GG, it has another level of mouthfeel. The flavours are also quite different, there is some citrus and poached pear, ginger and other spices and musk. A side by side of these two wines is something I’m sure all wine lovers will truly enjoy but do this in a group for added entertainment. There’s a tasting note here for the Storm King Wine Co 2021 Vermentino.
When you’re having so much fun of course it happens, a cursory clockwise glance revealed I’d been there for 1 hour 15 minutes and Liliana and Aria had been waiting, hopefully with great patience, outside in the car. I had no time left to try other Golden Grove wines and will have to do so next time. I bought a bakers dozen and left and … the girls seemed OK and happy! The bakers dozen was so I could take a 2022 Temp to dinner at our friends place near town that night, once opened the wine disappeared in a blink. So many thanks to Ray for a great and truly informative tasting and for his passionate energy! I was so focussed I completely forgot to take any photos but here’s Ray and Jen from the Storm King media.
Tuesday 27th June
Today was another ambitious agenda. We had booked breakfast at Jamworks for 9AM, I’d arranged to visit Dawn Walker at her new winery rokkwell at 10:30AM followed by a catchup with Andy Williams, then lunch at The Barrelroom Wine Lounge and a must visit for Aria to The Christmas Tree farm, lastly Sue and Warren at Pyramids Road Wines to finalise our members case. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking “way too ambitious”, well you were right!
We arrived at Jamworks on schedule and enjoyed a beautiful breakfast. Last time we were here tables were at a premium so we made sure to book and then arrive before the rush, it worked – video below taken shortly after the 9AM opening time.
Below: Some of the yummy breakfasts we ordered at Jamworks and only the flexibile young ones sit like that, I wish! The Jamworks coffee was also just what I needed to kickstart a full agenda and lastly the Jamwworks atmosphere, or was it the hot chocolate with marshmallows, seemed to completely charge Aria with energy.
Jamworks have on display and for sale some beautiful painted artwork by a local talented artist. We bought one on our previous visit for a family member and this time couldn’t resist one for ourselves. The painting “Four Waters” is now proudly displayed on the wall in our dining room.
The following is some information about the artist ‘Jen Martin’ who painted this very impressive picture:
Jen was born in 1961 she is from the stolen generation/forced adoption and is a very traditional woman. Jen has identified practiced and learnt her culture over the last 27 years by her Elders. And it shows in her style of painting it reflects her stories and songs of her traditional learning. Jen has painted for many years and has found it to be peaceful and calming and has only got back into painting the last couple of years. While Jen is very shy she gets great pleasure out of people enjoying her art and has pieces displayed in Sweden and various parts of Australia and locally.
2017 Stanthorpe Shcw First prize for Indigenous art
2017 Stanthorpe Show Grand champion of the open section
2016 Stanthorpe Granit Belt Art on Railway art exhibition
2016 Nadoc Stanthorpe preschool aboriginal art with children
After Jamworks I dropped the girls back at the cottage and headed off by myself, where wineries were concerned lone visits were becoming a pattern. The rokkwell winery was quite close to where we were staying at Tony’s but it is very accessible from anywhere. For example travelling south from Stanthorpe along the New England Highway to the township of Ballandean, then turn left into Eukey Road and immediately left into St Judes Lane just past the Ballandean Tavern followed by around a 40 second drive along the lane. I arrived on time at rokkwell pressed the intercom button near the front gate, Dawn answered and soon I was driving up the meandering road between vines and two new cottages high on my left side overlooking the vines.
Above: The entrance to Dawn and Jaymie’s winery at 104 St Judes Road, Ballandean. I parked near a shed adjacent to the winery and was soon greeted by Dawn. The house, sheds and winery overlook the vineyards, it was a beautiful clear winters morning and I felt jealous I didn’t live in this stunning setting. After a brief chat we walked inside the winery. The winery isn’t yet open to the public, however by the time you read this Dawn and Jaymie should have approval for a cellar door which they plan to open in 4 to 5 months. I remarked that it reminded me of visiting Marco Cirillo on Light Pass Road in Nuriootpa. The cellar door, in 2019, was in the winery. Marco had several large beams supported by empty barrels and we tasted talking to each other across the beams. Dawn’s cellar door, below, was slighty less rustic.
Dawn and her partner Jaymie purchased a vineyard that was previously owned by Ian Hendersen. This vineyard has well established Nebbiolo, Chardonnay and Sauvignon Blanc. You may be familiar with the Lirah Winter Harvest Nebbiolo, the wine was made with grapes harvested from this vineyard. Dawn and Jaymie have since added Arneis and Nero d’Avola. Teroldego and Garganega will be added this spring, vineyards are ready and vines arrive late September. I don’t believe there is any Teroldego in the ground on The Granite Belt and the only other vineyard that has Garganega is Serrena Que Estate. Teroldego in particular will be an interesting addition to The Granite Belt, there is only a small quantity in Australia. The skins and hence the wines are darkly coloured but the fruit is bright and with different flavours that will surprise many red wine drinkers. It was such a pleasure spending what became 2 hours with Dawn tasting through a few wines and chatting about The Granite Belt and wine making in general. Dawn is a relative new comer but she is genuinely rated by some other talented wine makers and astute judges. I had tried a 2021 Fumé Blanc Dawn had made and was so impressed I made it a must part of my agenda to visit her new winery during this trip. It was a cold morning and the wines in Dawn’s winery needed substantial swirling and hand warming exposure but the conversation flowed so effortlessly it seemed wine warming happened before I was aware any time had passed. This of course was a slight problem as it left me a very short 15 minutes with Andy Williams after visiting Dawn.
Note: I sent a first draft of the section about rokkwell to Dawn. She replied with the modification “Sorry Andy” at the end of the last sentence above. However Dawn didn’t know I’d arranged to visit Andy after her and that apparently I have quite appalling time management skills.
The first wine we tasted was a 2023 Nebbiolo. The grapes for this wine were picked a little later than those for the immensely popular 2022. The outcome was slightly less acidity but more fruit flavour. I certainly appreciated this overall balance in a truly enjoyable rosé. I’m not sure that you can produce a rosé any better than one well made from Nebbiolo grapes. Follow this link to read a tasting note: rokkwell 2023 Nebbiolo Rosé.
Following the Nebbiolo Rosé Dawn opened a 2022 Fumé Blanc. There are some white grapes that, for my palate, are best made with no oak influence or even left on skins for awhile. Riesling is definitely in this category but Sauvignon Blanc certainly isn’t. This 2022 Fumé Blanc is excellent, the palatal massaging textural mouthfeel is sublime and so is the complex of flavours presented. This wine is sealed under Diam with a wax coating, if you’re ever going to use cork then make it Diam! A tasting note for this remarkable Fumé Blanc is here: rokkwell 2022 Fumé Blanc.
Below: Dawn in her element having finally answered her life’s calling.
Yes it’s an octopus wine cooling bowl in the last photo above, Dawn said it was a present. Here’s a closeup:
Dawn has made a 2021 Shiraz from South Burnett fruit as she couldn’t source any local Shiraz that vintage. She will have a 2023 Shiraz made from her neighbours fruit available in 12 months. The last wine we tried was a 2023 unwooded Chardonnay. Unwooded Chardonnay seems to be a dying art on The Granite Belt but it certainly has its place in wine circles. This one would be great drinking in summer, it’s clean, fresh and vibrant with some zesty acidity. I haven’t written a tasting note for this wine, one will be coming in warmer months. After a very enjoyable generously offered 2 hours with Dawn we said our goodbyes until I return to The Granite Belt. It’s a wonderful experience to be able to catch up with a future wine making star of the region when their winery is in fledging mode, not open to the public and therefore a true one on one experience, thank you so much Dawn!
I didn’t meet Jaymie during this visit but would love to catch up with her as well next time. Dawn said that Jaymie has a full time job elsewhere but helps out a lot in the vineyard and the winery, she describes them as a viticulture and wine making team and the whole operation wouldn’t be possible without the help that Jaymie contributes.
Next I headed to Hidden Creek Winery for now what had to be a brief catchup, with Andy Williams. When I arrived Andy was on the forklift moving some barrels around outside the winery shed. Thankfully he now has an offsider to help with these heavy tasks and others. Andy and Leanne no longer manage the cellar door and kitchen at Hidden Creek as Andy is very involved making wines for Hidden Creek and many other local vineyards. As Andy’s skills and knowledge have amplified over the years he has become in high demand. It’s a bonus that Andy is a very likeable personality and I always enjoy catching up with him. Below: Andy in the Hidden Creek Winery shed.
Andy has retired the Unsung Hero Label, after he meets all of his other commitments he simply doesn’t have time left to devote to the label. You may remember this extraordinary wine:
Time constraints! It was fast becoming apparent that lunch at The BarrelRoom Wine Lounge could be a lost cause although I was keen to go especially as Ballandean Estate has a new wine maker. So I managed a very quick taste of the new (2023) Hidden Creek Tempranillo from tank. The colours of these 2023 wines are truly engaging, the wine was very cold and I had no time to warm it. Allowing for that condition I can say that the 2023 Hidden Creek Tempranillo will deliver a solid wine, better than many previous vintages and certainly one to seek out and add to your list of now great Granite Belt Tempranillos. If you have any remaining doubts then talk with Ray Costanzo and ask for his current view of Tempranillo and it’s suitability for The Granite Belt GI and the great Temps being produced across the region now.
I said a hurried but grateful goodbye to Andy thanking him for his time and knowing we will have a far longer and detailed catchup next time.
I left with the wine below which I had tasted when it was in tank having just finished malo and was due for around 6 months in 2 year old French Oak. It will be most interesting to see what that young juice has transformed itself into now. Expect a detailed tasting note in a month or so.
Arriving back at the cottage and my feeling was right – The Barrelroom Wine Lounge had been canned. Aria wanted to go to The Christmas Tree farm and this left no time for lunch at the wine lounge. So we all headed up north where we instead enjoyed a light lunch surrounded by Santa wares.
The inside shop/lunch area of The Christmas Tree Farm has been expanded.
Of course the real attraction for Aria was feeding and patting the animals and …
this newly born lamb.
After the Christmas Tree Farm adventure we headed south and I dropped the girls off at the cottage and drove on to Pyramids Road Wines to finalise our 2023 Members Pack. Warren and Sue were busy labelling when I arrived, Sue had to leave soon after and Warren had to serve two customers who arrived shortly after myself.
The two girls in the photo above were thrilled to be able to label their own purchased bottle of wine, they had arrived at a fortuitous moment. After they left Warren and myself had a conversation about wine in general. It’s always an education to chat with Warren and he gives very generously of his time. Once again this is such a great treasure in the region – to be able to chat with owner wine makers in their own cellar doors and vineyards, I often feel we should be paying them for their time and the enjoyment we receive from it. Warren showed me a barrel sample of his 2023 Cabernet Sauvignon. The colours of the 2021 vintage wines had been incredibly luminous but Warren said they were outdone, or should that be outshone, by the 2023 vintage.
The photos above give some indication but don’t really quite do the radiant colours of this wine justice. Even at this early stage the flavours are lovely, no herbaceousness, no spearmint or eucalypt but full on dark berries and cassis, chocolate and fine succulent driving tannins. This will be one to wait for and the balance suggests a long cellaring life.
I finalised our members pack, Warren and Sure helped me carry items out to the car and we said our goodbyes until our next visit. In the morning we were headed off to another adventure, 7 nights in a cottage in a forrest a complete break away from everything.
So that’s a wrap for the 2023 diaries. A shorter overall visit this year and combined into two but always enjoyable. We owe so much appreciation to the people of this region and we sincerely hope you realise how much we enjoy our visits and your company while we are here. The diaries are scheduled to return next year and hopefully in July.
Granite Belt Diaries Links:
The Granite Belt Diaries July 2022
