Granite Belt Brewery
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Granite Belt Wine Country Visitors’ Guide 2018–2019 The New England Highway runs for more than 62kms through the heart of the Granite Belt, from Dalveen and The Summit to Stanthorpe, Glen Aplin, Ballandean and beyond. It meets the border with NSW at the historic town of Wallangarra. The Granite Belt is part of the Southern Queensland Country region. granitebeltwinecountry.com.au Contents 4 National Park Splendour 6 150 Years of Winemaking History 8 Chests of Gold, Tables of Trophies 10 Meet the Vignerons and Winemakers 12 Introducing our StrangeBird Wines 15 A Year in the Life of a Vineyard 16 Getting the most from your Wine Tasting 18 Tastes of the Granite Belt 22 Arts & Heritage 24 A perfect place for a Special Event 25 – 28 Accommodation | Cafes, Restaurants & Food Wineries & Breweries | Tours 29 Town Map 30 – 31 Regional Map 32 How to escape to the Granite Belt 2 Granite Belt Wine Country Visitors’ Guide 2018–2019 Welcome Granite Belt Wine Country The Granite Belt is situated on the northern edge of the New England Tableland, right on the border between Queensland and NSW, at an elevation of around 1000 metres. Here the air is intoxicating – so fresh and clean – and the sky seems a deeper blue. The Granite Belt has always been a place of rest and relaxation – a place where people came to enjoy nature or recover from illness or war. In 1905 the State Government gazetted the region as Queensland’s official ‘health resort’. And it remains so to this day. This is a landscape of dramatic beauty and diversity with four distinct seasons. Here, 200-million-year-old Triassic granite formations emerge from thick forests and house- sized boulders balance precariously one on top of the other. On the Granite Belt you can feast on local fresh produce and choose from a wide range of accommodation from simple to simply luxurious. Granite Belt Wine Country hosts work hard to make your stay in our region unforgettable. It’s a wonderful place to grow wine grapes, apples, strawberries and all kinds of stone fruit and vegetables. There are more apples grown on the Granite Belt than anywhere else in Australia. Visit award-winning wineries and chat to the people who grow the grapes and make the wine. A craft brewery offers hand-made beers. Come for the cool summer nights or the apple blossoms of springtime. Come for the red and gold of autumn trees and vineyards, or warm log-fires on crisp winter days – and on rare occasions you may even come to see snow. Come whenever you wish, the Granite Belt is always beautiful. It’s part of Queensland yet it’s another country. When you arrive Make sure you visit the friendly Visitor Information Centre located on the southern bank of Quart Pot Creek (through town and over the bridge if you’re coming from the north), at 28 Leslie Parade, Stanthorpe | Open daily 9am – 4pm For more information: 07 4681 2057 | Disabled parking and access E: [email protected] Granite Belt Wine Country Find out more on our website: www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au QUEENSLAND GRANITE BELT WINE COUNTRY BRISBANE Sunrise on The Pyramid, Girraween National Park Cover Image: Sam Costanzo – The Eye of the Needle, Girraween National Park3 Sunrise at Girraween National Park some of the animals that make our national A gentle stroll to the Granite Arch is a less National Park parks their home. This is a place to enjoy strenuous adventure. nature at its best, especially if you love Splendour the seasonal changes – the soft sunshine Girraween’s almost 12,000 hectares of and wildflowers of springtime, the cold, eucalypt forests are teeming with wildlife Whether you seek rest and repose crisp days of winter that make those rocky and rare and lovely plants. Girraween is or want to be active, there is nothing summits that much more reachable. an Aboriginal name for ‘place of flowers’ quite like time spent out-of-doors in our Noticeably absent is that high humidity that and in spring and summer it really does extraordinary environment – it’s ancient, often makes bushwalking in summer in live up to its name. At Girraween there beautiful and bountiful. lower climes, sticky and uncomfortable. are excellent facilities for camping and picnicking and 17km of well-defined Rejuvenate your body, mind and soul with walking tracks – from a gentle 1.4km a yoga session in a vineyard, stargaze Girraween National Park ramble to more than 10km hikes. The under stunning night skies, or sit beside Girraween National Park is renowned for summit tracks have steep slopes. a rocky cascade to listen to the sound its massive 200-million-year-old Triassic of rushing water and watch the birds flit granite boulders. Climb the Pyramid, Castle The winding 9km bitumen road to amongst the trees. You may even see Rock or take the hike to Mount Norman. Girraween National Park can be entered 26km south of Stanthorpe or 11km north of Wallangarra at the turn-off to Wyberba. For a shorter hike to Mount Norman, enter from the south via Wallangarra. Follow Mount Norman Road across a couple of grids and gain entrance through a gateway into the park. A few kilometres further is a parking and picnic area and the signposted track to Mount Norman. Sundown National Park South-west of Stanthorpe is the wild and beautiful Sundown National Park – a contrast to the rounded giant ‘marbles’ of Girraween, Sundown is a wilderness park hidden in the Severn Valley to the Mt Norman, Girraween National Park west of the New England Highway. Over millennia, the Severn River has cleaved 4 Granite Belt Wine Country Visitors’ Guide 2018–2019 through the park’s ancient rock, forming spectacular sharp ridges and steep-sided gorges. It is popular with birdwatchers as many uncommon birds find a haven in its remote gorges. About 5km from Sundown’s 4WD entrance via Ballandean, a side track leads to the spectacular Red Rock Gorge where 50m high falls tumble over cliffs stained red with lichen. At the southern end the Broadwater camping area is a family camping spot (great fun when the river is running). The ranger station is located here and this is the starting point for visitors wishing to experience the true Sundown wilderness. The Granite Arch Access to this park is via three directions – Girraween National Park the access via Ballandean is suitable for 4WD vehicles only, but there are two all-vehicle entrances that can be found south from In a small reserve off Jardine Street right electric BBQ and a playground. (Fishing Nundubbermere Road to Nundubbermere in the heart of Stanthorpe township, is and Power-Boat Permits are required). Falls and east from Glenlyon Dam Road to a group of huge granite boulders that the Broadwater camping area. just beg to be explored. A pleasant walking track leads around the top of the Further afield Closer to Stanthorpe small hillside. Locals call the formations To the east, just over the NSW border, ‘Sentimental Rocks’. Not far north of Stanthorpe, reached via reached via Tenterfield, is Bald Rock National Park and Boonoo Boonoo Falls. The Summit village, a winding gravel road If you’re a fishing fan, take a rod or line out Or north-east of Stanthorpe, the lovely leads to Donnelly’s Castle, a small park to Storm King Dam, which is stocked with and picnic area where huge caves have Golden Perch, Murray Cod, Silver Perch Queen Mary Falls near Killarney. About been formed from house-sized granite and many other fish species. At Storm 90km west is the huge Glenlyon Dam, also boulders. Walking tracks lead over, under King you can sail, kayak, water-ski or swim a haven for fishing enthusiasts as it is well and around the massive boulders. and there is a boat ramp, picnic area with stocked with several excellent fish species. granitebeltwinecountry.com.au 5 Autumn colours creep into Granite Belt vineyards after harvest premium wines and one of the most reputation as one of Australia’s top 150 years of exciting wine regions in Australia. producers of alternative variety wines. winemaking At just under 1000 metres’ elevation, the A host of cellar doors offer a personal, Granite Belt is one of the highest wine unhurried and friendly wine experience. history regions in the nation and almost 900 Some offer free tastings, others charge a metres higher than Bordeaux in France nominal fee, refunded with a wine purchase. Wine grapes were first planted on the or the Napa Valley in the USA. The unique While making a purchase isn’t obligatory, if Granite Belt in the 1860s by the local terroir with its longer growing season you have enjoyed the wines, it is considered Catholic parish priest, Father Jerome and deep granitic gravels, combined with a courtesy. You can taste mainstream Davadi. Later many Italian families the innovative approach of the region’s varieties such as cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, settled in the region and grew vines to winemakers and vignerons, produces chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, verdelho and make wine for their own consumption. wines of elegance and complexity. pinot gris – or discover the StrangeBirds – Cool climate wines as individual as a luscious alternative varieties. Many are old The children of those first pioneers fingerprint. European varieties that delight the senses studied at home and overseas, bringing with new and exciting aromas and flavours. with them a new enthusiasm for lesser- The last few years have seen a number known grape varieties. Over the past of emerging varieties grown with great For those who enjoy a great craft beer or decade Granite Belt wineries have made success on the Granite Belt, which is cider, a premium craft brewery has some their mark at national and interstate wine officially recognised as a wine-producing excellent brews.