The Granite Belt is the main wine region in Queensland. I hear you asking yourself ‘What? I didn’t think Queensland had any wine regions? What’s this lady on about?’ Well, I am here to open your eyes to Queensland’s little secret. The Granite Belt doesn’t get anywhere near the amount of love that its Southern counterparts do, but because I am from Queensland and completely biased, I think it’s about time that we talk about this unknown wine region.

Because of the heat in Queensland, there isn’t much wine growing here generally. Often any wineries around South East Queensland will bring grapes from other areas due to the growing conditions. But luckily there is a heavenly oasis of cooler weather right here in Queensland that makes for perfect wine growing conditions. They also grow a lot of apples, and in the tradition of the Eastern Coast of Australia in making giant fruit replica landmarks, there is a big Apple you can visit too!

The problem with wines from the Granite Belt is that they aren’t widely available in bottle shops. You really have to have been to the region to know the wineries that you can then purchase bottles from online. Some wine snobs may say this is because the wines from the Granite Belt simply cannot compare to the wines of Victoria and Adelaide. Well, I think that’s simply not the case. The wines you’ll get from the Granite Belt are just different. And in this case, a bit of variety is oh so good!

Where is the Granite Belt?

The Granite Belt is inland from Brisbane and about a three-hour drive. It’s actually a beautiful drive to make as it goes over the Great Dividing Range, so worth making a road trip out of it! For people living in Brisbane, it offers the perfect escape for a long weekend, being just about the only place in Queensland you can justify having a fireplace. The novelty of toasting marshmallows by the fire while sipping on wine will never get old for me.

The two main towns of the Granite Belt are Stanthorpe and Ballandean with wineries scattered between. It is a spot you need a car for, but there are plenty of wine tours that will help you out if you’re looking at exploring for a day. There are also heaps of food options, whether you want to dine in or get ingredients to cook at home. There is so much choice in this diverse region!

What makes the Granite Belt wine region

Queensland weather is hot all the time, and so, as a result, we don’t really get a proper winter. Just summer, and slightly cooler summer. However, the Granite Belt is the only area of Queensland that has four distinctive seasons. It even snows there sometimes! This is because it is located 1000 metres above sea level, creating colder temperatures and unique growing conditions.

The combination of this cool weather and granite soils makes for a perfect situation for growing wine, as well as heaps of fresh. I mean what more do you need for a wine region? Food and wine – tick! As a result of these great conditions, wine production in the Granite Belt accounts for more than 60% of all Queensland production.

What you can expect to find if you’re visiting

The Granite Belt is home to over 50 cellar doors, each offering a different experience. The thing I love most about this region is that most of the wineries are small production and boutique. This means that visiting offers a really personal experience sometimes even run by the winemaker or the family. It is something that I haven’t experienced in any other wine region to this level.

Although this wine region is smaller than others in Australia, each cellar door offers a large range of wines to try, so you’ll be hard pressed to make it through the list. We easily spent at least an hour at each cellar door because we enjoyed speaking to the staff so much. You’ll also find a lot more opportunities to take part in special experiences such as stomping grapes, having a personal tasting with the winemaker, or just being shown around the property. It comes back to how personal this wine region is.

Wine tours are a great way to see this region, but we also found we fell so in love with the wines that we spent every minute visiting different cellar doors. Each one offered something different and unique, so you never got bored! After a day of wine tasting, you can stumble home to your little cabin and enjoy a night in front of the fireplace. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Wines of the Granite Belt

The wineries in the Granite Belt tend to produce much smaller volumes of wine than their Southern Counterparts. They are far more boutique in how they run, so you’ll find stock is often limited. It also explains one of the reasons why you can widely get these wines.

Because the wineries in the Granite Belt are boutique, they often experiment with a lot of different varieties. They rarely stick to one type of wine, and across the region, you’ll find such a variety of wines that you won’t know where to begin. From classics like Cab Sav to Tempranillo, the Granite Belt is constantly churning out new and different wines.

Because of this trend in the Granite Belt, it is hard to pinpoint exactly which wine they should be known for, unlike somewhere like the Hunter Valley which is known for its Shiraz and Semillion. However, the Granite Belt instead has Strange Bird varieties. These are alternative wine varieties that represent no more than 1% of the total bearing vines in Australia as defined by Wine Australia. There is actually a Strange Bird trail you can do to try all these different varieties, and it makes for a really enjoyable trip trying all these weird and wonderful wines.

So you won’t find your standard wines here as much, but who needs that when you can experience something new and different at every cellar door?

Where to find Granite Belt wines

Granite Belt wines aren’t widely known or sold in bottle stores. This is partly to do with the yield of each winery, but also because the region itself isn’t well known. However, you can sometimes pick up some of the big names like Ballandean Estate and Symphony Hill if you know where to look.

If you are wanting to try Granite Belt wines and can’t make it to the winery, try ordering online. Most of the wineries in this region will offer online sales, making it easy to pick up wines when you’ve run out. I also find a lot of the wineries go to the big wine shows such as the Good Food and Wine Show, so make sure you look out for them there!

If neither of these is an option for you, you might need to plan a trip! Make a weekend of it and be sure to stock up on those wines you love. The wines of the region to tend to clean up in the awards, and you might end up wishing you’d bought a case, just like I did.

The Cheeky Vino picks

I did an article on my top 5 Granite Belt Wineries, but here are my picks for you based on my own and other friends recommendations:

• Moonrise Estate – they won the Best Tempranillo in Australia a few years back, and are still producing cracking wines. Their cellar door also has a fantastic view of the region
• Ballandean Estate – one of the powerhouses of the region, this winery has a rich Italian heritage. The cellar door is bustling and there are so many wines to try, each better than the next. Make time to pop in to their restaurant while you’re there for some amazing local food. I love their Shiraz Durif
• Whiskey Gully Wines – Set in a beautiful old house, Whiskey Gulley Wines had some of our favourites from our last trip. The tasting was really great too!
• Granite Ridge Wines – Another well-known winery from the area, Granite Ridge Wines has some really delicious wines including their Sparkling Shiraz. They also do some really interesting blends.
• Savina Lane Wines – this was one of our friend’s favourites when they visited, and I wish we’d been able to fit it in! The wines are delicious, and they offer a great tasting experience.
• Symphony Hill Wines – Symphony Hill wines are a little more expensive but are very high quality. You’ll sometimes see these on restaurant wine lists.

The final word

The Granite Belt really needs some more love. It may be far smaller than other wine regions, but this powerhouse is creating new and exciting wines that you don’t see in larger wine regions. Visiting the Granite Belt offers a completely unique and different experience, one which is thoroughly enhanced by the warm welcome you get at each Cellar Door.

Although you can’t widely get Granite Belt wines, the next time you’re at a wine show or looking at a long weekend trip, consider the Granite Belt. Not only are the wines interesting and unusual, but they are also a great drink. Not only that but a weekend away offers cozy cabins with fireplaces, incredible local food and a host of cellar doors that will keep you guessing. Now that’s what I call a recipe for a good weekend away!