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> Vignaceous - Winery Profiles |
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Each year the Granite Belt Wine Industry Association randomly selects wineries to be featured in the Ultimate Guide. These profiles allow an inside story of the people behind the wineries on the Granite Belt. This year’s selection includes three wineries whose owners were involved in professions including pharmacy to real estate to salvage diving before choosing the Granite Belt as their home. When people come from such a variety of backgrounds it is no wonder that the wines produced offer such a broad range of flavours and tastes.
This section sponsored for free by ICP Craftpress as an initiative supporting the Granite Belt. |
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> Casley Mount Hutton Winery |
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Grant and Sonya Casley acquired their 900 acre property 28 years ago as an unimproved block. Grant has a farming background and is a Chemical Engineer which seemed to be a good combination to run a vineyard and winery. Planting the vinyard was delayed until 1994 when the ground was prepared for 24 acres of vines in 1996. With adequate land to choose from it was possible to select an ideal site for the vineyard with a northerly aspect and slope, and close to a site for a 30 mega litre dam to irrigate the vines in their early years.
The altitude of the vineyard at 900 metres above sea level also makes it an ideal location for cool, long ripening of the grapes. Eight classic varieties were chosen for the Estate - Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot, Chardonnay, Viognier, Sauvignon Blanc, Chenin Blanc and Semillon. In 2003 the winery won two gold medals and best Qld. dry white trophy. Altogether the various wines have won sixteen medals. The winery now employs state of the art equipment with the cellar door opening 2001. |
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> Kominos Wines |
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Tony and Mary Comino have just released wines from the winery’s 21st vintage. The winery received a 4 star rating in James Halliday’s 2006 Wine Companion, with 2 wines acheiving 4 1/2 star rating. In 2006 Kominos Wines will export 40% of its production.
A highlight of their calendar is the annual Kefi at the Winery in October, a major Granite Belt festival in its 18th year. They enjoy staging this night event featuring their wines, Greek cuisine and live Greek bouzouki and dance music. It’s a fun celebration of the year’s efforts and wine releases.
About their 21st vintage, Tony says “It will be our defining and coming of age vintage. With ideal weather conditions and 21 years of commercial winemaking experience we are confident the 2005 reds are the best we have released.”
Mary says “the 2005 wines are a milestone achievement for us, so we are celebrating the winery’s achievements with 3 captivating new label series featuring local artists.”
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> Pyramids Road Wines |
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Warren and Sue Smith were regular visitors to the Granite Belt - attracted by National Parks and wineries - before moving to Stanthorpe in 1999. Their initial involvement with the production side of the industry began by picking grapes for several years at one of the Granite Belt wineries in the early 1990s. They purchased an old stone fruit and table grape property in the foothills of Girraween National Park. In November of the same year, they planted the vineyard and now have five red wine varieties planted. The cellar door is a renovated packing shed which has a long history as a local dance hall with many locals reminding them of the good times in their shed.
The focus from the start was to produce small volumes of top quality wines from their own grapes. Small scale production means all operations are hands-on. Pyramids Road has built a solid reputation in the few years since opening , with their 2004 Bernies Blend being awarded their first gold medal at the Queensland Wine awards in 2005.
The demands of farming life and the wine industry are a constant challenge but they still find time to enjoy the many pleasures that the Granite Belt offers. The quiet country life has turned out to be not very quiet and they have never been busier. However, they wouldn’t have it any other way. |
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> Old Caves Winery |
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David and Shirley Zanatta at Old Caves Winery have a simple philosophy about wine, “A good wine is one that you can drink and enjoy”. With this in mind they produce ‘everyday’ drinking wines at their winery just north of Stanthorpe. Although they introduced contract growing in 1978, they now have their own vineyard in Ellwood Road, Applethorpe.
With the high altitude of the Granite Belt, our cool nights and sandy soils, the district’s wines develop clean fruit characters with a good depth of body to them.
The Zanatta name has been instrumental in the development of grape growing and winemaking in the district. Gino and Bruno Zanatta had the first commercial wine license in the Granite Belt in the 1960’s.
The winery has something for the whole family; warm hospitality all year round, wine tastings and sales, children’s area, picnic area and a log fire for our cold winter days.
Our tasting room is open daily and catering for groups can also be arranged. Commemorative Bottlings are a speciality. |
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> Bungawarra Wines |
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Bungawarra Wines is one of the oldest vineyards on the Granite Belt (dating back more than 100 years) and was purchased by the Harden family in August 1993. Jeff Harden, a Brisbane pharmacist, and his son Tom have since run the vineyard and for the last four years Jeff has taken on the full weight of the winemaking as well. Success at various wine shows has followed and a consistent track record established in both white and red wines. At the 2004 Qld Wine Awards a gold medal was achieved with the 2002 Paragon (a Shiraz/Cabernet/Malbec blend) and the 2004 Unwooded Chardonnay.
Bungawarra is known for its sweet and dry wines. The vineyard is planted to seven varieties – Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec, Chardonnay, Semillon, Traminer and the remainder (about an acre) to some very old Muscat vines which make the sweet wines of Bungawarra so distinctive. Everything is done on the estate – the fruit is grown, picked, crushed, made into wine then bottled at Bungawarra. This was always at the heart of the dream.
Asked if it’s all been worth while, Jeff says, “ Absolutely. To create a wine from your own grapes is hard work but immensely fulfilling. Like art. And I was brought up in the country - with brilliant skies at night, cold winters and the pleasant low humidity summers we get at Ballandean. Living here with the birds, native flowers, the wildlife all around us and the amazing natural beauty of the area - that is the other part of the dream I didn’t have to dream about.” |
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> Heritage Estate |
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Bryce and Paddy Kassulke moved to the Granite Belt in 1984. Bryce had worked as a real estate agent and owned a successful travel agency on the Gold Coast and Paddy worked as an air hostess for TAA and managed it’s sister bus company AAT at Surfers Paradise.
In 1986 Bryce and Paddy had been living on the Granite Belt for two years and realised the potential for expanding the existing wine industry. In 1990 they purchased the C.O.D. Cold Rooms at Cottonvale and proceeded to transform these into what is now a fully functional 150 tonne winery and magnificent tasting room combining old world charm and sophistication.The Heritage Estate cellar door is spacious with log fires and a large collection of antique furniture.
“Unique and only going to get better,” says Bryce on producing Heritage wines. Bryce and Paddy say that their love of the Granite Belt stems from many things - be it the wild flowers in spring, the cold nights in winter, or the sheer prosperity of the area. “The Granite Belt is a beautiful place with much to offer - and our future vision is one full of optimism.” |
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> Thunderbolt Farm Wines |
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Keith and Claudia Beverly first met in Vanuatu 30 years ago, when Claudia was a radiographer and Keith was working as a salvage diver. Keith and Claudia later married in Germany and worked together in various businesses ranging from glass bottom tourist boats to a manufacturing screen printing business. Keith and Claudia moved to Thunderbolt Farm property in 2000 and started the task of transforming it into a vineyard/restaurant. Visitors can see friendly animals, coloured sheep, geese, chickens, peacock.
Thunderbolt Farm’s objective is to ensure the farm is a relaxing, comfortable place to visit. The estate wines offer guests a variety of tastes: red, white, sweet and dry. Vines planted are Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Muscat and Semillon. Concentrating on fresh local produce, the café food is described: country European. The menu offers superb steaks to Olive dishes from neighbour, Mount Stirling Olives. A trip around the world with food tastes.
Keith & Claudia’s long term vision is to develop the farm using soil friendly bio systems, making it self sufficient - producing the best of wines and fabulous tasty food. A place of warm welcomings. |
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> Robert Channon Wines |
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English-born Robert Channon met his Sydney-born wife Peggy when they were singing with the Sydney Philharmonia Choir at the Sydney Opera House last century. Robert, was a corporate lawyer and Peggy taught English and Music. They both loved wine, food and music, and Peggy loved horses. None of which has anything to do with why they are now in the Granite Belt.
Unplanned, they moved temporarily to Brisbane and fell in love with the rugged Granite Belt country. They decided to have a mid-life crisis and try to establish their own vineyard and winery to produce their own wine from their own grapes. Their vineyard started in 1998, is in a beautiful position overlooking a huge lake. In 2000, Robert and Peggy gave up city life and moved here permanently.
The Channons like to offer their visitors the things they enjoy. There is lunch at the winery cafe. The wine storage shed is now regularly transformed into a mini-concert hall; there are concerts at the winery ranging from coral music to brass bands. Peggy got her horses and you can meet Casanova, the hero of one of their wine labels, and Minnie Mouse, their new baby miniature horse.
In their first two years Robert Channon Wines have won five Trophies and five gold medals for their Merlot, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay & Verdelho. Their Verdelho has in successive years won the Trophy for the Best White Wine in Queensland. |
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> Cody's |
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Born and raised in Melbourne, Kaye and John Cody enjoyed their first experience of wine tourism on their honeymoon in Mildura. John's career in Real Estate and Valuation, and Kaye mothering three girls made them search for a change in direction. In 1977 Kaye and John with friends Bev and Keith Collicoat transformed a former funeral parlour into a fashionable 120 seat restaurant.
Together they ran this and the Real Estate office before relocating to the Gold Coast in 1979. In 1980 Kaye and John pioneered the first specialty sunglass shop in Queensland. For almost two decades John and Kaye have been at the forefront of Australian sunglass retailing, developing a strong network of outlets such as ‘Style Eyes’, ‘Bright Eyes’ and ‘Cherrylane’ sunglass emporiums.
A European trip visiting Burgundy, Bordeau, Loire, Tuscany, Sicily, Rhone and Alsace, allowed Kaye and John Cody to spot similarities between the coloured hills of Ballandean and the South of France. Falling in love with the area and people, they purchased a property and planted 2000 vines in 1995. Today Cody's host a Bed and Breakfast and invites visitors to its new Cellar Door on the New England Highway. |
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> Golden Grove Estate |
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Three generations of the Costanzo family have nurtured this part of the Ballandean valley for more than half a century. In true Italian fashion Sam and Grace Costanzo and their children share a passion for good wine, food and hospitality.
The fruits of their labours have merited over 120 wine show medals and trophies for their wines and in recognition of their personal service they have been a multiple finalist in the coveted annual Queensland Tourism Awards.
Today qualified winemaker Raymond Costanzo uses modern equipment to produce Golden Grove Estate’s range of table and fortified wines, which are designed to suit all palates. This is a far cry from the original bulk red wines made by his grandfather Mario, who stored it in 44 gallon drums and trucked it to Brisbane to a faithful clientele. While the winery still produces 25L bulk wines and bottled clean skins, most wine lovers will look for the familiar logo incorporating the Sundown Valley on the Estate’s bottled wines.
The Costanzo family invites you to visit them on Sundown Road Ballandean and share la dolce vita. They are open seven days a week and at weekends or at special events you can sample Grace’s traditional cooking. |
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> Severn Brae Estate |
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Owner operator of Severn Brae Wines and winemaking consultancy company: "Wine Qual Pty Ltd" (working with winemaking, viticulture and Winery Design), Bruce Humphery Smith has enjoyed a colourful career in wine, food and tourism.
Prior to moving to the Granite Belt, Bruce was Restauranteur and Wine Consultant to many high profile restaurants and hotels in Southern Queensland, including Conrad Jupiters Casino, Hotel Gold Coast and the Hilton International of Brisbane. After much encouragement from Granite Belt locals, in particular Angelo Puglisi and Chris Gray (former winemaker at Rumbalara), Bruce began a Wine Science degree in 1988 and completed this in 1994.
Severn Brae was purchased in 1987 as a partnership with Bruce's father Patrick. The land was then shaped for the purpose of growing premium grapes. The Merlot has been twice awarded at Brisbane RNA wine show. Bruce still believes the Granite Belt is the best place in the world to live, work and play. "I most love the fresh air, clear skies and cool nights even through Summer, the crisp sunny Winter mornings, and the sunsets are to die for all year round!" |
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