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The Granite Belt is Queensland’s premier wine region and a great spot for a self-drive short break.
Surrounding the town of Stanthorpe in the state’s far south, it’s the home of luscious cool climate wines and artisanal foodstuffs made by passionate producers. One of the great joys of travelling here is getting a feel for this fruitful countryside and meeting the makers (and having a car means you can transport your trophies of conquest home to enjoy long after the visit has come to an end). We also love exploring the region’s boulder-strewn landscapes, national parks, and cave systems.
Here’s a checklist of our top ten things to do in the Granite Belt.
1. Do a winery tour
While it’s not difficult to drive yourself around several wineries each day by following the map on the Vine and Shine Trail website, there are many good reasons to go on a wine tour with a local company like Filippo’s Tours. You’ll learn about the history of winemaking in the region, benefit from pre-arranged talks with winemakers about their wines, and enjoy an included lunch. All members of your party can relax and taste the wine, enjoy the company of the group, and return home safely. Information you learn and stories you hear on your tour will also provide a context for the wine discoveries you’ll make during the rest of your stay.
2. Stay amongst the vines
Besides producing a bountiful harvest, the Granite Belt’s vineyards are beautiful in all four seasons. From falling autumn leaves to spring buds and flowers, from frosts and snow in winter to fine summer days with mild nights, the vineyards surround us with the beauty of nature and the cycle of life. Not so beautiful is dragging yourself away at the end of a day of wine tasting. Luckily, many vineyards like Ridgemill Estate have cabins or guesthouses on site, so you can wake up in wine country.
3. Visit a cheese factory
Cheese and wine make the perfect combination. As we relax in our accommodation after a day of touring, there’s nothing better than pouring a glass of our favourite new discovery to try with some local salumi, chutney and cheese. Stanthorpe Cheese and Jersey Girls Café offers a self-guided cheese tasting, along with delicious meals and take away platters. We love their rich cheeses, such as the double brie-styled Snowfall, its rich golden colour attesting to its creaminess, and the bitey Brass Monkey Blue Vein — both made from local Jersey milk. Buy a couple of your favourites to enjoy as part of a grazing platter as the sun sets.
4. Stock up on other local tastes
To complete your sundowner snack, drop by Jamworks on the New England Highway in Glen Aplin. This is the place to pick up local jams, chutneys, pickles, sauces and pantry items, wine from the cellar doors you have missed, or quince paste and our favourite, marinated figs.
5. Go on a truffle hunt
Truffles are among the most expensive foods on earth, ranging up to $300 for a single truffle. The Granite Belt is one of the few places in Queensland that’s suitable for the commercial production of Perigord or French black truffles, and local grower Matt Hibberd has been training his dog Conan for the annual winter ‘black gold’ hunt for several years. Matt runs the Truffle Discovery Centre, which is open three days a week and is the place to find out all about these fine fungi. There are free tastings of truffle products in the shop, interactive displays, and lots of truffle products to buy, including truffle oil, truffle-infused cheese, butter and even honey. So, there’s no need to miss out on a little truffle deliciousness, just because they are not in season.
6. Pair top nosh and fine wine
Heritage Estate has taken wine tasting to the next level with their Vine and Dine food and wine pairing experience. Every Saturday, the winery puts on a luxe five-course lunch degustation in their classically-themed restaurant. Dining at Queensland’s original parliamentary table, guests enjoy five wines with the degustation — one of them being Heritage’s Rabbit Fence Red. This wine references the rabbit-proof fence adjoining the vineyard — part of the fence constructed in the 1890s along Queensland’s southern and western borders for a distance of 2,700 kilometres.
7. Eat apple pie
The Granite Belt has long been a centre for growing fruit and table grapes. With orchards right across the northern part of the region, there are lots of places to buy apples during picking season. Year around, we make sure to stop at Sutton’s Farm for morning or afternoon tea. Their rustic Shed Cafe serves a most delightful apple pie with boozy cider ice cream and fresh cream, accompanied by a glass of apple juice or cider. You can enjoy this treat at tables under the very trees from which your pie filling was picked.
8. Pick your own strawberries
Though the saying goes that ‘forbidden fruit is always the sweetest’, no fruit compares to Granite Belt strawberries picked straight from the patch. With free admission, Ashbern Farms in Stanthorpe is a great day out for the whole family and a wonderful way to teach the kids about the effort it takes to produce food and put it on the table. The farm is open for picking Friday to Sunday from October through to May (excluding public holidays). It’s quite a physical activity, so balance out the calories burned with a strawberry swirl brownie with ice cream at Ashbern Farms’ café.
9. Visit a lavender farm
A fifteen-minute drive from Stanthorpe will bring you to Aloomba Lavender. With a history in cattle farming dating back over a century, the Bonner family diversified into lavender in 1998, planting 12,000 plants over six acres. It’s beautiful to visit the waving fields of lilac late in November or December, but Aloomba Lavendar’s onsite shop is open all year from Thursday to Monday. You can also shop online for a wide range of lavender products, lotions, soaps, and other skin care, as well as teas and sweets.
10. Taste test Granite Belt Brewery’s best
If you’re travelling with anyone partial to the amber nectar, schedule a stop at Granite Belt Brewery. We loved looking at the microbrewery through this overgrown man-shed’s large picture windows — and of course, sampling the beer! Order a tasting paddle of memorable drops like the Pale Ale, Irish Red Ale, and Chocolate Plum Porter. No need to stress about driving afterwards; stay on site in one of their cabins and make a night of it.
For more travel inspiration, visit www.granitebeltwinecountry.com.au.
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Do you have any suggestions to add to our list of the best things to do in the Granite Belt? We would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment below.
Additional images: Bigstock
About the writer
Marj Osborne has been reviewing restaurants for over twenty years, formerly for Mietta’s Eating and Drinking in Australia, and more recently for her own blog — Good Food Gold Coast. Her work has also been published in Cafe Culture, Cove Magazine, the Gold Coast Bulletin, and Blank Gold Coast. A researcher, teacher-librarian, and former hospitality educator trained in vegetarian cooking and wine appreciation, Marj believes in positive living and thinking, and spending time enriching the body, mind, and soul. She finds joy on country road trips discovering hidden gems.
