As much as we love taking our customers to our gorgeous boutique wineries at Tamborine Mountain, we thought it was about time we did a little bit of wine tasting (...ok, *wine guzzling*) for ourselves. So we packed our best wine drinking hats, a pack of cards & a good attitude - and set off on a road trip to The Granite Belt.

The Granite Belt is located 2.5/3 hours from Brisbane CBD, sitting slightly North of the NSW & QLD border among the Great Dividing Range. It's because of it's high altitude & decomposed granite soil (hence the name) that Queensland is able to grow delicious, quality grapes (and where there's quality grapes - there's quality wine)!

We checked into our country cabin surrounded by native flora and fauna and tremendous granite boulders, ditched the bags (after a moment in awe) and made our way to our first wine stop; Boireann Wines. If you're a red wine drinker (like myself) - this winery is a MUST! Quality wine with a reasonable price tag.
On arrival, we were greeted by the wine maker & his apprentice, who continued to show us the extensive range of flavorsome reds they had on offer, ranging from Merlot - Cab Sav and EVERYTHING in between.

After talking ourselves out of buying 10 of each, we settled with the 2016 Merlot, Shiraz & The Lurea (to cellar).... The Merlot didn't last very long in our hands... Oops.

The next day, we hired some bikes from Stanthorpe and decided to tackle the Granite Belt Bike Trail.
Our humble abode was conveniently located smack bang in the middle of the bike trail (leaving us with a mostly downhill ride).
There is an abundance of family owned wineries along the bike trail which were all pleasing to the taste buds. However here's a few that really stood out to us....

Tobin Wines, Ballandean; A family run cellar door with sophisticated wines of exceptionally high quality.
As we made our way through the wine list, we had a great chat to Adrian (the wine maker) about his extensive experience in the industry and his love and passion for wine. . . Each of the wines were named after his grandchildren... and like grandchildren/children - we COULD NOT PICK A FAVOURITE. Definitely a highlight of the day.

Symphony Hill, Ballandean; Producing some of the best wine in Queensland, with a 5 star rating from James Halliday to back it up. I've thoroughly enjoyed the whites from Symphony Hill - the 2016 Verdelho & Viognier are an absolute treat!

Heritage Estate, Cottonvale (and Tamborine Mountain!); There is something for everyone at this 5 star winery. From Dry to sweet, light to bold. Some of our top picks are the Pinot Gris, Tempranillo & Rabit Fence Red.... Although many cant go past their best seller - the Moonshine Madness (this liqueur screams espresso martinis!!!... Hello holidays!!!!).

The Barrel Room, Ballandean; With all this drinking, you'll need a delicious meal to leave you satisfied and The Barrel Room will do just that! This casual fine dining restaurant is joined to Ballandean Estate Cellar Door (so you know there's good wine to pair perfectly with your delicious meal). All of their gourmet meals are created from local produce and boy oh boy are they TO DIE FOR! Not to mention you'll be sitting in a room surrounded by 150 year old barrels filled with aged MUSCAT! *drooolllllsss*

To wrap up this deliciously boozy day, the very helpful Jon from Granite Belt Bicycles collected us (and our sturdy wheels) from our last winery stop and delivered us safely back to our holiday accommodation...

In conclusion, its safe to say Tom and I WILL BE BACK!
Although being proud as punch of our local cellar doors at Mt Tamborine, the Granite Belt has won our hearts. Until next time....

Tash Maree xx