Two days of lazy grazing is on offer from ten award-winning Granite Belt wineries at this autumn’s Grazing the Granite Belt.
Timed at the end of grape harvest season, on the weekend of 18 and 19 May, this showcase event is a celebration of vintage 2019, where visitors are hosted by the winemakers and food artisans of Queensland’s premier wine region. Ten participating wineries spanning across Stanthorpe to Ballandean will soon release their gourmet menus, tailored especially for the event and featuring Granite Belt local produce as the heroes of the menus.
On Saturday 18 May, event goers will be grazing their way across the participating venues, with unlimited hop-on hop-off buses at their disposal. The Sunday morning Breakfast with the Winemakers on 19 May sees local winemakers literally cooking-up a second day of hospitality for their visitors, as they gather to cook the barbecue breakfast and mix with visitors to share their wine tales. The breakfast, held beside Stanthorpe’s picturesque Quart Pot Creek has become a highlight of the weekend for its intimacy and spontaneity.
“Our grazing visitors really love being able to talk to the winemakers the next day, as they sit around telling their wine stories,” says organiser Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi. “It’s a really relaxed part of the weekend, where you’ll see a few winemakers on the barbecues, others sharing a few stories with visitors and we can usually count on John Arlidge from Whiskey Gully Wines bringing along his guitar to create some spontaneous musical atmosphere,” explains Mrs Puglisis-Gangemi. “It’s really pretty down by the creekside and the breakfast part of the event, which actually began as a bit of an afterthought, has become a most cherished tradition that our visitors and our winemakers equally enjoy.’
Sunday being the final day of the event, sees attendees again venturing out to the wineries to experience more of the unique menus and to use any remaining vouchers they may have. Just announced, the 10 participating venues for 2019 are: Balancing Rock Wines, Ballandean Estate Wines, Casley Mount Hutton Vineyard and Winery, Twisted Gum Wines, Whiskey Gully Wines, Pyramids Road Wines, Hidden Creek Winery Cafe Vineyard, Robert Channon Wines, Jester Hill Wines and Varias Restaurant at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism.
Special menus are released for this boutique event, with details posted on the Grazing the Granite Belt Facebook page, allowing visitors to create their own itinerary before they arrive. Granite Belt Wine Country, is located two hours from Toowoomba.
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