Granite Belt Wine

The Granite Belt is an Australian wine region in far south-eastern Queensland, right on the border with New South Wales. The area is better known for its flower-growing industry and its orchards, which produce the majority of Queensland's apples, but it has a burgeoning wine industry. A pragmatic attitude has been adopted here, to make the most of the region's location near to the major east coast tourist routes. It is telling that Queensland College of Wine Tourism is based in Stanthorpe, the Granite Belt's main town.

The 1859 decree which carved Queensland out of what was then the single, much larger New South Wales colony, dictated that the border should follow the range thence which divides the waters of the Tweed, Richmond, and Clarence Rivers from those of the Logan and Brisbane Rivers, westerly, to the great dividing range. Were it not for the winding nature of the range in question, the Granite Belt would be in New South Wales rather than Queensland. This may seem trivial, but it is significant that one of Queensland's two wine GIs lies within the state due only to a topographical quirk. Queensland's status as a wine-producing state has benefited greatly from the unusually cool Granite Belt climate and the particular terroir here.

The granite referred to in the region's name is a 200 million year-old formation which marks the northern end of the New England Tableland, a series of hilly plateaux which lie between 500 and 1500 meters (1650 and 5000ft) above sea level. It is this elevation which gives the cooler climate here, and makes quality viticulture possible. The free-draining, sandy soils are also important here, encouraging the development of deep, healthy vine root structures. Within the soils fragments of weathered granite are clearly visible; these contribute to its mineral content but also amplify the speed at which excess water drains away. The ancient rocks which give the region its name are most visible in the south of the belt, where granite boulders dot the landscape, carved out by local streams over many millennia.

A typical Granite Belt vineyard is dominated by Australia's favorite varieties Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Merlot, in that order. The increasingly popular Verdelho and Viognier are two of the better-performing varieties here, both of which have consistently increased their share of the region's plantings over the past decade. Between them their representation is ten times what it was even in the bumper harvest of 2005, and they have now overtaken the country's second favorite white variety Semillon. Semillon has consistently had a good reputation in the Granite Belt, primarily because the climate here is so often compared to that of the Hunter Valley to the south, where the variety is so very successful.