Day 71 - Tasty Tuesday

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Stanthorpe and surrounds 46km

For a short moment we contemplated the idea to explore the Granite Belt wine region (whuch is very small) by taxi... shock horror!  Most of the region's interesting sounding producers seem to be in the about 35km and as many hills away. But then, in the sunshine glory of this morning, we come to our bicycle senses and set out a nice casual programme for the day which happens to include an official wine trail, a bicycle route through the entire region, stretching from Stanthorpe to Ballandean.

With the philosophy of "less is more" we pedal into the day. The quick stop at the Stanthorpe Visitor's Centre equips us with a map of the said wine trail and the very enthusiastic David, the local expert on all things, needs a bit of convincing that we are actually travelling by bicycle. 

The riding is beautiful, the wine trail impressively well-signed, thought through and there are vineyards! We head to a winery called Jester Hill Wines, a small family owned and operated producer. The graphic design of this wine label certainly wasn't the deciding criteria to go there, but never judge a book by its cover. And Louise said something about a Great Dane.


Mike Bourke, the owner and winemaker himself takes us through his extensive wine portfolio. We both have absolutely no idea what to expect of the wines from here. And to be honest, we keep our expectations, let's say, conservative. But at Jester Hill they are not clowning around, and Mike seems to have a very clear agenda, on what kind of wine he wants to produce. It might not be the Australian mainstream, and, dare I say it, there are some wines with a twist of Queensland. The highlights are in the white wine department. And both wines made of grape varieties that we don't get to enjoy often enough: Rousanne and Verdelho. The latter is a grape variety from Portugal, with a strong connection to the island of Madeira. And the variety apparently does particularly well here in the Granite Belt. Mike confirms my thought that Verdelho could become an entertaining alternative to Sauvignon Blanc, a little more exotic and maybe a little more Queensland..? After sharing a good hour with Mike and his telling of how he became a winemaker, we need to take care of our appetite. The very promising sounding Blue Topaz Diner is just a few kilometres down the road. But before we leave, we say a proper goodbye to the Great Dane, who is not really a Great Dane but goofy enough for a selfie.


On the way to the diner, we pass this sign promising something that only a wine region in QLD can promise...


We resist the temptation to find out and head for the best burgers in town. And our happy hour of the day begins when the burgers arrive.


The hot salsa on the Spicy Angus burger is so palate cleansing that we are ready for another wine tasting on our toodle back into Stanthorpe. I won't mention the winery's name but we have to say that the very friendly cellar door staff succeeded in making sure, we left the place with a smile on our face. And that's not because the wines were good, but because of their unrestricted enthusiasm to ensure that everyone is having a good time while visiting cellar door. It was a borderline experience, in terms of wine. It should alarm you when a bronze medal from the local wine show is celebrated like a trophy win at the International Wine and Spirit Competition. But who can say a bad word if you are surrounded by genuine QLD friendliness? Plus they are a recognised venue by GALTA (Gay and Lesbian Tourism Australia). It didn't make the wines any better but it lifted our spirits enough to cheerfully pedal the final 10km back into town. 


We wind up tasty Tuesday with a healthy dinner back at the campground and retreat to our tiny tent at the top of the town.


My final thought for the day is that dear Alan might be right (as a big brother often is): Queensland may have more pleasant surprises for us than we think, but I don't think they are in the wine department.  How do you feel about rum?
Location: Stanthorpe QLD 4380, Australia

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