Why the Vine and Shine Trail is a must-do for wine lovers

Welcome to what could well be the home of Queensland wine, with more than 60% of the Sunshine State’s vino offerings produced here, a district two and a half hours from Brisbane. A particularly grape-friendly climate will greet you - cool, high country, 1000 metres above sea level, and rich in 250-million-year-old granitic soils. Fruit orchards of peaches and apples also flourish here but since the 1960s the Granite Belt has been grape dominant.

Today you’ll be able to wander your way through 50 vineyards and cellar doors - just save time to visit Ballandean Estate for a long lunch. Modern Italian-Australian is on the menu at its eatery The Barrel Room, served alongside a slew of award-winning drops. Post-feast, make your way to your accommodation for the night - immerse yourself in the surrounding hills at Girraween Environmental Lodge, sleep among the vines at Ridgemill Estate Cabins, or enjoy the luxury self-contained accommodation (complete with hot tub) at Alure Stanthorpe.

Greater Brisbane

The beauty of Queensland is that you don’t have to leave the borders of the capital to enjoy a drop of local wines. The Greater Brisbane region (and just beyond in the Sunshine Coast) is conveniently awash with opportunities to indulge in your penchant for local grape juice.

Both Clovely Estate Cellar Door and City Winery sit right in the city centre, with the latter Brisbane’s first inner-city wine space since 1860. This is where you also want to drop by for a decent bite to eat, with two options available to guests - 20-seat fine diner Fireside, or casual eatery The Winery, nestled among the wine barrels. James Street isn’t far either, a strip home to some of Queensland’s best restaurants and specialty grocers.

Or journey a little further from town and find the idyllic Sirromet at Mount Cotton, Queensland's largest winery. Drank too much at lunch? Spend the night at Sanctuary by Sirromet, a collection of tented pavilions tucked around Laguna paperbark trees and giant scribbly gums.

But other vineyards with accommodation offerings abound - like Ocean View Estates at the foothills of Mount Mee, and the crew of cottages to enjoy at Flame Hill Vineyard in Montville, in the Sunshine Coast Hinterland. But you could choose instead to merge your summer holidays and foodie forays in one, basing yourself at one of the many iconic Sunshine Coast beaches, which sit in easy reach of a handful of high-altitude, cool climate vineyards , particularly around Blackall Range, Kenilworth, and Traveston.

Scenic Rim/Gold Coast Hinterland

Immerse yourself in a region where ancient rainforest, famous beaches, and vineyards mingle in the Gold Coast Hinterland and Scenic Rim’s section of the Vine and Shine Trail. Since the 1920s people have flocked to this district, which sits just 30 minutes away from the sky rises of the Gold Coast. Today it’s now food that will attract your attention - the precinct teems with as many artisanal producers as it does ancient landmarks. This is one of Queensland’s most fertile wine regions and the fastest growing, producing a diverse array of grapes from Verdelho, Chambourcin, and Viognier, as well as the more classic Sauvignon, Shiraz, Chardonnay, and Merlot.

Join Gold Coast Food and Wine Tours for an in-depth foray through these parts, or make a go of it alone, making sure to drop by Overflow Estate or Kooroomba Vineyards (and its fields of lavender) for lunch, or Witches Falls Winery for a nibble of its rather famous cheeseboard. Special mention also goes to the multi-award-winning O’Reilly’s Canungra Valley Vineyards, where picnics alongside the vines and a friendly crowd of alpacas have become popular. O’Reilly’s accommodation options are equally legendary, with an army of mountain view suites to choose from.

Though the Scenic Rim is just as well-endowed with places to spend the night, including luxe abode Spicers Hidden Vale, a nature-based eco-retreat well-worth the splurge.

South Burnett

Make your way to one of Queensland’s up-and-coming wine regions with a visit to South Burnett. Sitting north west of Brisbane, this district nudges the Great Dividing Range, and while it may not be the most famous of Queensland’s wine regions it is one of the oldest, growing grapes since the late 1850s. Your time here will be spent sinking your taste buds into local varietals of Chardonnay, Verdelho, Sangiovese, Shiraz and Merlot.

Split your time between the two key areas that make up South Burnett - the north hosts the state’s biggest vineyard, Clovely Estate, Moffatdale Ridge, the collaborative Barambah Cellars, and Dusty Hill. Continue your venture down south and you’ll hit the second, a space home to Kingaroy and its surrounds including Crane Wines and Taabinga Station. Though the best-known is Kingsley Grove Estate, a family-run enterprise following the mantra ‘from berry to bottle’ and serving up wood fired pizza that’s become the toast of the town.

Darling Downs/Western Queensland

The final stop on our Vine and Shine trail lies just west of Brisbane, deep inland in the Darling Downs. It’s unofficial capital is Toowoomba, with the surrounding district heaving in cattle, and (these days) cellar doors.

Not far from town centre you’ll greet Preston Peak Wines, a boutique den available to explore by appointment only. There are a dozen varietals planted here, created a bundle of award-winning drops which demand to be enjoyed alongside the cheese platters on offer. Preston Peak is among the quartet of stand-outs in this district - the others include Bunnyconnellen Olive Grove and Vineyard and Between Two Rocks Wine. There’s also the port wine focused Riversands Wines - but you’ll need to be devoted to make a visit to this vineyard as it’s been gifted the title of Queensland’s western-most winery thanks to its homebase of the small regional town of St George.