Queensland's best wineries and cellar doors to taste your way through

With one of the best cellar door experiences, Ballandean Estate is making a name for its alternative – or Strange Bird – varietals, as well as its dry whites and premium reds using grapes from two vineyards in Ballandean. Established by the Puglisi family in 1932, it's Queensland's oldest family-owned and operated winery. One of the must-dos on the Granite Belt wine trail, it’s also a great place for an authentic Italian meal from the Barrelroom Cafe.

Golden Grove Estate

The region's rich Italian influence continues at Golden Grove Estate, where the Costanzo family produces a range of Strangebird wines on 100% estate grown grapes. This unassuming, small-scale winery is making a big name for itself, taking out Viticulturalist of the Year at the 2021 Queensland Wine Awards, among many other accolades. Stop at the cellar door for your chance to try everything from malbec to mourvedre and durif, along with the award-winning 2018 Barbera or N/V muscat. 

Hidden Creek Winery

Taking the title of Queensland Wine Awards’ 2018 Winery of the Year, Hidden Creek is a stop you’ll want to add to your Granite Belt wine hop.

While their Ballandean estate  – which sits at almost 1000 metres elevation – has been established since 1989, owners Andy and Leanne Williams (and pooch Pepper) took over in 2016 and have certainly made their mark.

Grab a gourmet picnic hamper from the cafe and sample your way through the award-winning drips by the lake. It's so peaceful you'll want to stay a while longer - and you can, in the charming one bedroom Winemaker's Cottage, nestled amongst the vineyards. 

Here's a few more cottages (complete with a fireplace) for a romantic wine getaway. 

Boireann Winery

Love a good drop of red? Be sure to plan a tasting at Boireann. Specialising in full-bodied, full-flavoured red wines (made from French and Italian varieties), the small winery near Stanthorpe made its way onto James Halliday’s Top 100 wineries list and listed as a Top 5 Winery for 2017. It was also one of the biggest winners at the 2021 Queensland Wine Awards, taking home honours for Emerging Red Variety, Estate Grown Red, Wine of the Show, Winery of the Year and Winemaker of the Year.

Boireann's cellar door is currently open from 10am-4pm Friday – Monday.

Symphony Hill

Another Granite Belt winery to know about, Symphony Hill is a James Halliday winner, with over 50 wines rated 4 stars or more in the last 5 years and picking up plenty of other credit and awards for their well-made drop in their 15 + years of operation.

Queensland pioneers of the neo-wine movement,  the crew here - helmed by top gun winemaker Abraham De Klerk - does things a little differently. Be sure to sample the Wild Child Viognier which uses wild indigenous yeast, along the flagship Reserve Shiraz, which was even served to Wills and Kate when the royal couple came to Brisbane in 2014.

Heritage Estate

Family-run Heritage Estate boasts two vineyards: Cottonvale, where its white wines are produced, and Ballandean, where its reds are grown. If you're passing through the Granite Belt region, the Cottonvale cellar door will charm with its antique furniture and historic ambience.

Heritage Estate holds the prestigious Halliday 5-star winery rating and is recognised for consistently producing wines of high quality. But perhaps equally exciting as the wine is the calendar of gourmet events held here. Foodies should time their visit for a 'Vine and Dine Journey' to taste your way through five courses and seven wine pairings, black tie degustations that feature silent movies and string quartet. 

Bent Road Winery

Perched on the pristine Severn River, boutique wine producer Bent Road occupies 40-acres of stunning vineyards, bushland and granite boulders outside of Ballandean. But it's their label La Petit Mort that's turning heads, and scooping up awards like Young Gun of Wine finalist for winemaker Andrew Scott. Described as 'a little left of centre' , these are not your average wines: they're unfined, unfiltered, and made with minimal intervention. And that's exactly why you need to try it. 

This small operation doesn't have a cellar door per se, however you can contact the team to organise a visit when they're home. It's well worth it. 

Summit Estate

Created by a wine-loving collective in 1997, Summit Estate is a can’t-miss on the Granite Belt trail. With a top-notch selection of wines and a slick cellar door experience, they’re another champion of the Strange Bird varieties - and a part of the Strange Bird Alternative Wine Trail through the Granite Belt.

Head to the Barrel Bar for cheese and wine matching, make your way to the Aroma Room to school up on all things wine, or visit for a Sunset Session held every Friday and Saturday, where you can bring a picnic, claim a beanbag, and settle in to watch the show from one of the region's best scenic viewpoints, followed by a campfire. 

Twisted Gum

Twisted Gum is a boutique and sustainable winery in Ballandean owned and operated by Tim and Michelle Coelli. Using dry grown grapes, they produce everything from shiraz to chardonnay, and grapes are hand-pruned and picked by the couple, their four children and their crew.

Taste the fruits of their labour in the character-filled old Queenslander that makes up their cellar door, or make a weekend of it with a stay in the renovated 1920s cottage.

Tobin Wines

With hugely limited production – only 100 to 160 bottles of each varietal every year – Tobin Wines steadfastly sticks to their philosophy of minimal interference in the winemaking process.

The winemakers are fastidious and thorough, focusing on terroir (as the French say; a sense of place where the grapes grow) and fruit quality, something that shows in the calibre of wine. Unlike mass-produced wines, Tobin Wines are harder to find outside the cellar door, so hit the road to Ballandean and get your hands on a few of these bottles.

Brisbane wineries

City Winery

A converted warehouse nestled into bustling Fortitude Valley. It might be miles from wine country but this urban maker has made a big splash on Brisbane’s bar scene. City Winery is a working micro-winery sourcing grapes from across Australia's key growing regions, bringing them to Brisbane where Winemaker Dave Cush creates his delicious small-batch drops.

Conveniently located near one of Brisbane’s best dining precincts, City Winery has become a favourite for weddings and private events, knock off drinks and dinners with a locally-sourced modern Australian menu created by Chef Travis Crane. Come in for a cellar door tasting, join a blend-your-own class, or visit for a paddock to plate food and wine pairing masterclass. 

Ocean View Estates

What began as a few grapes planted in 2002 has grown into the full-fledged winery, wedding and restaurant destination, Ocean View Estates, just 54 kilometres from Brisbane in tranquil Mt Mee.

Award-winning wines - including champion emerging white wine at the Queensland Wine Awards for the 2021 Viognier - and delectable eats are enough to lure the crowds, but you can also go big and arrive via helicopter for a decadent day out. 

Sirromet 

Want to sip wines by day, and glamp amongst the bushland by night? Make your way to family-owned and awarded to the hilt, Sirromet.  The majority of the grapes may come from a vineyard in the Granite Belt but their Mount Cotton HQ is where all the action happens - and it's home to the spectacular Sanctuary by Sirromet. 

From weddings to music festivals (A Day on the Green is held here every year, bringing legends like Fleetwood Mac and Sir Elton John), Sirromet has helped advance the Queensland wine cause by leaps and bounds. The best way to enjoy it? Jump in the slow lane and spend a weekend here to make the most of the state-of-the-art cellar door experience, winery tours and dining.

Sunshine Coast wineries

Flame Hill Vineyard

High on a breezy hill in the Sunshine Coast hinterland sits Flame Hill Vineyard, so named for the vermillion-shrouded Illawarra Flame Trees that pepper the Montville property.

Dedicated to sustainability and a paddock-to-plate philosophy, the gourmet restaurant and kitchen garden is a destination in itself, perfect for long lunches with friends after sampling your way through the cellar door. 

The vineyard also doubles as a B&B with two renovated 1920s dairy cottages taking guests year round.

South Burnett wineries

Clovely Estate

Clovely Estate is a prime example of the South Burnett’s clout as one of Queensland’s best wine regions. If a country jaunt is on the cards, head to the 430-acre Moffatdale vineyard to see what all the fuss is about and sample the boutique winery's library: from award-winning semillon to petit verdot and private selection granache. The olive oils are well worth a sample too. 

Scenic Rim wineries

Canungra Valley Vineyards

Canungra Valley Vineyards sits on a clear, babbling creek at the foothills of the Scenic Rim, producing boutique wines for both the public and its sister business, O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.

Sit up at the bar in the old homestead building for a tasting with one of the very friendly and knowledgeable staff, or organise for a picnic basket and bottle next to Canungra Creek (completely catered, picnic basket and all). Keep your eyes peeled for resident platypus and turtles while you're here - or spend time with the resident alpacas. 

Witches Falls Winery

When Jon Heslop left the Hunter Valley in search of something to call his own, people called him crazy. Now, Witches Falls is one of Queensland’s most popular wineries and listed in the James Halliday Wine Companion Top 5 Winery for 2018.

Experimenting with methods like wild fermentation and co-inoculation, Witches Falls’ intimate cellar door in Mount Tamborine makes for very interesting – and educational – tastings. You could easily spend a few hours here beside the vines, working your way through a cheese platter. 

Looking for someone to guide you through the vines? Check out these wine tours near the Gold Coast, hit up these Brisbane wine bars or spend a weekend living like a local in the Granite Belt.