Pioneering a great drop: The South Burnett wine industry

After nearly 30 years of exciting growth, the South Burnett Wine industry might be one of Australia’s younger collections of vineyards but the creation of wine has played a long and rich part of the region’s history with local production as old as the European settlement itself. Some of the vines planted at Boondooma Homestead date back as far as 1855, with wine-growing brought to the region by the early German settlers and with their knowledge, skills and love of wine it was only a matter of time before full commercial production would flourish.

In the early 1990s with the emergence of the South Burnett as an idyllic tourism region and the surge in gourmet travellers, it was time for the local wine to shine. In 1992 the first of the modern-day commercial vineyards were planted on the Booie range near Kingaroy and at Moffatdale near Murgon. The first commercial crush was a small one-tonne parcel of Cabernet Sauvignon produced at Crane Wines, just outside of Kingaroy. The expectation for the South Burnett was so great investment dollars often hard to attract flowed into the region and in 1995 Queensland’s largest vineyard was planted at Moffatdale, and the industry boomed. The wine industry in the South Burnett was in full steam, and wineries dotted the length and breadth of the South Burnett. The warm summer days and cool autumn evenings are perfect for the production of premium quality grapes. Combined with the high-altitude red soils of the Booie Range and the fertile valley floor at Moffatdale and this must surely have been a region which has waited centuries to nurture their valuable crops and nurture they did, offering up the fruit which would produce some of Australia’s finest boutique wines.

In the early years the South Burnett saw plantings of traditional varieties such as Shiraz, Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon and Semillon but by 2009 the South Burnett began to recognise the region’s climatic similarities with the Mediterranean and varieties new to the scene such as Alberino, Sangiovese and Fiano appeared on the scene, all looking very promising, but it was an unassuming variety from Portugal called Verdelho that put the South Burnett on the worldwide wine map. With the region now producing some of the best Verdelho in the world, the South Burnett is home to a host of prestigious trophies and awards and the faith placed in the industry, with more than 20 vineyards planted and a host of outstanding cellar doors.

From our early pioneers who carried a vine cutting wrapped in the sand all the way from the old country through to the million-dollar investments present in the region today, it is fair to say the South Burnett is truly in the grip of the grape. In an industry that can take a lifetime to build, the South Burnett wine industry has come a long way and if the passion and dedication of our vintners is anything to go by, the future certainly has plenty of blue skies and full glasses ahead.