How to Experience Harvest Season on the Granite Belt

Grape harvest season (aka vintage) is what it’s all about on the Granite Belt – picking luscious wine grapes for fabulous wines. 

If you’re looking for an experience beyond wine tasting at cellar doors, the Granite Belt’s harvest season is the best time to visit where you can find an authentic ‘behind the scenes’ look or even hands-on experience at wineries.  

Read on to find out how to get amongst the juicy action.

When is harvest on the Granite Belt?

February, March and April

Timing varies from season to season, but generally, grape harvest kicks off on the Granite Belt in early to mid-February.  By the end of February, most wineries are harvesting white grape varieties.

March is an ideal month to visit for all the grape harvest action, with lots of crushing and fermentation happening in the wineries.  Plenty of harvesting continues through April too.  During May, typically only a few of the last ripening red grape varieties are still being harvested.

Want to know about the apple harvest? Read on here.

Be a Winemaker for a Weekend

Become a winemaker for the weekend (literally!).

On one weekend in February and March each year The Queensland College of Wine Tourism, in Stanthorpe offers a hands-on winemaking experience, inviting you to participate in the production of your very own wine at the onsite vineyard and winery.

In the ‘Winemaker for a Weekend’ program, you’ll find yourself involved at every step of the winemaking process, from handpicking the grapes to the crushing and pressing process, preparation, fermentation and the inoculation of the juice.

Find dates and information here.

Experience the art of winemaking at the Grape to Glass Centre

Step into the shoes of a master winemaker for the day at View Wine and experience the romance (and hard work) of being a wine grower and maker. 

This exclusive experience will take you through the steps of the wine-making process, allowing you to learn, engage, and create wine from the vineyard. You will have the opportunity to hand-pick the grapes, stomp on the grapes, load and work the basket press and mix up the inoculation yeast to start the fermentation process. 

They’ll take you on a curated journey of wine that will help you better understand the world of wine tasting and appreciation by giving you samples of the different developmental stages of wine. At the end of it all, you’ll be rewarded with a sit-down family lunch, with of course, wine!

Next date: 6 March 2025

Book your spot here.

Indulge in an All-Inclusive Winemaking Escape Weekend

Live the secret life of a winemaker and make your own wine in an all-included luxury weekend away with Heritage Estate Wines.

Hand-pick beautifully ripened grapes in the vineyard and take part in Masterclasses including hands-on pressing, crushing, blending, sommelier-led tasting, and winemaking techniques.

During your two nights’ stay at their vineyard accommodation, you’ll enjoy a fireside dinner with paired wines and a progressive 4-course dinner served across their stunning estate locations. Plus their weekend package includes breakfast both days and a gourmet lunch with estate views.

At the end of it all, you’ll be taking home a personalised wine pack. Back at home, you will be able to monitor your own wines on a dedicated webpage and receive your wine bottled when it’s ready!

Dates:
28 February – 2 March 2025
28 March – 30 March 2025

Book your spot here.

Can’t make those dates?

Try Heritage Estate’s POETs Progressive Dinner held every Saturday. Start with a stroll with Hors D’Oeuves and glass in hand for an informative session in the vineyard. You’ll race down between the vines on an ATV before coming back for the main course.  Finish with dessert in the barrel room and as you hear about the process of grape to glass.

Have An Exclusive Tasting with the Winemaker

If you’re visiting the Granite Belt Monday to Thursday, do yourself a favour and book an exclusive Winemaker’s Tasting Experience with Peter McGlashan, Ridgemill Estate‘s head winemaker. The experience includes a behind-the-scenes tasting experience, a session with the winemaker and a cheese board.

Looking for something more hands-on? Try their ‘Pick Crush Plunge’ Experience. This 2-hour guided experience will have you soaking up the daily action of vintage. No two days are the same, you may find yourself grape picking, observing grape crushing activities or plunging red wines under fermentation. Experience runs Tuesday – Thursday from 25 February – 20 March 2025.

Learn more about these Ridgemill Estate experiences and make sure to book ahead.

Visit the Boutique Winemakers during Harvest

To hear the story of how harvest is progressing, who better to ask than the vignerons and winemakers themselves? Here on the Granite Belt, often the person pouring your glass at the cellar door also grows the grapes or crafts the wine (or both).

All the wineries on the Granite Belt are small, so this brings you closer to all the action and knowledge of vintage as it happens. A few wineries where you can always meet the winemaker/vignerons in the cellar door are: Art of Krupinski, Bungawarra Wines, Casley Mt Hutton, Jester Hill Wines, Pyramids Road Wines, Ravenscroft Vineyard, Robert Channon Wines, and Serrena Que Estate.

Visit the 2024 Queensland Winery of the Year

In 2024 family-owned and operated Ballandean Estate took out Queensland Winery of the Year at the 40th Queensland Wine Awards.

For those new to experiencing the Granite Belt’s offerings, Ballandean Estate is Queensland’s oldest family-owned and operated winery where their wine story began in 1932. Here, you’ll quickly learn that they live and breathe wine, and a visit to their rustic cellar door will have you embraced by this Italian five-generation winemaking family.

Bonus points: Ballandean Estate’s winemaker Boxi Zhen won the 2024 Queensland Winemaker of the Year, a testament to the fresh perspective and minimal intervention approach he is bringing to the winery.

The Stanthorpe Apple & Grape Harvest Festival in 2026

Mark your calendar for the first weekend of March 2026… the big weekend of the next Stanthorpe Apple & Grape Harvest Festival (held every 2 years). Roll up your pants and tuck up your skirts to jump in for the iconic highlight of the festival, the Grape Crush. Dance, jump and stomp around a barrel for some messy fun in the Public Grape Crush.