Professionals Serendipity 
The staff of Witches Falls Winery are more than happy to talk about what makes their establishment so special— besides being the only winery on Tamborine Mountain to produce their wine locally
by Kyle Hitchmough
Queensland, so I am told, is not known for its wines. This is something Helen, marketing manager of Witches Falls Winery, impresses on me when I ask her just what makes Witches Falls such a unique experience compared to other wineries on the mountain. “When people think about Queensland, wine doesn’t come to mind,” she says. “They think that because we’re in Queensland, we’re not going to be able to grow as many grapes, that it’s too hot and rainy.”
Indeed, most of the grapes aren’t grown on-site, instead sent over from Stanthorpe: an area well known for its wine production. That’s where the similarities between Witches Falls and any other winery in the area end, though: Witches Falls is the only place of its kind. While they may not be the oldest winery on the mountain, predated by Mount Tamborine Winery – Witches Falls has a very unique claim to fame. As Ben, the cellar door crewman who attends to Helen and I as we sit for a conversation over a wine tasting, puts it so aptly: “Comes up as a grape, leaves in a bottle.” Every single step of the winemaking process, save growing the grapes (though a small vineyard is kept on-site), takes place on the property itself. Behind the counter of the cellar door, you can see behind a pane of glass the machinery working away to produce the very wine brought to your table. It makes for a striking scene.
The biggest draw of such a unique setup mainly lies in the tourism value, drawing in visitors from all stretches of Queensland. The climate might not be hospitable for the grapes, the customers are a far different story. “The decision to put the winery here was so people could access us. If you have to travel two and a half hours west to Stanthorpe— it’s fabulous, and the region is great, but you’re not going to be able to do that in a day trip. Here, there’s all the stuff we love about Tamborine, it’s so close, people can come and visit, they can do other things in a day, and this can be part of it.” All of this without compromising on the quality of the wine itself— Witches Falls’ wines proudly bear a five-star Halliday rating, a prestigious honour in the wine community.
And it’s a rating that is well deserved. There’s no way to describe the experience without getting personal— because it is very much a personal experience. I barely knew a thing about wine before I sat down, but over the course of the conversation I had with Helen and Ben in between trying everything from white wines to rosé, I learned quite a lot about what goes into making all the various wines on offer, the difference between brewing in an oak barrel as opposed to a steel vat, and all sorts of other interesting facts— both about the industry and just personal, as I formed such a connection with the pair while I was there. Where else can you have a movie-credited stuntman pour your wine? An educational experience as well as an enjoyable one, and by the end of our conversation, they’d manage to glean enough of my tastes to bring out a bottle of Moscato which I so enjoyed that I nearly bought it on the spot. The staff are friendly, the views are scenic, and the wine— even to my own unrefined palate— was simply exceptional.
If anything, that’s only proof of their philosophy. Most winemakers Helen explains to me, value consistency, making sure that each vintage is held to one certain standard as the others of its like. Witches Falls prefers to experiment, preferring to get the highest quality product out of every batch even if one bottle tastes different to its predecessors. Their Prophecy label, for instance, is highly rare because it’s only made when they receive a batch of grapes they deem worthy enough. But no matter what you’re drinking, only one question matters, Helen says: “Do you like it?” And I certainly did.
Witches Falls’ in-house wines are truly spectacular, but even though the trip is well worth taking, you can get a taste of their product closer to home. Bird Dog is a label that may be more familiar to some, and that’s made at Witches Falls too: being their label for the cheaper— but no less quality product that is shipped to bottle shops, more styled towards those just entering the wine scene for the first time. “It’s a big selling point for people when they see that a premium winery, one of the highest rated wineries in Queensland and the top 8% in Australia, makes a wine that’s cheaper but obviously doesn’t lack the quality because it’s coming from the same winery, same region, same winemakers,” Ben says with pride. If Bird Dog is the hook for wine beginners, then once they’ve got a taste for it there’s no better place to go for the high-quality vintages than Witches Falls.
Ultimately, Helen says, their modern take on the winery and cellar door concept is adapting to a new generation of wine connoisseurs. “Younger people don’t have the elitist perceptions about wine, they just embrace it. They enjoy trying something different, they’re opinionated about whether they like it or not, and that’s it for us. We just want to find you something that you like.” And if you decide to take the trip to one of the most scenic places I’ve ever sat and enjoyed a good glass of wine at, then they’ll find something you like too— that’s a guarantee.
We are always looking for new topics for our blog. If there’s something you like to see more of, email your suggestions to: social@professionalsserendipity.com.au
Or email the writer at kyle.hitchmough@hotmail.com, and follow me on Twitter @realcasualrvws.
