Granite Belt wine and beer producers celebrate J&J after challenging 18 months

Despite only opening its doors 12 months ago, one Ballandean vineyard has managed to make the most of COVID’s border restrictions.

Jillian Plant from Balancing Heart Vineyard at Celebration of Local Flavours (Photo: Zilla Gordon).

While 2020 saw many businesses struggle to make ends meet, one Granite Belt vineyard found it was the perfect opportunity to get their new label off the ground.

Balancing Heart Vineyard opened just 12 months ago, but Jillian Plant said the business had been booming, despite Covid keeping the borders closed for most of the year.

“We had a lot of people coming from Brisbane or from the coast who had never even been to or heard of Stanthorpe,” Ms Plant said.

Teetering on the New South Wales border near Girraween National Park, Ms Plant said the vineyard’s location almost marked the end of the road for interstate travellers.

“We were actually really fortunate that we were very busy through Covid.”

Balancing Heart was one of many Southern Downs producers serving up local food and wine as part of the Jumpers and Jazz festival.

Ms Plant said it was great the festival was able to go ahead because it meant more people outside the Granite Belt got to discover their wines.

“We’ve done a few other festivals in Stanthorpe, and when this popped up I thought it might be interesting … and it’s fantastic,” she said.

But not all Granite Belt producers had fared as well through the pandemic.

Brass Monkey Brewery owner Ernie Butler said the past 12 months had seen his trade slashed by 50 per cent.

Owner of Brass Monkey Brewery Ernie Butler at the Celebration of Local Flavours event at Jumpers and Jazz (Photo: Zilla Gordon).

Mr Butler, who runs the brewery with his wife Tracey, said while the loss was hard to cop he was grateful they were not forced to close their doors.

When Covid hit, the brewery enforced bookings and check-ins, and while now things were better, it took some time for people to adjust.

“We were having a lot of trouble with people accepting check-ins,” Mr Butler said.

Mr Butler said after the struggles of the past 18 months, it felt really good to back at Jumpers and Jazz’s Celebration of Local Flavours Event. said.