See details: Month-long festival hits region, highlights local drop

From grape stomping, to live music and sitting down for an indulgent Italian meal, here’s all you need to know about it

Renee Brown and Teshla Thompson from Rosalie House. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Summer means the harvest is upon us, but for one exciting festival that starts this weekend, there’s more than sweets the eye.

The Rosalie House Vineyard and Cellar Door Restaurant will welcome crowds to its 2022 Harvest Festival from this weekend.

The month-long celebration will consist of three special events including an afternoon of wine tasting, nibbles and live music, charity grape stomping and the harvest, followed by an indulgent Italian feast in the pavilion.

Rosalie House Winery and Cellar Door general manager Renee Brown. Picture: David Martinelli

General manager Renee Brown said a lot of work had gone into managing this year’s harvest to protect it from the recent humidity, rain and moisture.

“I will never complain about the rain, but grapes don’t love that humid and wet weather,” she said.

“At this stage, I’ve managed to keep a really beautiful harvest, so fingers crossed we can get some dry, hot days leading into the end of February.”

During the Chardonnay harvest, Ms Brown said the team managed to get 1.3 tonnes of quality juice, equating to about 1000 bottles.

“Our wine maker is extremely happy with the quality of our juice, and he gave us lots of high fives, so we’re pretty happy about that,” she said.

“It’s a smaller harvest than what we wanted because of the pressure of the wet season, but we still managed to send him some high-quality grapes and I’ve just got to get the rest of the vintage down there in good shape.”

Renee Brown and Teshla Thompson from Rosalie House. Picture: Nev Madsen.

Grateful for the community support received over the years, she said she hoped that would continue during the festival despite the current climate.

“We are having a very quiet end of January, which can be a quiet time of year anyway, but with Covid we’ve never seen it this quiet before,” Ms Brown said.

“People are more interested in experiences than gifts these days, and it’s a lovely and fun reason to get outside and enjoy the sunshine.

“We don’t have many vineyards on the Darling Downs and locals may have to travel, but it’s right in their backyard.”

The Rosalie House Harvest Festival starts this weekend at 135 Lavenders Rd.

Some proceeds from the Grape Stomp will be donated to Hope Horizon and Protea Place.

For more information about the events and to purchase tickets, visit rosaliehouse.com.au.