Queensland’s winemaking history, on the east of the Great Divide, dates back to late last century. In fact, it was between the 1860s and the 1890s that wine production by German, Austrian and British enclaves flourished along the semi-tropical coast. The pioneers selected the drier spots, termed ‘rain shadows’ to make their fine wines, and at Albert River Wines, we are fortunate to be positioned in the rain shadow of Tamborine Mountain and possess the rare quality, Terroir, which is what the French call that magical combination of the right soil and weather conditions so essential to producing good wine grapes. Well-drained river loam above a sandstone base, combined with the cool mountain breezes and long sunny days, provide an ideal micro-climate in which the specially selected and grafted grape varieties flourish.

Peter Scudamore-Smith, our winemaker, is one of only two “Master of Wines” in Queensland. More impressive, there are only 17 Master of Wines in Australia and just 278 worldwide. It takes many years of practising wine making, gathering intricate wine knowledge and passing a number of intensive exams to earn the title of “Master of Wine” and we are privileged to have had Peter as our winemaker since the inception of the vineyard planting in 1998.

Peter applies very tried & tested traditional horticultural principles together with modern grape growing techniques to graft, clonally-select, carefully space and shoot position our vines ensuring that they are caringly tended to, to produce the quality grapes varieties of chardonnay, viognier, merlot, shiraz and cabernet sauvignon. We have recently added the sweet white variety of Petit Mensang, which will be ready for harvest in 2012.

Please follow the link to download the Wine Tasting Notes and Prices of our current range.