When we purchased the vineyard in 2007 the vineyard was in a poor state, with weeds as high as the cordons and more than a quarter of the vines either dead or root stock regrowth.
We have since spent hundreds of hours bringing the vineyard back to its former glory, by grafting over the root stock, replanting the gaps, controlling weeds and mulching under the vines. The vineyard is now unrecognisable.
In 2009 we completely renovated the old 1920s farmhouse and renamed it Twisted Gum Cottage - which we now use for self-contained tourist accommodation.
Tim and Michelle Coelli purchased the 40 hectares of land now known as Twisted Gum Vineyard in 2007. The land was originally part of the 70 hectare Hidden Creek property before it was divided into two lots and sold.
The remaining 30 hectares was purchased by another group and continues operating under the Hidden Creek name.
Our 40 hectares of land originally included four hectares of vines, but we removed one hectare of vines (mostly Nebbiolo) because of unsuitable soil
In 2015 we decided that it was time to take the plunge build our own state of the art micro-winery on site. We had previously been making use of the facilities at a neighbouring winery.
After carefully planning and consultation we constructed the winery on the site where our old machinery shed was situated. The centre piece of the winery is the all weather covered grape processing area (see photo on the right) which is flanked by our wine processing shed on the right and a second shed on the left which houses our climate controlled wine storage area and separate dry storage area for wine bottles and cartons, etc.
The vines on our property were planted by the Cull family in 1992-1995, with the exception of a block of Black Muscat that dates back to the 1940s, when the property was an orchard that grew apples, stone fruit and table grapes.
To our knowledge, farming began on the property in the 1910s, with the current farmhouse being built in the 1920s.
In 2012 we decided that it was time to build a cellar door. Prior to then we had been selling our wines mostly in restaurants and at events such as the Brisbane EKKA and the Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers.
We purchased a beautiful old 1920's Queenslander from the Logan area and transported it 250km up the mountain to the front of our property.
The photos to the left and above relate to the transport and renovation of the building. Starting at the top of this page, you can see photos of the 2nd half of the building arriving by truck, the re-stumping and re-roofing, Lauren and Tim painting the outside (photo above) and Michelle painting the veranda (photo to the left).
The old Queenslander was originally a dairy farmers house on the banks of the Logan river, that had to make way for some new school buildings on the site. It is great that we can breath new life into this beautiful old building.
