Description
Nestled against the NSW border, in the far south-eastern corner of Queensland, the Granite Belt is the official Geographic Indicator surrounding the town of Stanthorpe. Despite what outsiders may think, they enjoy a cool, continental climate because they are inland on the Great Dividing Range beyond the warm, humid influence of the Coral Sea. In fact, they are the only Australian region to record frost in every month of the year and it is one of the few regions to get snow. They also sit at nearly 1000 metres above sea level which keeps the average temperatures down but exposes the grapes to higher UV than lower lying areas; allowing for slow even ripening of flavours and sugars.
The Bent Road Farm (home to La Petit Mort), is a forty hectare property, along the pristine Severn River was bought by partners Glen and Robert in 2000 as a bit of a tree change (much of the property remains natural forest). Glen was a biochemist doing cancer research (before retraining as winemaker) and Robert was an engineer (now taking the mantle of viticulturist). They converted the farming to organic (though deliberately not certified), removed the use of any synthetic chemicals and only use organic friendly products where necessary on this dry grown, old vineyard littered with the classic granite rock that drives the personality of the best vineyards and the best wines from this region."
