Romavilla Winery facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Romavilla Winery |
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Romavilla Winery main shed, 2008
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| Location | 77 Northern Road, Roma, Maranoa Region, Queensland, Australia |
| Design period | 1870s–1890s (late 19th century) |
| Built | 1877–1878 |
| Official name: Romavilla Winery | |
| Type | state heritage (built) |
| Designated | 14 August 2008 |
| Reference no. | 601767 |
| Significant period | 1870s |
| Significant components | shed/s, cellar |
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Romavilla Winery was a very old and important place in Roma, Queensland, Australia. It was a special winery that made wine for many years. It was built between 1877 and 1878. This historic site was added to the Queensland Heritage Register in 2008 because it was so important to the state's history. The winery closed in 2012 when its owners retired. Sadly, most of the historic building was destroyed in a big fire on June 22, 2023.
Contents
History of Romavilla Winery
Romavilla Vineyards started in 1866. It was located near Roma in the Maranoa area of Queensland. This winery was very important for making wine in the Roma district. It also became a major wine producer for all of Queensland for many years. The oldest parts of the winery buildings were built in 1877 and 1878.
Early Grape Growing in Roma
People successfully grew grapes on large farms in the Roma area in the 1850s. This was when European settlers first arrived. Romavilla was one of the first places to sell wine in the Maranoa in the 1860s. It was also one of Queensland's first commercial wine producers.
By the late 1800s, there were 50 vineyards in the Roma district. Most of these started in the 1870s and 1880s. Many grapes were grown to be eaten as fruit. However, a small wine-making industry also grew at this time. Important grape growers included Samuel Symons Bassett, John Robertson, and the Tardent brothers. Grape growing and wine making stayed important local industries for a long time. Around 1920, Roma was known for its "magnificent fruit and wine growing district."
Samuel Bassett, the Founder
Samuel Bassett was born in Cornwall in 1840. He came to Sydney in 1856 and worked on a farm in the Hunter Valley. From 1860, he managed a farm called Euthulla Station in the Maranoa.
In 1866, Bassett bought almost 270 acres (109 hectares) of land near Roma. Here, he started Romavilla Vineyards. He brought vine cuttings from Toowoomba by bullock cart. In 1869, he also opened a general store in Roma. This store also sold his wines.
Around 1870, Bassett built a house at Romavilla. In 1871, he married Isabella Cameron. They raised a large family with nine children at Romavilla.
How the Winery Grew
Bassett did not have special training in growing grapes or making wine. He learned mostly by trying things out. By 1881, he hired a manager to run the winery. He and his sons traveled around Queensland to sell Romavilla wine.
By 1888, Bassett had 55 acres of land planted with grapevines. He was making 7,000 gallons of wine each year. He also sold table grapes in Roma and Brisbane. The Romavilla cellar could hold 30,000 gallons of wine. Bassett usually kept 20,000 gallons in stock.
Bassett's first wine cellar was above ground, but it is no longer there. The oldest part of the current winery building was built in 1877–1878. It was made from cypress wood and Oregon pine. This building was made bigger several times later on. It was used for all parts of wine making, from crushing grapes to bottling wine. It also had a large underground cellar.
In 1888, the cellar was described as partly above and partly below ground. It was built with corrugated iron. This building did not try to keep a steady temperature.
Romavilla's Awards and Success
In the 1880s, Bassett became known for making good wines. Romavilla won its first prize for wine in 1886. The winery won many impressive awards. This included four first prizes at the 1900 Queensland Exhibition. It won nine first prizes at the 1901 Exhibition. It also won medals at international competitions in Europe. By the late 1960s, the winery had won over 650 awards in Australia and worldwide.
Romavilla grew a lot in the late 1800s. In 1898, Samuel Bassett sent his son, William Augustus, to learn wine making. He studied with Leo Buring in South Australia.
By 1903, the property was 500 acres (202 hectares). It had 170,000 grapevines planted. Much of the land was watered using irrigation. The winery building had a huge cellar that could store up to 50,000 gallons of wine. Next to the cellar was a "well-equipped plant" with modern tools for wine making. This included cooling coils on the vats to reduce heat during fermentation. Romavilla was one of the first wineries in Australia to use cooling during fermentation.
Changes and Closure
In 1904, Samuel Bassett sold the property to The Romavilla Vineyards Limited. After his death in 1912, Bassett's sons made the business even bigger. It became the largest wine-making company in Queensland. In 1916, they made about 31,000 gallons of wine each year. Their cellars could hold 100,000 gallons.
By 1923, Romavilla sold products to people and hotels all over Queensland. Their strong wines, like port, sherry, and madeira, were very popular. For a long time, Romavilla made its own spirits to add to the wine. By the 1930s, the company sold wine to shops across the state. Queensland Government Railways even sold Romavilla port in its refreshment rooms. Romavilla's altar wine was also popular in Catholic churches.
By 1967, Romavilla Vineyards was the only commercial winery left in Queensland. It made 20,000–30,000 gallons each year. Then, in the 1970s, smaller wineries started appearing in the Stanthorpe area.
After William Augustus Bassett died in the early 1970s, the winery was no longer owned by the Bassett family. However, its history was remembered when the name changed in 1977 to Bassetts Romavilla Winery Pty Ltd. New owners put in modern equipment. But they kept many of the older tools. These old tools are now very interesting for history and for tourists to see. The winery also kept old documents, like award certificates. There was even a letter from former Prime Minister William Hughes. He used to work at Romavilla and wrote a letter remembering his time there after receiving a gift of wine.
The original house, built around 1870, was destroyed by a bad storm in 1984.
In March 2012, the owners, David and Joy Wall, announced they were retiring and would sell the winery. In 2013, new owners, Katarzyna Group, said they would build a new bar, function room, and places to stay.
Sadly, most of the historic building was destroyed in a big fire on June 22, 2023.
What the Winery Looked Like
Romavilla Winery was about two kilometers north of Roma. It stood out on Northern Road, the main road going north from Roma. The winery and vineyards were on the flat land near Bungil Creek. The winery complex had several buildings. The important ones were the winery office, winery shed, and distillery shed. There was also a small vineyard display at the front.
Driveway and Display Vineyard
You reached the winery shed by driving along a gravel driveway. A small vineyard display was next to the driveway. It was south of the small winery office.
Winery Office
The office building was small and rectangular. It was made of timber and had a hipped roof covered with corrugated iron. It stood on low timber posts. A gable roofed entrance porch led into a narrow room. This room ran across the front of the building. Two offices opened into this space. The building was covered with timber boards and lined inside with fiber cement sheets. The front room had rectangular windows on three sides. The offices also had many windows.
Winery Shed
The winery shed was a very large timber-framed building. It was covered with timber and corrugated iron. It had several high gabled roofs supported by king post trusses. The building was made of linked sections on three levels. These levels stepped down a gentle slope.
The small part at the front was used for sales and wine tasting. This area and the barrel storage area next to it were built over a cellar. This cellar was used for storing wine for a long time. The middle part of the building held barrels on racks. The back part had grape pressing equipment, storage vats, and bottling machines.
The front of the building was covered with corrugated metal. The tall rectangular wall at the top was cut short to follow the roof lines. A single-story part ran across the front of the building. It had a skillion roof hidden by a low corrugated iron wall. The metal covering went down into the soil piled against the front. This front part had two entrances. Both had pairs of timber doors. One opened into the front lobby, and the other into the barrel storage area. Romavilla Vineyards signs were on the upper center of the front. There were also pairs of fixed timber windows.
The north, east, and south sides of the shed were covered with corrugated iron. A continuous band of fixed timber vents ran along the upper north and south walls. The north side had several lean-to extensions. These included an open storage area and small enclosed sheds. There was also an open storage space that wrapped around to the eastern side. Several concrete slabs, drains, and structures were south of the shed. These included timber and corrugated iron sheds and concrete water tanks.
From the front lobby, the sales office was to the left. The tasting area was to the right. The front part of the shed was straight ahead. This area was wide and had a timber floor. It was supported by timber posts from the cellar below. It was used for barrel storage, a small office space, and the excise inspector's office. The office space sat on a timber platform. It had narrow timber benches and cupboards. Many framed certificates and awards were displayed there. The elevated excise inspector's office was to the north. It was reached by timber stairs. It looked out over the whole shed.
The middle and back parts of the shed had concrete floors with drains. The barrel storage area in the middle had walkways and concrete stands for barrels.
The back of the shed had old and modern equipment. Old equipment like the grape crusher, pressing machines, and concrete blending tanks were important. Large timber doors opened from this area to the east and south. Marks on the concrete floor showed where older concrete fermentation tanks used to be. Some of these tanks were later turned upside down in the yard. Parts of the old power system were still on the south wall. Two small concrete blending tanks were in the middle of this area. A large three-chamber concrete storage tank ran along the north side of the shed. This tank had deep underground sections. Modern equipment like stainless steel storage vats and bottling machines were not considered historic.
The cellar was dug into the ground under the front part of the shed. You could get to it from the middle barrel storage area by concrete stairs. A narrow corrugated iron chute with a timber ladder also went into the cellar. Rows of rough timber posts supported the floor above. Barrels rested on timber racks on the floor, which was part concrete and part dirt. The walls were made of timber and corrugated iron or concrete and timber. Timber stairs on the east side went up to the tasting area.
Distillery
The distillery shed was a rectangular timber-framed building. It was covered with corrugated iron and had a gabled roof. A small roof over the distillery equipment stuck up above the main roof on the south side. Both ends of the shed were filled with horizontal timber boards. Fixed timber vents ran along the upper parts of the walls. The timber frame used both cut and rough timber posts. A skillion roof stuck out from the south side, covering the firebox opening.
The distillery shed had a storage room over a cellar to the north. It also had a distillery room to the south. A timber door in the middle of the north side opened into the storage area. This area had a timber floor. Fixed timber vents were along the upper west, north, and east walls. A metal grate was just inside the entrance. A door on the east side opened into the still room. From the northwest corner, steep timber stairs led to the cellar. The cellar had timber-framed walls covered with corrugated iron.
In the distillery room, two copper boilers were set into a brick frame. This frame held a firebox and was against the south wall. A brick chimney went from the firebox through the roof. The firebox was accessed through a metal opening on the outside south wall. This opening had the maker's name: Harvey & Son Engineers Brisbane. Each boiler had a tall copper cylinder standing straight up over it. The whole thing was topped by a horizontal chamber near the ceiling. The boilers were connected by a copper U-shaped tube. Many taps and tubes were part of the equipment, which was held in a timber frame. A small timber ladder helped reach the upper part. In front of the equipment, a tap controlled tubes that connected to the cellar below.
Equipment
Equipment from earlier wine making was kept and shown to visitors. This included basket presses in the tasting/sales area. It also included concrete fermentation tanks in the yard.
Why Romavilla Winery Was Important
Romavilla Winery was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on August 14, 2008, for several reasons:
It shows how Queensland's history developed. Romavilla Winery was used continuously from the 1870s. It is important because it shows early efforts to start a wine-making industry in Queensland. Farmers from other countries tried growing grapes in Queensland where the soil and climate were good. For many decades in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Roma area was a main grape-growing region. Even though wine production is not a big industry in Maranoa now, grape growing was one of the first commercial farming activities in Roma. Wine production was also one of its first farm-based industries. The first commercial wine in this area was made at Romavilla Vineyards in the 1860s.
It shows rare parts of Queensland's history. This winery is a rare early winery that still had many of its original buildings and some old equipment. It is important because it shows parts of Queensland's manufacturing history that are not common anymore.
It can help us learn more about Queensland's history. By studying the remaining old parts of Romavilla Winery, along with the company's old business records, we can learn more about Queensland's early wine-producing industry.
It shows the main features of this type of historic place. Romavilla Winery was the oldest winery in Queensland that was still operating for a long time. It kept many features that show what a winery from the late 1800s and early 1900s was like.
Images for kids
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Romavilla Winery main shed, 2008
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Romavilla Winery, around 1910
