Heritage Estate Timeline
Learn more about how our winery got its start, and how it has grown.
Late 1980s
Bryce and Paddy Kassulke purchased the land and an old apple store at Cottonvale in the late 1980s.
1987
Easter 1992
The winery officially opens.
2004
1995
John Handy, Heritage’s award winning winemaker and son of Paddy, takes over. John won WineState Wine of the Year and various Halliday 95pt+ wines.
2008
Heritage Estate Reserve Chardonnay wins Winestate Magazine’s award for the best wine in Australia and New Zealand beating 10,000 wines.
2009
Purchased “Winewood” vineyard Ballandean and the long process of bringing it back to productive life begins. This vineyard includes the fabulous 60 yo shiraz vines.
2013
With the Highway shifted away from the Winery cellar door the Old Church at Thulimbah is lovingly restored and turned into an accessible cellar door and cafe.
2017
2019
Deciding to take things a little easier, Bryce and Paddy hand the reins to Therese and Robert Fenwick on the 4th of March, 2019
2021
Stephen Oliver joins as Heritage’s winemaker and viticulturist. Stephen brings a wealth of experience and a history of making brilliant wines.
2023
Dallas Tacey, internationaly awarded chef, joins Heritage to elevate fine dining to a level of Hatted Restaurant, building on the AGFG Readers Choice 2023.
Why the Photo at the Top
In 1859, when Queen Victoria declared Queensland to be a state, the men who formed the government or the Executive Council sat around the table which is housed in the Heritage Estate cellar door at Cottonvale. That table is shown here surrounded by a later Executive Council in 1914.