Just Red Wines Mission
Statement
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We aim to produce:
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Good quality wine competitively priced for everyday consumption
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Premium wine for special occasions
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Wine and service that is pleasing to our customers
We will endeavour to:
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Have fun
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Maintain personal and professional integrity
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Make a profit
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Stay healthy
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Encourage the personal growth of team members
We do not use any insecticides in the vineyard and we minimise the use of
fungicides by concentrating on grape varieties that tolerate our occasional wet
summer.
In 1989 we started a small commercial vineyard and winery in New Zealand. Tony
took a year off to study viticulture and oenology (winemaking) at Lincoln
University and completed a Graduate Diploma. However after producing five
commercial vintages we decided we needed to move to Australia to produce the
kind of red wines we loved so much. We settled on the Granite Belt which has
great promise as a red wine producing area and we fell in love with the granite
boulders and rugged beauty of the region.
Tony and Julia Hassall
Michael Hassall
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Michael has spent most of his life around grapes and wine. He has completed a
degree in Information Technology from the University of Southern Queensland,
and holds a Graduate Diploma in Viticulture and Oenology from Lincoln
University in New Zealand. Michael likes to relax with a nice glass of red and
a good movie on a sunny Queensland afternoon.
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Nikki was five years old when we planted our first vineyard, so she grew up
working in the vineyard and winery in her spare time. Nikki went to school in
Warwick when we came to Australia where she made many friends and was an
outstanding student at Warwick State High School. In her final year she won the
Mayor's medal for student of the year for the best all round student.
Nikki went on to study education at the University of Queensland and had
completed two years towards her degree when she was taken from us on that
fateful day on 14th March 2003 when she was killed by a careless motorist while
travelling home to Ballandean to pick our first Granite Belt vintage. We
cherish the memory of our beautiful daughter and have named "Nikki's Vineyard"
where she spent many weekends and university holidays tending the young plants
to maturity. She would often work on her own in this vineyard while the rest of
us worked elsewhere. This was a major feat for Nikki as she loved the company
of people so much. She also overcame her fear of spiders and snakes (which the
rest of us born in New Zealand have trouble getting used to).
Nikki was a very special person. She put her heart and soul into everything that
she did and was intent on her own personal and spiritual growth. A few days
before she died her friend had given her a new diary for her 20th birthday and
these are the words she wrote in it:
"Love ~ Faith ~ Peace ~ Hope ~ Truth
I dream of being forever kind. I want to always see only the soul; the
beautiful soul of each person who is on their journey & who has been
created by the infinite being our God.
I dream of always feeling love in my heart & peace in my mind. I want to
always remember that I am part of God's heart; that I am thus a part of the
infinite beauty; that I am beautiful.
I dream of fulfilling my divine potential. I want to always"
Nikki's reflections are also inscribed on her tombstone in the municipal general
cemetery in Warwick Queensland.
The property was first planted in grapes in 1935. Some locals say that our
property had the best table grapes in the district. The table grapes were
removed when the Industry lost it's profitability in the 1980s. The property
was then "rested" for ten years and used mainly for cattle grazing before we
bought it in 1997.
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An interesting feature on our property is the well, dug by an Italian prisoner
of war. It was made to last with granite rocks and we still use it today for
some of our water supply.
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Our property has about 30 acres of Granite Highland bush country similar to the
nearby Girraween National Park. It features huge granite boulders and native
bush. A small stream runs through the property with boulder caves and even glow
worms for adventurous cavers. A water fall features on the rare occasion when
we are not in drought conditions.
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