Approximately two kilometres north of the township of Roma in western Queensland, Romavilla Winery stands prominently to Northern Road, the main road north out of Roma travelling to the
Carnarvon Gorge and beyond. The winery and vineyards are on the flood plain of
Bungil Creek which runs down from the hills around
Injune to the north. Bounded by Northern Road to the west, Bassett Lane to the north, a neighbouring property to the east and Edna Street and the adjacent caravan park to the south, the winery complex comprises a number of structures. Those considered to be of heritage significance are winery office, winery
shed and distillery shed. A display vineyard occupies part of the front yard. A number of hoardings, including one for Bassett Romavilla Winery, stand along the front fence line.
Driveway and display vineyard The winery shed is approached along a graveled
driveway from the front entrance gate. A display vineyard stands to the south of the driveway adjacent to the small low-set timber-framed and clad winery office.
Winery Office A small rectangular timber-framed building standing on low timber stumps and sheltered by a
hipped roof clad with
corrugated iron, the office building stands west of the winery shed. The projecting
gable roofed entrance
porch opens into a narrow room running the width of the building. Two offices with a connecting doorway open onto this space. The building is clad with
chamferboards and lined with fibrous cement sheeting with batten cover strips. The narrow front room is lit by rectangular casements windows to all three sides and banks of casements windows light the offices.
Winery shed The winery shed is a large, timber-framed building clad with timber and corrugated iron. Sheltered by a series of high gabled roofs supported by
king post trusses, the winery building is constructed as linked buildings on three levels stepping down the gradient of a slightly sloping site. The small extension at the front of the building is used for sales and
wine tasting and together with the adjacent barrel storage area is built over a cellar used for long term wine storage. The centre section accommodates racked barrels and the pressing equipment, storage vats and bottling machinery stand towards the rear of the building. The front elevation is clad with corrugated metal sheeting and the former tall rectangular parapet is now truncated to follow the outer roof lines of the twin
gables behind. The single storey extension running across the front of the building is sheltered by a
skillion roof which is screened by a low corrugated iron
parapet. The metal sheet cladding extends down into the soil that has been piled up against the front of the building. The extension accommodates two entrances, both housing pairs of ledged and braced timber doors. One opens into the front lobby, the other into the front barrel storage area. Romavilla Vineyards signage is fixed to the upper centre of the elevation, flanked by pairs of fixed timber
louvred windows. The north, east and south sides of the shed are clad with corrugated iron and a continuous band of fixed timber louvres runs along the upper north and south walls. The north side has a number of lean-to extensions - an open storage area to the west end, small lean-to enclosed
sheds flanking the entrance in the rear end of the shed and a skillion roof open storage space to the east end. This wraps around to the eastern side where it terminates in an enclosed shed to the south end. A number of concrete slabs, drains and structures, including timber and corrugated iron sheds and concrete water tanks, stand south of the shed. From the front entrance lobby, the sales office opens to the left, the tasting area to the right and the front portion of the shed is directly ahead. An unlined, high volume space with fixed timber louvres along the upper north and south walls, the front portion of the shed is wider than the other parts of the shed and has a timber floor supported by timber posts from the cellar below. It accommodates barrel storage, a small open office cubicle and the excise inspector's office. The office cubicle sits on a timber platform projecting into the middle shed area where it is supported by timber stumps. The office accommodates narrow timber benches with cupboards below, a small table and a bench seat. A number of framed certificates and awards are propped around the office. A timber framed
podium clad with vertical tongue and groove boards, the elevated excise inspector's office, stands to the north and is approached by a set of timber
stairs. It projects into the middle shed area and commands views across the whole shed. The middle and rear portions of the shed have concrete floors and a number of drains run through these areas. The barrel storage area in the middle portion of the shed is organised around a grid of walkways and concrete upstands accommodating concrete
plinths on which the barrels stand. The rear of the shed accommodates a range of early and modern equipment. Early equipment including the crusher, pressing equipment, in-ground concrete blending and storage tanks are considered to be significant. Pairs of large timber doors open from this area of the shed to the east and south. Marks in the concrete floor indicate where earlier concrete fermentation tanks stood. A number of these tanks now stand inverted in the yard to the north of the shed. Drive wheels and other elements of the earlier power generation system remain to the south wall of the shed. Two small in-ground concrete blending tanks stand to the middle of this area of the shed. Each tank has a low, rounded, concrete upstand supporting concrete posts to each corner linked by hollow metal rails. A large three chamber concrete storage tank runs along the north side of the shed. The tank has deep in- ground chambers with concrete walls rising about above shed floor level. The flat concrete top has a number of lidded access hatches. A cut-away portion in the side of the tank allows a view into the middle chamber. Modern equipment including stainless steel storage vats, bottling equipment and cold storage is not considered to be significant. The
cellar is dug into the ground below the front part of the shed and is accessed from the middle barrel storage area by a set of concrete stairs descending below the excise officer's podium. A narrow corrugated iron sheeted chute incorporating a timber ladder drops into the cellar on the south side of the projecting front office cubicle. Rows of rough unsawn posts support timber beams carrying the framing for the floor above. Barrels rest on timber racks standing on the part concrete, part dirt floor. Perimeter retaining walls to the north and south are timber framed and lined with corrugated iron and those to the east and west are constructed of concrete and timber. A set of timber stairs to east side climbs to the tasting area above.
Distillery The distillery shed is a rectangular timber framed corrugated iron clad building sheltered by a corrugated iron clad gabled roof. To the south, a small rectangular roof sheltering the distillery apparatus projects above the main roof. Both gable ends of the shed are infilled with horizontal timber weatherboards and fixed timber louvres run around the upper parts of the walls. The timber frame is a combination of sawn studs, beams and battens and adzed and unsawn timber posts. A skillion roof projects from the south side of the building sheltering the firebox hatch. The distillery shed accommodates a storage room over a cellar to the north and a distillery room to the south. A braced and ledged timber door in the middle of the north elevation opens into the unlined storage area which has a timber floor. Fixed timber louvers run around the upper west, north and east walls. A metal grate stands immediately inside the entrance. A door on the east side opens into the still room where from the northwest corner a set of steep timber stairs to the cellar. The cellar has timber framed walls clad with corrugated iron set into the earth surrounding it. In the distillery room, two copper boilers - one higher than the other - are set into a stepped rectangular brick frame which houses a firebox and stands against the south wall onto the dirt floor. A brick
chimney extends out of the firebox and through the roof at the southwest corner. The firebox is accessed through a metal hatch on the external south wall. The hatch bears the maker's nameplate - Harvey & Son Engineers Brisbane. Each boiler is fitted with a tall copper cylinder standing perpendicularly over it, the whole crowned by a horizontal chamber just below the ceiling. The boilers are connected by a copper inverted U-tube and a number of cocks and tubes are worked within the apparatus which is held within a timber frame. A small timber ladder provides access to the upper part. To the front of the apparatus a cock regulates tubes that connect to the cellar below, running within a timber frame in the middle of the dirt floor.
Equipment Equipment associated with earlier wine making practices has been retained and is displayed for visitors. This includes basket presses in the tasting/sales area and concrete fermentation tanks in the yard. == Heritage listing ==