Meet the Makers: Harcourt Apples, the Vinegar Behind Every QJJ Relish

Every jar of QJJ relish starts with something most people never think twice about: the vinegar. Ours comes from one place, a family business at the foot of Mount Alexander in Central Victoria. Here's why it matters, and why we're so proud to work with the Frosts of Harcourt Apples.

Apple country since the gold rush

Harcourt has been growing apples and pears for more than 150 years, and there's a reason the orchards stuck. The soils here come from the granite of Mount Alexander (Leanganook to the Dja Dja Wurrung people): sandy, free-draining and naturally low in nutrients. That means the trees put their energy into dense, crisp fruit instead of big leafy growth. Add cold winters (the odd snowfall included) and long, dry autumns, and you get apples with real depth of flavour.

Meet Simon and Victoria Frost

Simon and Victoria opened The Little Red Apple in 1991, a roadside fruit and veg shop on the Midland Highway at Barkers Creek, halfway between Castlemaine and Harcourt. From day one their focus was local produce, especially Harcourt apples and pears.

They went on to take over White Gum Apples, the makers of Harcourt Apple Juice, started making vinegar in about 2002, and built a production facility right alongside the shop. In 2013 came Harcourt Perry & Cider Makers, whose apple cider took Best in Show at the 2019 Royal Adelaide Beer & Cider Show. Today the range runs from juice and cider to eau de vie, pommeau and apple & pear brandy, all made from fruit grown in Harcourt and the surrounding district.

Why their apple cider vinegar is the real deal

As Simon tells it, a lot of commercially made apple cider vinegar is built from man-made acetic acid, water and a splash of apple juice for colour and flavour. Harcourt's is the opposite:

– Real Australian-grown apples, with no concentrates and no added sugar
– Cold-pressed in a traditional basket press
– The juice is fermented to dryness, so all the natural sugars become cider
– The “mother” of vinegar then slowly turns that cider into vinegar
– Aged for a minimum of two years after fermentation
– Unpasteurised and unfiltered

It's a completely natural process, and you can taste it: rounder, fruitier and more apple-forward than the sharp sting of a cheap vinegar.

What it does in our jars

In a relish, vinegar does the heavy lifting. It brings the tang, balances the sugar and keeps everything shelf-stable. Use a harsh vinegar and that's all you taste. Use a mature, fruity one and it lifts everything around it, so you taste the tomato, the beetroot and the spice, not just acid.

That's why Harcourt apple cider vinegar goes into every one of our relishes and chutneys, including our Tomato Relish, Beetroot Relish and Spicy Apple Chutney. It's also in our condiments, sauces and most of our pickles.

9 January 2026: the day the wind changed - The Harcourt Fires

On 9 January 2026, under catastrophic fire conditions, the Ravenswood South fire came straight at Barkers Creek. These photos were taken at The Little Red Apple that afternoon.

The Little Red Apple on the afternoon of 9 January 2026. Photo: Harcourt Apples

The Harcourt Apples yard shortly before the evacuation. Photo: Harcourt Apples

“The fire was heading straight for us from lunchtime. We closed the shop, sent all staff home and prepared as much as we could for the impact. We were forced to evacuate shortly after these photos were taken.

Half an hour later, just before the fire reached us, the wind changed and sent the fire straight into Harcourt. We were very lucky, but the devastation caused in Harcourt often has me wishing the wind didn't change.”

— Simon Frost, Harcourt Apples

The losses in Harcourt were huge: around 47 homes, local businesses, and the town's historic Coolstore, which had operated since 1917 and stored goods for 93 local businesses. (ABC News has the full story.)

The recovery is well underway. In Simon's words, the community has come together to support each other, and the Coolstore is being rebuilt, with hopes it will be operating in time for the 2027 apple crop. One of the best ways to help a town like Harcourt keep rebuilding is simple: buy what they make.

Our jars, their shelves

For about three years now, The Little Red Apple has stocked a big range of QJJ preserves, and they've become a favourite with the locals and highway travellers who pull in for apples, juice and a browse. Their apples become our vinegar; our relish ends up back on their shelf. We love that loop.

This is what small regional producers do best. When we buy from each other, the money stays in regional Victoria. Ingredients travel fewer kilometres. Know-how gets shared instead of lost. And the end products are genuinely better: real fruit, real methods, real people you can name. We'd take that over an anonymous drum of industrial vinegar any day.

Drop in and say g'day

Heading through Central Victoria? Pull over at The Little Red Apple, 8795 Midland Highway, Barkers Creek, open 8am to 6pm every day. Grab a bottle of Harcourt cider, a bag of local apples, some of that vinegar for your own kitchen, and a jar or two of QJJ while you're there.

Explore Harcourt's full range at harcourtcider.com.au.

Thanks, Simon and Victoria. Here's to many more years of making beautiful things together.