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November 10, 2018

50 years of Shiraz vineyard party at Ballandean Estate

Our Shiraz Vineyard Party was a soiree to remember. Fifty years since the first wine grapes were legally planted on the Granite Belt—at Queensland’s oldest operating winery—now THAT’S worth celebrating!

Over 230 guests gathered to revel in the vineyard overlooking the Opera Block Shiraz vines, planted 50 years ago in 1968. The current vintage of 2016 Opera Block Shiraz was flowing, and guests enjoyed a smoker BBQ lunch, live music, croquet, bocce and a 50th birthday cake.

Angelo Puglisi took guests on a tour of the Opera Block vineyard to give them the chance to experience the 50-year-old vineyard. The thick trunks of the Shiraz vines have been lovingly tended to by Angelo’s hands for 50 years. As we witnessed the new flowers bursting on the vines for the 51st vintage to be created in 2019, Angelo was bursting with pride.

Across the weekend attendees were given the opportunity to pre-purchase the 2018 50th Anniversary Edition Opera Block Shiraz, created in a spectacular yet low yielding year. This wine will be released and delivered in November 2019.

2018 marks the 50th anniversary of Shiraz plantings on the Opera Block vineyard at Ballandean Estate, Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery. This makes our wine unique, as most Shiraz vines in Australia are under 15 years old—and the older the vines, the lower the yield and more luscious the fruit. In a nation where most producers pulled up their vines in the late eighties at government behest, this is a remarkable achievement, and testament to the vision of Angelo and Mary Puglisi, pioneers of the wine industry in Queensland.

Friends of Ballandean

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