Wine-lovers descended upon Ballandean Estate last Saturday at the latest vineyard party celebrating the end of spring and the excitement of the new harvest to come. Revellers joined Angelo Puglisi, the Father of Queensland Wine — and five generations of the Puglisi family — for yet another a party to remember.
Angelo’s daughter and estate ambassador Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi said,
“We farewelled Spring in spectacular fashion over the weekend. Our party people gathered on the Opera Block from far and wide, enjoying live music from No Relation and dancing in the rain. Moody skies, verdant greens, a shower or three helped make it a day to remember. With world-class wines flowing and a great Italian-inspired meal thanks to Italian-trained chef Jason Constanzo, we laughed, ate and danced the afternoon away, such a fabulous way to spend the day.
“We shared Angelo’s 1987 Rare Tawny as a special treat for everyone, the perfect pairing with Nonna’s amazing tiramisu. This is a history-making release, embodying Dad’s lifetime building one of the oldest family-owned wineries in Queensland. What a way to top off a relaxing afternoon in Ballandean.”
Over the past 80 years, Angelo Puglisi’s family business has been at the forefront of developing and promoting the Queensland wine industry, from modest beginnings to a now multi-million-dollar industry. Queensland’s Angelo Puglisi Grand Champion Wine of Show award is a perpetual acknowledgment to Puglisi’s influence and respect in the industry.
Ballandean Estate Wines is thrilled to announce the release of our 1987 Rare Tawny, crafted by Angelo Puglisi. This exceptional vintage, 37 years in the making, offers an unparalleled tasting experience, rich with flavors that promise to dance on your palate.
The 1987 Rare Tawny experience
Angelo’s 1987 Rare Tawny is a masterpiece, described by Mike Bennie from Halliday as “rich, slippery and ultra-dense, loaded with molasses and treacle characters, cinnamon, bitter-dark chocolate, toffee and stewed plum, with dried orange peel, raisin, and preserved cherries in tow”.
This award-winning tawny expresses decades of dedication and passion for winemaking, presenting an elegant symphony of flavors.
Signature Barrel Collection
To celebrate this remarkable release, we’ve curated a limited edition Signature Barrel Collection. Each collection includes a beautifully crafted Mongolian oak and glass barrel, signed and numbered, along with three bottles of Angelo’s 1987 Rare Tawny. Only 26 of these Signature Barrel Collections are available for the first release, making them a coveted addition to any connoisseur’s collection.
How you can secure the inaugural Aged Barrel
Before the general release, we invite you to participate in a unique opportunity — our Online Charity Auction. Opening today at 12pm, the auction features Number 01, the inaugural Aged Barrel, ready to be filled with Angelo’s distinctive tawny. This Mongolian Oak barrel, seasoned to perfection, comes with three bottles of the just-bottled 1987 Rare Tawny.
The successful bidder will also enjoy a food and wine lunch experience with Angelo Puglisi in the renowned Barrelroom Wine Lounge at Ballandean Estate Wines. This is more than an auction; it’s a chance to make history and contribute to a meaningful cause of your choosing. The proceeds of this auction will benefit a registered Australian charity selected by the winner, with all administration costs borne by Ballandean Estate Wines to ensure the chosen charity receives 100% of the winning bid.
Once the auction concludes, the remaining 25 Signature Barrel Collections will be released for $950 each. These collections can be purchased online or reserved through Robyn via email or phone.
Join us in celebrating Queensland’s wine heritage
This event is not just about enjoying the finest of aged port; it’s about celebrating the rich heritage and tradition of Ballandean Estate Wines. Place your bid in the Online Charity Auction today and experience first-hand the magic of Angelo’s 1987 Rare Tawny.
For more information or to place your bid, visit our auction page.
Ballandean Estate has announced a vineyard party on Saturday 30 November 2024, celebrating the end of spring and the excitement of the new harvest to come. Wine lovers will be joining Angelo Puglisi, the Father of Queensland Wine — and five generations of the Puglisi family — for a soiree to remember. Angelo’s daughter and estate manager Robyn Puglisi-Henderson says,
“Our 2023 vineyard party was in honour of Dad’s 80th birthday and lifetime contribution Queensland’s wine industry. Over 250 people gathered on the Opera Block from far and wide, feasting on a long Italian lunch, dancing in the vines and enjoying Ballandean Estate’s world-class wines. It was heartwarming to celebrate with our amicis.
“This year, we’ll be mixing up the festivities, kicking up our heels and seeing out spring with a splash of sensational wines and a mouth-watering long lunch. “We can’t wait to see what Italian-trained chef Jason Costanzo will be thrilling our senses with this year. We have a long Ballandean connection with Jason, who is the son of Golden’s Grove’s Sam and Grace Costanzo. “Our party guests will be revelling to live music from No Relation, lucky door prizes, bocce, croquet, and more. We’ll have a charity raffle in support of Rotary Stanthorpe, for whom we’ve raised more than $1.6 million over the years, thanks to Opera In the Vineyard and charity race days.”
Robyn Puglisi-Henderson
Festivities kick off at 11am and continue until 4pm. Tickets are strictly limited, $80 per person including a glass of sparkling on arrival, Italian buffet lunch and an optional shuttle bus.
Over the past 80 years, Angelo Puglisi’s family business has been at the forefront of developing and promoting the Queensland wine industry, from modest beginnings to a now multi-million-dollar industry. Queensland’s Angelo Puglisi Grand Champion Wine of Show award is a perpetual acknowledgment to Puglisi’s influence and respect in the industry.
ENDS For all media enquiries please contact: Robyn Puglisi-Henderson Ph: (07) 4684 1226
Ballandean Estate hosted its first vineyard party in five years to honour Angelo Puglisi, founder of the Queensland wine industry, in a belated 80th birthday celebration on his beloved Opera Block.
In support of the Queensland wine industry
Over 250 supporters of Queensland’s wine industry braved the weather to honour Angelo Puglisi, the Father of Queensland Wine — and the Puglisi family — for an event to remember.
Angelo’s daughter and estate manager Robyn Puglisi Henderson says,
“This event has been a long time coming. The Opera Block is where Mum and Dad planted some of the Granite Belt’s first wine grapes, and our Opera Block Shiraz in 1968.
“It is beyond their wildest dreams what has happened over the course of 50-plus years on this vineyard. From 27 Opera events raising $1.4 million for charity, to Grazing the Granite Belt, Stanthorpe Rocks, Jazz in the Vineyard, weddings, festivals and race days.
“Our last vineyard party was in 2018, held in honour of the 50th anniversary of our Shiraz planting. So many of our customers have returned to celebrate not just Dad, but their lifelong support of Queensland wine.”
Robyn Puglisi Henderson
Wine pioneers
Over the past 80 years, Angelo Puglisi’s family business has been at the forefront of developing and promoting the Queensland wine industry, from modest beginnings to a now multi-million-dollar industry. Queensland’s Angelo Puglisi Grand Champion Wine of Show award is a perpetual acknowledgment to Puglisi’s influence and respect in the industry.
Vineyard party atmosphere
Guests enjoyed a long lunch and party atmosphere under twelve marquees, live music from David & Sarah Hume, bocce and croquet in the vines. Local Italian-trained chef Italian-trained chef Jason Constanzo served antipasto, followed by an assortment of pastas, locally made Italian meatballs and an array of salads. Foxy’s Bakery in Stanthorpe supplied the birthday cake.
Queensland’s oldest family-run winery is getting ready to welcome 1000-plus visitors through its cellar door this weekend. Ballandean Estate is hosting its first vineyard party in five years to honour Angelo Puglisi, the Father of Queensland Wine, in a belated 80th birthday celebration on his beloved Opera Block.
Angelo’s daughter and estate manager Robyn Puglisi Henderson says,
“This event has been a long time coming. Our last vineyard party in 2018 was in honour of the 50th anniversary of our Shiraz planting, some of Australia’s oldest vines. Mum and Dad planted some of the Granite Belt’s first wine grapes, and our Opera Block Shiraz in 1968.
“We’re ready to enjoy a mouth-watering long lunch and party atmosphere. Twelve marquees! Local Italian-trained chef Jason Constanzo, is starting us with antipasto, followed by an assortment of pastas, locally made Italian sausages and an array of sensuous salads. And, of course, Ballandean Estate’s premium wines.
“Our 250-plus party guests will be treated to live music from David & Sarah Hume, bocce, croquet, Giant Yahtzee, and of course, birthday cake, thanks to Foxy’s Bakery in Stanthorpe.
“We’re kicking off festivities at 11am. Ballandean Estate will also be welcoming Grazing the Granite Belt punters through our cellar door and into the Barrelroom Wine Lounge over the day. All hands on deck!.”.
Robyn Puglisi Henderson
Over the past 80 years, Angelo’s family business has been at the forefront of developing and promoting the Queensland wine industry, from modest beginnings to a now multi-million-dollar industry. Queensland’s Angelo Puglisi Grand Champion Wine of Show award is a perpetual acknowledgment to Puglisi’s influence and respect in the industry.
Join Angelo Puglisi, the Father of Queensland Wine — and the Puglisi family — for an event to remember.
Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery will be hosting the launch of podcast series Beyond the Crown at The Barrelroom this Saturday at 5pm, a rich tapestry of stories from the former Queens, Princesses and Young Ambassadors of Stanthorpe’s Apple and Grape Harvest Festival.
Podcast producer Lou Bromley says,
Raise your glass to the Queens as we gear up to celebrate 150 years of Stanthorpe in 2022,” says Ms Bromley.
“Beyond the Crown is part-oral history, part-documentary and part-photographic essay that seeks to tell the stories behind the people of Stanthorpe’s Apple and Grape Harvest Festival. Season one features ten podcast episodes with bonus interviews, and a digitised collection of images and videos of previous festivals from private collections.
“Ballandean has a strong tradition of winning Southern Belles, from Queens to Young Ambassadors, all helping to raise funds for charity and to support the festival.
“One of the first Queens was Dorothy Papagallo, Miss Orchardist 1957. Her family grew apples, stone fruit and vegetables in the Ballandean area, a property which now hosts Accommodation Creek Cottages and Granite Ridge Wines.
“Robyn Puglisi-Henderson was crowned Queen in 1992, and her sister Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi entered in 1990. They continue the Puglisi family’s trailblazing legacy as outstanding advocates for Queensland’s wine industry and as some of Australia’s most influential women in wine: Winemakers Federation Board memberships, Samuel Basset award winners, and export market innovators for Shiraz trade to China.
“Since 1954, Stanthorpe has hosted Australia’s longest-running apple festival—originating as ‘Back to Stanthorpe Week’, then the Apple Blossom festival in 1955, finally evolving into the Apple & Grape Harvest Festival, a biennial event that has been crushing it since 1966 and now draws over 60,000 people to Stanthorpe.
“I wasn’t expecting to discover that the smallest apple growing district in Australia hosts the longest continuous running apple festival in our country. It’s a wonderful birthday surprise for Stanthorpe turning 150 in 2022.”
“Mayor Vic Pennisi has secured archival footage of the fashion regatta at Storm King Dam from 1955 to 1964, which we hope to share at the launch of Episode 1, Dorothy Papagallo’s story, at The Barrelroom on Saturday.
Lou Bromley has a property in Ballandean and works as a podcaster and writer, and previously produced content for ABC Radio. She is looking forward to completing her novel, her Harvest Festival Queen, in 2022 as a writer-in-residence with Queensland Writers Centre for their Fishbowl Residency.
Want to listen? Here’s how to find Beyond the Crown
The podcast launches on Saturday 8 January with one episode released each week up to mid-March. To find ‘Beyond the Crown’, you can listen online here: https://feeds.captivate.fm/beyond-the-crown/ and find us on Facebook and Instagram. Episodes will also be available on Spotify, Apple and your favourite podcast app.
A non-fiction book is now being planned for 2026 to coincide with the 60th anniversary of the Apple and Grape Harvest Festival, bringing all the interviews, photos and additional ephemera into one publication. The podcast will continue to release new episodes after 2022 in the lead up to the book launch.
Beyond the Crown is funded by Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), a partnership between the Queensland Government and Southern Downs Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.
Listen to Episode 1, Dorothy Papagallo, ‘Sputnik and the Festival Queen’ here:
Guest blogger: Louisa Duval (alias) | Australian Romance Readers Association
‘Let’s get sashed’: How my romance novel research turned into a podcast
I write small town, contemporary romance, inspired by my local rural fire brigade at Ballandean, a small village south of Stanthorpe in Queensland where we have thirty-five acres on the Severn River. I was outlining my novel about a heroine sentenced by the…https://australianromancereaders.wordpress.com/2022/01/02/guest-blogger-louisa-duval/
Ballandean Estate’s annual Gamekeepers Dinner is going ahead on Saturday 25 September, with a second round of tickets released because of border closures. This culinary event sells out every year within days and has a culinary pedigree of thirty-plus years.
Ticket Release
Ballandean Estate’s annual Gamekeepers Dinner will be held at 6:30pm on Saturday 25 September at Ballandean Estate Wines, 354 Sundown Rd Ballandean.
Tickets to the all-inclusive degustation are $140 per person, with a courtesy bus available to and from the event for $15 per person round trip.
“People just keep coming back for the Gamekeepers Dinner, it’s a feast fit for royalty and chance to experience a mouth-watering array of game served up degustation style, matched with a museum tasting from the Puglisi family cellar.
The Barrelroom is serving up five spectacular courses, starting with Chinese-style Quail Consommé short soup with Quail Dumplings.
“Second and third courses feature Smoked Kangaroo Carpaccio served with potato confit and a garlic saffron crème; followed Wild-shot Goat Ragu tossed with handmade potato gnocchi.
“For the first time we’ll be plating up a Kangaroo Island Duo of Pheasant, oven roasted supreme stuffed with truffled butter; and a Coq au Vin Maryland with golden shallots, local button mushrooms, braised cabbage, crispy prosciutto, confit garlic pomme puree and a chicharron crumb.
“Dessert will be a Stanthorpe Apple Tarte Tatin with vanilla bean gelato and white chocolate nougat, exquisite.
“This year’s tickets sold out on the 28 March, the day of release. A number of our return guests come from over the border and have withdrawn due to lockdown uncertainty, freeing up a very limited number of tickets. Last year was a sold-out intimate event with 70 guests. Decadent food, museum wines and the ambience of The Barrelroom delivers a must-do feast to remember.”
Robyn Puglisi-Henderson
Over 150 punters flocked to Ballandean Estate’s inaugural Autumn Race Day on Sunday 2 May 2020. Aimee McKean and Madeleine Green from Brisbane won the Vineyard Cup with syndicate Madeleine’s Fury. They will be hosting an exclusive Ballandean Estate pop-up tasting at home with ten lucky friends.
Images credit: Sandra McEwan
Leeanne and Robyn to visit Brisbane for pop-up tasting party
Having the Puglisi sisters in my home pouring some of Queensland’s finest wines to match the menu we put together is going to take festive to the next level. We feel like family every time we visit, can’t wait to return their warmth and hospitality!
We’ve been coming to Opera in the Vineyard as a group for years and are thrilled to be back at Ballandean Estate for Rotary’s charity fundraiser.
We simply could not resist a long weekend on the Granite Belt combined with the chance to dress up, indulge in a long lunch from The Barrelroom and enjoy the party atmosphere, all in the beating heart of Ballandean. Our group stayed at Accommodation Creek Cottages just down the road from the vineyard. We will be back again same time next year for Autumn Race Day 2022.”
Madeleine Green
Charity fundraiser takes on new format
Event ambassador and fourth-generation vigneron Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi says,
We’ve had fashions on the field, raffles, alternative races, lucky door prizes, live music from Cole Train and a great day out in the vines. This year, funds raised will be distributed to Stanthorpe charities.
Autumn Race Day major prize winners will be coming back for a return trip to the Granite Belt to experience the Stanthorpe Races in October 2021, accommodation for two at Just Red cabins including breakfast, tickets to the Stanthorpe races, transfers to and from the event, 1 dozen bottles of Ballandean Estate wines, and lunch at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism.
Rotary Club Stanthorpe’s charity fundraiser Opera in the Vineyard raised over $1 million for charity in partnership with Ballandean Estate. After 27 brilliant events, we have shaken up the format to create a new experience for the Granite Belt.”
Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi
Angelo and Mary Puglisi, pioneers of the wine industry in Queensland, are releasing Ballandean Estate’s 50th Anniversary Opera Block Shiraz today, a milestone for the Granite Belt, the Puglisi family and Queensland wine.
Newlyweds Angelo and Mary Puglisi embarked on their lifelong wine adventure in 1968 as they founded Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery. Little did they know that their decision to plant their first block of Shiraz would cement the Puglisi winemaking future.
We’ve come a long way since the sixties, when everyone warned me that the vineyard would fail because only wogs drank wine in Queensland!
2018 was an exceptionally low-yielding year—we have only 150 dozen of the Opera Block Shiraz for this vintage. The long ripening season and cold nights delivered a delicate cool climate Shiraz, intense purple with concentrated berry fruits.
Right now, we are bringing in our Shiraz harvest for 2021 and it is shaping up to be a cracker vintage, one of the best we’ve ever had, thanks to a warm and an almost too-dry growing season.
I saw the versatility of Shiraz in the established wine regions of the Barossa and Hunter Valley, and couldn’t resist the challenge of establishing this varietal in our cool climate high altitude granitic terroir. Interstate vignerons thought it was a joke, that Queensland was a tropical climate only capable of producing bananas, bikinis and coconuts!
Mary and I planted those Shiraz vines in 1968, and just a few years later, our 1974 Shiraz Cabernet took out the gold medal at the Royal National Agricultural and Industrial Association of Queensland Show (RNA, also known as the Ekka). We knew our dreams were coming to fruition, it had been almost 50 years since a Queensland red table wine had achieved gold, not since Romavilla back in the 1930s.”
Angelo Puglisi
A perpetual acknowledgment to the Puglisi’s influence and respect in the industry, The Angelo Puglisi Grand Champion Wine of Show award, was established in 2019.
Angelo’s decision to convert from table grapes to wine grapes was bold and he and Mary worked hard to produce wines of quality and create a market for their Granite Belt grown wines. Those first vines have been lovingly nurtured over the years and now produce the award-winning Opera Block Shiraz—refined, elegant with intense fruit typical of a cool climate profile.
Our cool climate Shiraz is a family jewel. Most Shiraz vines in Australia are under 15 years old—and the older the vines, the lower the yield and more luscious the fruit.”
Angelo Puglisi
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.
Ballandean Estate’s single vineyard 50th Anniversary Opera Block Shiraz will be released for public sale at the cellar door and online here www.ballandeanestate.com for $65 RRP Monday 1 March 2021.
This week Ballandean Estate hosted the Granite Belt’s biggest picnic of 2020, as The Merry Muster, a convoy of seven buses from Brisbane and the Gold Coast, descended on Queensland’s oldest family owned and operated winery. Fourth-generation vigneron Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi says,
“At Ballandean Estate, we are experiencing incredible support as Buy Local, Drink Local and Buy from the Bush is resonating with people in the wake of COVID-19. When Christine Bonner, founder of the Merry Muster, called last week to speak to Barrelroom chefs Matt and Bobbi Wells about last minute menu requests, and mentioned 370 people, I was flabbergasted. It was hard to keep my cool — or contain my excitement! Those aboard The Merry Muster buses came along with their empty eskies, which they’ve filled with artisan-made Christmas presents, fresh local produce, cheeses and Granite Belt wines. This event has gained tremendous momentum, growing seven times in size this year.”
Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi
Image credit: Emma Russell
We’ve seen an enormous influx of wine tourists at the cellar door and restaurant over the last few months, and this had slipped off my radar.
Naturally Matt and Bobbi had been planning for the menu for weeks and ensuring compliance for the outdoor event under our COVID Safe Plan.
These busloads of beautiful ladies shared their love and supported the Southern Downs through an heart-rending injection of emotional support and much-need funds into our regional economy.
We wanted to give them the best possible locavore picnic experience. The Barrelroom took days preparing the antipasto entrees – we are talking:
3850 pieces of sesame lavosh
70 kg of hand roasted capsicums
40 kg of grilled zucchini
40 kg of roasted local mushrooms
18 kg of roasted local cherry tomatoes
31 kg of local cheese
12 kg of slow-roasted beef for the artisan rolls served with hand-made chutney and onion jam
and 300 pieces of handmade nougat.
All enjoyed outdoors on the Opera Block with music and a lively market atmosphere. “
Today Stanthorpe is hosting its Boutique Christmas shopping day with Bustling markets, Christmas carols and store openings, says Ms Puglisi-Gangemi. For those that couldn’t make the Merry Muster, you can still support regional bush businesses in Brisbane and finish off your Christmas shopping at Buy from the Bush’s Newfarm popup shop. It is open 7 days a week until the 23rd of December.