Angelo Puglisi, the Father of Queensland Wine, celebrated his 80th birthday Saturday 29 July at Ballandean Estate.
The founder of Queensland’s oldest family-run winery has spent his entire life on Ballandean Estate. For almost a century 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.
Wine pioneers
“We knew that wine tourism would follow once there was wine to sell and some more cellar doors in the region. When we opened the cellar door four years after planting our first the Shiraz in 1968, there were only 300 wineries in Australia — now there is over 3300!”, says Mary Puglisi, Angelo’s wife of 50-plus years.
You’ll still find Angelo on his red tractor most days at Ballandean, tending his beloved vines, although he isn’t shy of a post-lunch siesta.
“If I drop dead at 104, this is where you’ll find me, propped up against a fence post, tractor wheels still turning.
“I live and breathe these vines and wines. We opened our cellar door back in 1972. Through the years Mary and I have welcomed tens of thousands of visitors per year to taste wines and enjoy the hospitality. Mary and I, we’ve had 55 years together as a team, and we’ll keep on working as a team. I couldn’t have done any of this without her.
“One of my proudest achievements is Opera in the Vineyard. It raised over $1 million for charity in partnership with The Rotary Club of Stanthorpe over 27 brilliant events.
“Our greatest achievement by far though is our daughters, Robyn and Leeanne. How many wineries in Australia are run by a sister act? Movers and shakers, be it on the Australian Grape and Wine Association board, lobbying government, organising community events, they represent the Puglisi fighting spirit — and love of a yarn at the cellar door!”
Rebel with a cause
Estate manager and daughter Robyn Puglisi Henderson says,
“Dad’s always been a rebel! He and Mum took over the farm back in 1968 with big dreams, a vision to develop a viable wine industry in the Granite Belt region. They planted some of the Granite Belt’s first wine grapes, and our Opera Block Shiraz in 1968, some of Australia’s oldest vines. The vines whispered their secrets to him, igniting a lifelong passion that would shape his destiny.
“Angelo wasn’t shy of stopping traffic in his twenties, when trucks rolled down the main street of Stanthorpe laden with his massive barrels from Penfolds, spectators agog.
“Mum and Dad were presented their first winemaking gold medal 45 years ago at Royal Queensland Wine Show (RQWS) Awards. Back then, Angelo was swaggering about wearing Elvis Presley sideburns and a purple safari suit.
“Since then, his passion and dedication have shaped the renowned Ballandean Estate Wines, inspiring countless others to make wine on the Granite Belt.”
Influence and innovation
“Dad’s influence will continue to shape the future of the Granite Belt. He’s been instrumental in establishing the Granite Belt’s as an alternative wine destination. Experimenting with varieties that fit our unique climate and terroir is what gets him excited. We have over 13 Strange Bird varietals planted by Dad at Ballandean Estate, says Robyn.
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. Queensland’s Angelo Puglisi Grand Champion Wine of Show award at the Brisbane RNA is a perpetual acknowledgment to Puglisi’s influence and respect in the industry.
Angelo’s fighting spirit has seen him repeatedly triumph over adversity. According to Granite Belt winemaker Mike Hayes, “Angelo has been a real battler for his family. For that he has been rewarded with a rich life. He inspires me. I have got nothing by the highest respect for that family and what they have achieved.”
Ballandean Estate continues its winning streak with a swag of medals awarded this weekend at a national wine show for boutique winemakers. The Australian Small Winemakers Show is held annually in Stanthorpe, attracting wine entries from across Australia and New Zealand.
Vintage 2022 delivered Queensland’s oldest family-owned winery 3 silver and 2 bronze medals, bringing the tally to 5 medals at one of the most prestigious shows on the annual wine circuit.
Ballandean Estate is famed for alternative white varietals, our Strange Birds™! This year, our great Italian whites Malvasia, Fiano and GFM (Giallo Fiano Malvasia) were awarded silver medals, which means they had to score greater than 17/20 points; and be considered exceptional on the palate, with freshness and finesse highly prized by the judging panel.
We’ve just released our 10th vintage of Fiano, a wine we’ve won critical acclaim for since 2012, thanks to its richer Italian style with mouth-watering acidity, grippy texture and mineral undertones. We sell out of this varietal every vintage within weeks.
Malvasia is another of our fastest-moving white wines at the cellar door. People fall in love with its big aromatics, richness and complexity. It is the kind of wine that has you excited before even taking your first sip.
Dad (Ballandean Estate owner Angelo Puglisi) is always keen to experiment with Italian varieties. His interest in Italian varieties is not just about the increased diversity of aromas and flavours, but most importantly about structure: and, specifically, acid. Grapes grown for natural acid balance deliver a fresh expression of our granitic terroir and require minimal intervention in the hands of the winemaker.”
Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi
A wine pioneer, Angelo’s vinicultural vision has delivered 13 new Strange Birds™ for the Granite Belt Geographical Indication.
Ballandean Estate’s 2022 Viognier and Bolle Rosa, a refreshing sparkling pink Moscato, were both awarded bronze medals. A remarkably strong line up of wines was presented, with a marked increase in medals awarded for each class at the 2022 Australian Small Winemakers Show, which held its inaugural event in 1987, open to small wine producers who crush less than 500 tonne a year.
Ballandean Estate’s 2019 Nebbiolo took home the Trophy for Best Italian Red Varietal at the Queensland International Emerging Wine Variety Challenge. Angelo Puglisi, founder of Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery, accepted the prize at the Brisbane awards dinner held at 66 on Ernest restaurant at Southbank, Thursday 26 May 2022.
Wine analysis
Colour—Pale ruby with orange hues
Nose—Cherry, tar and roses
Palate—Medium-bodied with red fruits, strong tannins, high acidity and earthy tones
Alcohol/Volume—2%
Cellaring potential—Drink now to 5 years
Winemaker—Dylan Rhymer
Viticulturist—Angelo Puglisi
RRP $42
Estate owner Angelo Puglisi says,
“Experimenting with varieties that fit our unique climate and terroir is what gets me excited. In 2001, I thought it was about time we had an Italian red under our belt. Hailing from Northern Italy’s Piedmont region, this grape is known for producing bold red flavours, grippy tannins, and high natural acidity — all while looking as pale as Pinot Noir.
Nebbiolo was our first Italian Strange Bird™ planting. We call it the Italian version of Pinot Noir at the cellar door. Lighter in body, big tannins, cherry, tar and roses on the nose, ruby and orange hues synonymous with aged Nebbiolo—it’s a real food wine.
Nebbiolo is a finicky variety to grow in Ballandean, but when it’s right, it is so right! Incredibly sensitive to terroir—it needs great drainage and a long, bright growing season,” says Mr Puglisi.
ANGELO PUGLISI
Overcoming low yield with great viticulture
Ballandean Estate’s high altitude, cool climate and granite traprock soils on Bellevue’s slopes saw the vines mature a low yield initially. Angelo Puglisi overcame this by using a different pruning approach that produces more fruit bunches. The fruit is the last to be harvested, as it matures slowly with the cool nights at the end of growing season.
Queensland International Emerging Wine Variety Challenge
The Queensland International Emerging Wine Variety Challenge is in its third year. Queensland-grown alternate varieties take on the best of Europe in this unique event hosted by Queensland Wine Industry Association. The varietals are judged and benchmarked against wines from their place of origin.
When it comes to pizzaz and Australian Shiraz, wine pioneers and Ballandean Estate founders Angelo and Mary Puglisi will be celebrating their lifetime achievement in style on Australia’s second annual Shiraz Wine Day this Thursday 22 July 2021. They stand behind over 50 years of Shiraz, a remarkable achievement in a nation where most producers pulled up their vines in the late eighties at government behest.
Ballandean Estate’s award-winning single vineyard premium Shiraz is sourced from the Opera Block’s oldest vines, planted in 1968, some of the oldest in Australia. It’s a living testament to the vision of Angelo and Mary Puglisi, pioneers of the wine industry in Queensland.
“It’s hard to believe that Australia’s most popular red grape varietal almost didn’t survive, given that we now have some of the oldest shiraz vines in the world.
Ballandean Estate’s low yielding, gnarly old vines are a rarity. Many of the original European vineyards and South Australian shiraz vines were wiped out by a disease called phylloxera.
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.
We’ve come a long way since the sixties, when the naysayers told us the vineyard would fail — because only wogs drink wine in Queensland!
Our expression of terroir begins in the vineyard, our hands and in our hearts. We work the soil, we tend the grapes — every bottle tells a story, the people, the place, the passion.”
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).
Fifty years on, these vines are bearing incredible fruit!” laughs Angelo, fondly regarded as the father of Queensland wine.”
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.
“Ballandean Estate’s 2018 Opera Block Shiraz is a sophisticated example of cool climate Shiraz.
“This 50th vintage has tannins of silk, a caressing texture, lovely length of black fruits, oak spice, spotlessly woven flavours and a palate-pleasing light to medium body.”
Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery future-proofed its reputation for word-class Shiraz by planting 5000 Shiraz plants next to the Opera Block vineyard in early 2021.
Ballandean Estate is set to release its 30th vintage of Semillon Sauvignon Blanc on 12 November 2018. Angelo Puglisi, estate founder of Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery, planted his first Semillon vines in 1973.
He was excited by the possibility of the Granite Belt’s warm days and cold nights delivering intensely-flavoured fruit and divine wine. The ensuing success of the Semillon vines encouraged him to plant Sauvignon Blanc vines in 1985. A wine pioneer, Angelo’s vinicultural vision has delivered 30 vintages of delectably crisp, zesty wine.
“Our 2018 vintage is spectacular. Rich citrus, stone fruit and passionfruit notes, with an acidic spine and delicious limey finish.”
“Ballandean Estate has been making Semillon Sauvignon Blanc for 30 years, and this is reflected in the finesse demonstrated in the blending and the quality of the fruit grown from mature vines,” said Ballandean Estate’s patriarch Mr Puglisi.
“SBS’ Battle of the Vines recently searched for an Australian “Great White” under $20. Two wines were blind profiled by a tasting panel made up of WA and Qld wine industry professionals and the general public. Our 2017 Granite Belt Semillon Sauvignon Blanc by Dylan Rhymer stood up against Faber Vineyard’s 2017 Swan Valley Verdelho by John Griffith. The wine judges described it as beautiful, herbaceous, lime and lemon with tropical fruits—impossible to decide, with voting a dead tie!
“It’s such a great food wine. The beauty of Semillon Sauvignon Blanc is its versatility. Our 30th vintage is a match made in heaven for fresh Queensland seafood—Moreton Bay Bugs, Hervey Bay Scallops or a sand crab lasagne Bianco. You can also pair it with Asian cuisines, hard and soft cheeses, mild curries, salads, fish and chicken dishes,” he said.
2018 marks 50 years of Shiraz plantings on the Opera Block vineyard at Ballandean Estate, Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery.
Estate founder Angelo Puglisi had a vision to develop a viable and sustainable commercial wine industry in the Granite Belt region, and in 1968, he planted a block of Shiraz vines with his new wife Mary on his Ballandean farm, cementing the Puglisi winemaking future.
Mr Puglisi’s remarkable vinicultural legacy will be celebrated with a book launch, The Father of the Queensland Wine Industry – Angelo Puglisi, by Tom McSweeny. The biography will be launched on Friday 2 November 2018 at the Stanthorpe Art Gallery at 6pm.
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.
“Our cool climate Shiraz is a vinicultural 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,” said Angelo Puglisi.
“I am excited to announce the pre-release of our 50th Anniversary 2018 Opera Block Shiraz at our vineyard party on November 10. 2018 was an exceptionally low-yielding year—we have produced only 150 dozen of the Opera Block Shiraz for this vintage. The long ripening season and cold nights have delivered a delicate cool climate Shiraz, intense purple with concentrated berry fruits. We will be bottling this beauty in 2019.”
Angelo’s decision to convert from table grapes to wine grapes was brave 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.
“Mum and Dad were real pioneers, and they dreamed of a Queensland wine industry at such a young age, at just 25 (Angelo) and 19 years (Mary) of age. . Up until the Puglisi’s 1968 Shiraz planting, wine in Queensland was mainly a by-product of table grape production by a few European families who were selling the grapes to market and using the leftovers to make wine. A far cry from the wine grapes of today!
“Visionaries from the start, the Puglisis visualised opening a cellar door and being the catalyst for Queensland’s Barossa and Hunter Valley on the Granite Belt. They knew that wine tourism would follow once there was wine to sell and some more cellar doors in the region. When they opened the cellar door four years after planting the Shiraz, there were only 300 wineries in Australia—now there is over 3300!
“We have been here a long time, since 1932. The 50 years of Shiraz gives legitimacy to the entire Queensland wine industry. I always say that Mum married the Queensland wine industry when she married Dad. Not only are we celebrating 50 years of Shiraz, the Puglisis are celebrating a golden wedding anniversary too, 50 years strong!” says Robyn Puglisi-Henderson, daughter of Angelo and Mary Puglisi.
What’s great about cool climate Shiraz?
First and foremost, it expresses the terroir – the sense of place with the wines, which you don’t always see in warmer climates.
Shiraz grown in warmer climates such as the Barossa ripens more easily, so the wines will typically feature riper fruit flavours, like blackberry and plum, with a lush profile. Cool climate Shiraz wines are more likely to showcase red fruit notes, a peppery, spicy side and a leaner frame. They are gracious, elegant, lower in alcohol and diverse, making cool climate Shiraz an excellent food-matching wine.
Ballandean Estate’s award-winning single vineyard premium Shiraz is sourced from the Opera Block’s oldest vines, planted in 1968, some of the oldest in Australia. Winemaker Dylan Rhymer has delivered a delicate balance of fruit and French oak in the 2015 vintage. This Shiraz is an eloquent demonstration of the Granite Belt’s terroir, boasting ripe berry and cassis aromas. On the palate, intense blackcurrant, light pepper and spices combine with medium tannins for palate structure and a smooth, lingering finish. Aged for 12 to 15 months in air dried French oak barriques; this wine is one of our most consistent award winners.
Australian Shiraz – a survival story
Australia can lay proud claim to the some of the oldest commercial Shiraz vines in the world. We owe this extraordinary vine heritage to our isolated location and quarantine law, as most of the world suffered the ravages of phylloxera, the vine eating louse, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries,
However in the late sixties, the Australian market turned from sweet fortified ports towards table wines—especially Chardonnay. As late as 1989, the Australian government was still paying growers to uproot old Shiraz vines—a travesty! Sadly, many growers unable to sell their Shiraz crops once the taste for sweet fortified ports lapsed in the early seventies lapsed crops would pull up the old vines and replace them with white grapes.
Most Shiraz vines in Australia are young, barely teenagers, with the exception of a few in the warm climate of the Barossa Valley, where a few families with foresight maintained some vines in a time of flux. Did you know that Yalumba was known as the Oporto of Australia? Or that the backbone of Penfold’s Grange is made up of old vine shiraz?
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