Angelo Puglisi
COURAGE AND CONVICTION
Known to many as the ‘father of the Queensland wine industry’, Angelo Puglisi prevailed through doubt and drought to prove that Queensland can make great wine.
In the 1960s, Australia’s ‘sunshine state’, famous for its beaches and warm weather, seemed an unlikely place to grow wine grapes. But Angelo knew that the cool hills of the Granite Belt, in south-east Queensland, had potential. It’s where his Italian grandfather had settled and grown fruit. And it’s where Angelo and his family have built an award-winning wine estate and helped pioneer a wine region.
Making history
He might have a walking stick these days (while he once sported a purple safari suit), but pioneering winemaker Angelo isn’t slowing down. Now in his 70s, Angelo is still working in the vineyard and still championing the Granite Belt wine region.
“I was out picking this morning, with a lot of young people,” says Angelo. “These young people were saying, ‘but you should go and sit down’. No, you keep up with me and then I’ll sit down.”
Known to many as the ‘father of the Queensland wine industry’, Angelo Puglisi prevailed through doubt and drought to prove that Queensland can make great wine.
He’s a hard man to keep up with. The founder of Ballandean Estate Wines, Queensland’s oldest family-owned winery, Angelo helped establish the state’s wine industry. In the 1960s he replanted the family vineyard with wine grapes (until then there were only table grapes grown in the area) and set a course for a future in wine.
“The day I decided to create a wine industry for Queensland, that was the day my life changed,” says Angelo. “And for the first few years it was pretty rough when everybody thought I was a joke.”
In the face of doubt and criticism, Angelo persisted. In the region’s cool, unpredictable climate, he protected his vines from hail, frosts, floods and drought. Alongside his wife Mary, he built a wine estate from the ground up and helped shape a new wine region.
“Our philosophy is to do the best you can with what you've got,” says Angelo. “Always be positive about everything around you, and Mother Nature will look after you.”
Over the years, Angelo has been recognized with numerous awards for himself, his wines and Ballandean Estate. There’s even a book about him.
“I would like to be remembered as the bloke who got wine going here in Queensland and believed in the fact that we could have good wine,” says Angelo.
“The day I decided to create a wine industry for Queensland, that was the day my life changed.” – Angelo Puglisi
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