Story Two - Wine, Migration and the Granite Belt

12 May

Queensland’s Granite Belt carries more than a wine story — it tells a story of migration, adaptation and family enterprise across generations.

The earliest recorded vines in the region were planted in the 1860s by Father Jerome Davadi, a priest who experimented with viticulture in the Stanthorpe district. While these early plantings marked the beginning of wine growing in the region, the foundations of today’s industry are firmly rooted in post-1945 migration and settlement.

After the Second World War, Italian migrant families arrived in the Granite Belt bringing deep agricultural knowledge and strong winemaking traditions. By the 1960s, many growers were transitioning their farms away from tobacco and into wine grapes, reshaping the local agricultural economy and laying the foundations for a modern regional wine industry.

These families did more than establish vineyards — they reshaped the identity of the region. Early production often focused on fortified wines, reflecting both market demand and European winemaking traditions. Over time, however, the Granite Belt evolved toward premium table wines, including Italian varietals such as Sangiovese, Fiano and Nebbiolo. These varieties directly reflect the heritage of the growers and the cultural continuity they brought with them from Europe.

One of the most enduring examples of this legacy is Ballandean Estate, founded in 1930 by Sicilian migrant Salvatore Cardillo and his daughter Josephine. The estate survived economic hardship, drought and war-time restrictions, later becoming a cornerstone of Queensland’s wine industry. This story was continued and grown by Angelo and Mary Puglisi from 1968 when they changed table grapes planting to wine grapes.

Today, the Granite Belt is recognised as Queensland’s leading wine region. Its cellar doors, vineyards and family-run businesses continue to reflect a living heritage where food, land and migration are deeply intertwined.

From early experimentation in the 1860s to today’s internationally recognised wines, the Granite Belt story is one of transformation — where migrant knowledge, local conditions and family resilience combined to create one of Queensland’s most distinctive food and cultural landscapes.