After months of forced closure, family-owned winery Ballandean Estate was one of several Granite Belt wineries grateful to open its cellar door for tastings to customers on Saturday.

The changes, announced by the State Government, last Friday, came as a relief to wineries on the Granite Belt and throughout Queensland.

Leeanne Puglisi-Gangemi, fourth-generation vigneron and wine industry leader, has spent the last few weeks working with the Queensland Wine Industry Association and lobbying the Office of Liquor and Gaming to ease pandemic restrictions.

“It was frustrating to see cellar doors excluded from the lifted restrictions that enabled restaurants and cafes to host ten patrons at a time,” said Puglisi-Gangemi.

“Wineries have so much space! We believe that wineries should be able to offer cellar door tastings with numbers reflecting the size of the venue and its COVID-safe plan.

“We are thrilled that wineries are now able to provide seated tastings to guests and continue to sell bottles for takeaway. All of us have really been missing the face to face contact we enjoy at Queensland’s oldest family-owned and -operated winery on the Granite Belt.

“Ballandean Estate’s cellar doors sales have been reduced by 70 percent since lock-down.  However online sales have increased exponentially, thanks to the support and encouragement received from our loyal customers over the last few months and innovating in our digital approach to marketing.

“It has made the world of difference. From the Puglisi family, we would like to thank every person who is getting behind our family-owned and -run business and keeping us afloat.”

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