By Emily-Rose Toohey
Born and bred Ballandean man Mike Hayes was honoured as a Fellow of the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) for his outstanding 16 years of work with the Queensland College of Wine Tourism, adding yet another distinguished achievement to his resume.
Although the college formally opened in 2007, Mike said he first became involved with the Stanthorpe-based venture upon its initial inception in 2006 after being approached by his former Stanthorpe State High School teacher, John Neville.
University Fellow recipients are awarded to individuals with long associations with an institution and according to Mike, are people who have contributed and given a lot to these institutions.
“It’s a high honour and I feel very humbled to receive the award, especially for something I love doing,” he said.
“I’m extremely fortunate to be employed in the industry I love and more importantly, be part of a movement to help put the Granite Belt region on the world map.”
Mike’s work with USQ includes being a faculty board member and a Wine Industries adjunct professor training and teaching students in viticulture and enology, among other key roles at the Queensland College of Wine Tourism.
After 43 years of working in the industry across 16 wine regions, four states, and two countries, Mike has been honoured by his peers and received numerous awards in the past, including Australian Society of Viticulture and Oenology (ASVO) Winemaker of the Year in 2017 on top of running his own wine consulting service (Vine to Wine).
As a result, Mike has established himself as one of the industry’s key leaders and is at the forefront of championing winemakers on the Granite Belt.
However, every success story has a beginning and for Mike, he said that was 1979 when he was chipping weeds in a vineyard before making his professional working debut a year later as assistant winemaker at Robinson Family Vineyards.
“My favourite thing about the industry is learning more and more every day – I read a lot,” he said.
Mike has decided to put his wealth of knowledge into writing as a result.
Two years ago, he started writing a book about his experiences on his Churchill Fellowship (which was completed in 2013) involving the winemaker’s travels and study of European vineyards across Portugal, Spain and Italy.
“I’ve always wanted to write a book,” Mike said.
“There’s a huge difference between Australian and European vineyards.
“The Europeans were also generous with sharing information and were more than accommodating.”
However, four weeks ago, Mike suffered a heart attack after years of hard work and said the setback encouraged him to slow down professionally.
“It knocked me around and made me realise that I should stop and smell the roses,” he said.
Presently, the multitalented winemaker, viticulturist, consultant and researcher is working at Balancing Heart Vineyards and remains passionate about the Granite Belt region and its wine industry at large.
“There’s a diversity of people in the region with a lot of great people,” Mike said.
