Queensland mango farmer turns tropical wine merchant

When far north Queensland mango farmer Robert de Brueys’ fruit crops began losing money he turned to the bottle, using his love of wine to secure his future. On the outskirts of Mareeba, on the Atherton Tablelands west of Cairns, Robert de Brueys once ran a small but successful mango farm. But when trade agreements between Australia and China chipped away at his profit margin he found a new way to use the iconic fruit; he began to make wine out of it. “I’d had this little thought in the back of my mind for some time,” de Brueys said.