Forty years in the making – Christine, Allan, and the Pankhurst Wines story

Posted on 21 September, 2026

There are businesses that begin with a plan, while others unfold through a chance meeting, curiosity, grit and a willingness to back an idea long before anyone else can quite see it.

That’s the story of Pankhurst Wines, now celebrating 40 years of growing grapes on the rolling granite hills near Hall.

It is also the story of Christine and Allan Pankhurst, two people from different sides of the world who met in Papua New Guinea, built a life together in Canberra, and then created a vineyard and winery from scratch on land that, at first glance, offered little more than drought, dead grass and sheep bones.

Christine grew up in London, the daughter of Polish immigrants who had come through the upheaval of the Second World War. She studied pharmacy at Manchester University before beginning her career in London hospitals. But when an opportunity arose to work as a pharmacist in Papua New Guinea, she took it. By early 1978 she was in Port Moresby as Chief Pharmacist at Port Moresby Hospital, doing work that reached well beyond the dispensing of medicines and into the health of the broader community.

Allan’s path began in Sydney, where a love of the bush and the outdoors sat alongside a family history steeped in agriculture. Farming was in his blood. He studied Agricultural Science at the University of Sydney, graduating in 1974 and winning the William Farrer Medal for Practical Agriculture. After early work in farm planning and management, including an Australian aid project in South Korea, he too found himself drawn to Papua New Guinea, where he worked with the PNG Development Bank on agricultural feasibility studies and projects.

It was there, in Port Moresby, that Christine and Allan met – both immersed in demanding work that required practicality, intelligence and resilience. Their relationship grew in a place that tested their ability to take on complex challenges.

Almost four years later, they returned to Australia with a wedding planned and the beginnings of a new life ahead. Canberra appealed immediately. For Allan, it offered the possibility of farming just beyond the city, while still remaining connected to Australia’s international aid sector. For Christine, the rapidly growing capital presented professional opportunities in pharmacy. They rented in and around Canberra while waiting for the right piece of land – something close to town, but rural enough to carry Allan’s long-held farming ambitions.

Allan breaking ground in the vineyard

In 1984, they found it at Wallaroo, west of Hall. While Allan saw potential straight away, Christine was more focussed on the drought-stricken paddocks, strewn with sheep bones. There was no romantic country estate waiting for them: only an old shearing shed, a hay shed and livestock yards some 600 metres from where they hoped to build their home. Everything else would have to be imagined, planned and made real by hand.

It was at that time that wine became their sole focus.

“We wanted some intensive agriculture with integrated business activities as well as the more extensive grazing of sheep and cattle. Growing grapes and making wine fitted that objective and seemed a logical way to go with Allan’s family’s long-term interest in wines. However, we considered various options for the land and environment. No other option ticked the boxes as did grape production and winemaking,” says Christine.

That became the Pankhurst way. They built their house as owner-builders, learning as they went, stretching their budget and moving in after just under eight months. Then came the vineyard. In the winter of 1986, they began planting their first block of vines themselves. A second block followed in 1991 and a third in 1992–93, bringing the vineyard to five hectares. Others told them they were mad to grow wine grapes in the Canberra region. On long, exhausting days, they occasionally wondered if those critics might be right. But the science was sound, the soils were promising and the emerging Canberra wine pioneers – a community of largely academics, scientists and CSIRO professionals intrigued by wine – were proving the region had something special to say.

From the beginning, Christine and Allan understood that good wine starts long before the bottle. It starts in the soil, in the vines, and in the patient decisions made season after season.

Their achievements have never come easily. They built the vineyard while managing demanding professional lives – Christine in pharmacy and clinical research, Allan in international aid projects – as well as raising a family and navigating the pressures of a small, hands-on rural business. In the early years, interest rates climbed to unthinkable levels.

“People complain at rates now, but just after we bought the property and built the house, mortgage interest rates went up to 19 per cent. Imagine the uproar if that happened now! That was tough and particularly when we were just starting our family and building our vineyard,” recalls Allan.

There were long days, difficult seasons, commercial pressures and the constant challenge of matching personal passion with consumer demand. Even decisions made with conviction had to evolve; Semillon, once a favourite and capable of producing outstanding wines, later gave way to Marsanne in response to changing tastes.

Yet after four decades, the successes are undeniable. Visitors regularly remark on the consistent quality of the wines and the warmth of the cellar door experience. Restaurants have sought out Pankhurst wines for their lists. Wine show results have reinforced what loyal customers already know – that this small family-run vineyard produces wines of real character. At the 2025 Canberra and Region Wine Show, Pankhurst entered 10 wines and received nine medals. The one wine that missed out, the 2022 Arneis, went on soon after to be named Australia’s Best Arneis by Young Gun of Wine.

The Pankhurst story also carries a sense of innovation. Their two-tier trellis system, developed for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, was forward-thinking in 1986 and remains part of their pursuit of clean, high-quality fruit. Allan’s leadership within the Canberra District Wine Industry Association and his role in the Centenary Wines project for Canberra’s 2013 celebrations show that the Pankhursts’ contribution has extended beyond their own property. They have helped promote and strengthen the region they believed in before it was fashionable.

Perhaps that is what makes their longevity so compelling. Pankhurst Wines is not a business built by investors, consultants or inherited infrastructure – it was built by two people who arrived at a dry paddock with professional skills, practical minds and an extraordinary willingness to work. They chose the site, built the home, planted the vines, refined the vineyard, collaborated with skilled winemakers and kept learning.

Forty years on, they are taking a moment to celebrate and reflect on their extraordinary journey. And no, there are no plans to slow down or leave.

“It’s a great farm and business,” they say simply. “We don’t want to do anything else.”

Fun final fact. The Pankhurst name is an homage to one of the most celebrated suffragettes in the world – Emmeline Pankhurst – with Allan a descendant of the brother of Emmeline’s husband, Dr Richard Marsden Pankhurst. Emmeline and Richard had three daughters – Christabel, Adela and Sylvia, all of whom became suffragettes. Christine and Allan have named two sparkling wines after the first two daughters and the third (Sylvia) was such a radical that they haven’t thought of producing a radical wine befitting of her name. Yet.

On Sunday 27 September, from 12 pm, Pankhurst Wines will hold its 40th birthday party, and the public are invited. Enjoy live music by guitarist Michael Bray and food by Tacontento at the cellar door, as well as a special tasting of some of their past vintages. Bookings preferred at allanandchristine@pankhurstwines.com.au or phone 0418667433