[4] Eric's father was a Swede who had jumped ship at Port Pirie, South Australia and married into an Australian family of German descent.
[4] In 1971 Gil and Vincie Wahlquist, seeking a slower-paced lifestyle, moved to Mudgee, a town in the central west of New South Wales.
In the meantime Gil signed on as editor of the Mudgee Guardian newspaper[4] (on a third of his original salary in the city)[7] and also launched the Botobolar Bugle, which would become "Australia’s longest-running winery newsletter".
[3] He and his fellow vignerons persuaded the New South Wales Department of Education to set up a six-month course in viticulture at Mudgee Technical College, beginning in 1974.
[14] Wahlquist strongly advocated the introduction of an Australian appelation contrôlée system under which "labels would certify that the wines were grown with grapes grown in the Mudgee area" and would lead to "stringent methods of production and marketing" with the final outcome being in the "development of a distinctive regional wine style in Australia".
Following Wahlquist's arrival and innovations from 1971, large and small vineyards started planting vines in Mudgee once again and the district's industry prospered.
In 1994 Wahlquist and his wife sold their vineyard to Kevin and Trina Karstrom[1] and moved to Hunters Hill, a suburb in the lower north shore of Sydney.
[22][1] Gil and Vincie had four children, Åsa Karin, a Walkley Award winning journalist, Roland, previously the CEO of the Australian winemaker Brown Brothers,[23][24] Janet, and Nancy, all of whom survived him.