This is a guest post from Richard Warland. Richard has worked in and around the wine industry for over 4 decades as a winemaker and in management, sales, marketing, customer relations, distribution, and strategic development. Richard is a Roseworthy graduate and cut his winemaking teeth at Hardy’s in the late sixties where he worked with legendary figures like Dick Heath, a protege of Roger Warren.

As I recall, I was Hardy’s first formal “Cadet Winemaker”. My father was the McLaren Vale Post Master and I approached Hardy’s in 1968 with a request to work at Tintara for a year as a prerequisite for entry to the Roseworthy College oenology class. To my surprise and delight, Bob Hagley (Tintara Manager) not only confirmed agreement but advised that the company would sponsor my studies.

Subsequently I commenced at Mile End in mid 1968 and under Dick Heath’s guidance, had experience in every production facet available there. Dick Heath was a protégée of the (then) legendary Roger Warren who was a contemporary of the even-more-legendary Maurice O’Shea (See “Memories” below).

I studied at Roseworthy in 1970 and 1971, graduating as Oenologist “Number 112”, doing both vintages at Tintara. (Bob Hagley and I having somewhat of a love-hate relationship over the period. I’m sure fellow “slave” Jim Irvine shares these memories!).

On graduation I returned to Mile End where I was given responsibility for a wide range of tasks such as inter-winery blending logistics, pre-bottling preparation and quality control, charmat sparkling winemaking (Hardys Courier, Sparkling Moselle, Sparkling Burgundy and eventually “Swinger” a champagne and orange mix that was well ahead of its time considering today’s RTDs).

I also worked on a “Courier on tap” project, first launched at The Barn in the days of David Hardy’s ownership there. This project provided quite a technical challenge and not a few laughs – particularly because as a young single bloke I was “on-call” to attend parties whenever wherever in Adelaide!

I won my first Gold Medal for the company in 1972 – with a Dry Vermouth. (Simple really – I noted at the prior show that the medal winners all had a citrus hint. (Which was quite outside of the definition for the class!) – A dollop of lemon essence before the next show and hey presto! Gold! Gold! Gold! I did the ’73 and ’74 vintages at Siegersdorf (the real one – at Tanunda) with manager Johnny Fanto, sharing Basedow’s company house with Bill Crappsley (now with Sandalford).

Late in the ’73 vintage, Dick Heath called me with instructions to “make 10,000 gallons of Rose”. Using very ripe Grenache I “babied” the make – subsequently winning the Adelaide Show Championship Trophy and a score of golds (despite the wine being an “illegal” 15.6% Alc/Vol!). In 1974 I again won golds with the following vintage (Called Hardy’s Mill Rose – despite being made in the Barossa). The only problem was (as now) … nobody wanted to buy Rose!

Also in 1973, Hardy’s “loaned” me to a family friend Ken Commins, to assist Ian Hickinbotham at their “state of the art” new Upper-Hunter winery, Hollydene in the Upper Hunter Valley. Basically a circular tin shed with “Opera House” wings on the roof, it was cleverly designed…but nothing worked! I can remember filling the crusher from buckets, the new Coq press screwing its end out and me climbing into the then-new Potter fermenters, hanging onto a rope and jumping up and down until the marc fell away. (The OH&S authorities would have had a fit!).

…and then it rained…and rained…and rained! I do not know why anyone grows wine grapes in the Hunter!
At least, out of that came Silver medal for the ’73 “Dianne” Semillon – my one and only contribution to Hunter history (although I think we did process the first vintage from the Rosemount vineyard…!)

Other Memories

Favourite wines

• Hardys Reserve Bin Shiraz C896 1970 (later to become the very first “Eileen Hardy” – much cheaper under its original “Reserve Bin” label)

• Hardys Reserve Bin Coonawarra Claret – purchased in almost-finished form from Eric Brand for years.

• Hardys Delfino Sherry – I still think it is a tragedy that such a different style of wine is virtually non-existent in the Australian market today. I remember that John Fornachon of the AWRI published research papers which actually helped the Spanish improve the product!!!

• Hardys Vintage Port – another tragic absentee from our market today. The secret was the “taily” brandy spirit. I still have a bottle of ’54 given to me when I left the company.

• Hardys Old Castle (“Old Arseole”) Riesling – a curious blend in its heyday – often containing a goodly percentage of Hunter Semillon!

• And of course Hardys Mill Rose (although, if truth be told, I much preferred Jon Reynolds’s later Reynella versions made from Cabernet!)

Embarrassment

• Collapsing a tank on “Joe’s semi” after forgetting to open the top before pumping out of the bottom! (I understand that was almost a rite of passage for cellar hands in those days).

• Cutting the top of my finger off via a slipping hogshead at Tintara – I’ll always remember Des Budich consoling me on the way to hospital – “Nah Dick, she’s clean off…!”

• Going to sleep on the ‘loo at Mile End after a big function in the cellar and having to wake Jack Kilgour at some ungodly hour because I didn’t want to leave the front door unlocked!

• Stopping too close to the railway line at the Siegersdorf Road crossing in the Barossa and having Hardy’s car remodelled by a diesel engine towing stone!

• Deciding to go “on strike” against Bob Hagley when I was a Cellar Hand (those that knew him will understand!) and having Dick Heath come down to counsel me!

Pet Memories

• In my days under Dick Heath at Mile End, one of my tasks was the annual stock take and “rationalisation” of “the Museum” – a substantial collection of old and great wines in the bowels of the original building. Memories include –

• the number of great Maurice O’Shea wines I got to taste with Dick

• the 1936 Cabinet Clarets that were so ullaged Dick said “take them to a BBQ”…I did…and wished I hadn’t because they were superb!

• the pre-war red we gave to the AWRI which proved that the first atomic tests in the USA caused a measurable change in the fruit in Australia!

• the Old Castle Riesling which must have been so good at the time that more than 50 dozen were “put away” – but which I could pull the cork out with a finger nail!

• In pre-OH&S days the cellar hands had a hogshead into which “the bottoms” of every port tank or cask were deposited. This “blend” was then racked with a small diameter tube into flagons for mid-morning, lunch and mid-afternoon drinking (usually using peanut butter “glasses”)!

On one particular occasion I pumped out a “500” of Hardy’s Show Port 1941 – and “the bottoms” were so clear that I thought it would be a shame to lose it in “the boys blend” – so I put it straight into their “drinking flagons”. It was my first experience of “customer complaint”!!!!

Richard

The story of the wine merchants who turned a country of beer and sherry drinkers into lovers of fine wine 

The first half of the 20^th century saw dramatic changes in the way Australians lived. The gold rush of the previous century had attracted hordes of fortune seekers to Victoria, and Melbourne had become a thriving metropolis that dished up exotic food and wine and all kinds of entertainment. The Great Exhibition in Melbourne in 1880 was the crowning glory that celebrated Australia’s diversity and sophistication.

By the Fin de Siècle, there was a distinct feeling of the morning-after – the economy had stalled, there had been a run on the banks, and many saw this as punishment for previous excesses. The two world wars and the great depression in between had made survival a priority for most Australians. There was no room for fancy things like gourmet food and wine.

The wowsers and the 6 o’clock swill 

There was no room for immigrants either – the only winners were the wowsers. The temperance movement was run by women determined to stamp out the demon drink. They almost succeeded, but a compromise was reached with the 6 o’clock closing of pubs. The barbaric six o’clock swill was abolished in Sydney in 1955, but lasted another 11 years in Melbourne.

Source: Max Dupain

Wine companies took to promoting the health and medical benefits of their wares – hospital brandy etc. Virtually all wine and brandy was sold by hotels. There were no independent bottle shops and few wine merchants. Wine bars were dingy places avoided by self-respecting citizens.

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By Joseph Glascott

I reproduce this wonderful account written in 1989 in the hope that more people will read it and enjoy it. I love the part about how they kept getting thrown out of various restaurants because they insisted on critiquing the food, and had chefs coming after them from out of their kitchens … priceless.

Few countries of the world have changed their lifestyles so dramatically over the last 50 years as Australia. The Wine and Food Society of New South Wales has played a significant role in this revolution. The Society’s lead in developing and fostering sophisticated culinary and wine tastes has encouraged two generations of Australians to awaken to the pleasures of the table. Its influence has operated side by side, and given direction to, the evolution in our eating and drinking habits wrought by the influx of immigrants since World War II.

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From Migrant Family to Corporate Raiders and back

Another great name that fell into the greedy hands of corporate raiders, but this story has a happy ending, with new owners restoring Seppeltsfield to some of its former glory after it had been Southcorped, Rosemounted and Fostered over two decades.

I remember the first time I saw Seppeltsfield, on a glorious summer day. The long driveway lined by Canary Island Date Palms, the huge old bluestone buildings, the mausoleum for long-gone members of the family, and the majestic expanse of the place. Seppelt’s was one of Australia’s great wine dynasties, founded by Joseph Seppelt who came to Australia in 1849 from Silesia, a couple of years before modern Germany was defined in Frankfurt.

Joseph purchased a large property in the Barossa Valley and called it Seppeltsfield. It’s next to Marananga and Greenock, in an area that has an average annual rainfall of just 500 mm. Some of the world’s finest wine is made here, but Joseph planted tobacco at first because he’d been a snuff merchant back in Silesia.

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The Gold Rush

Australian wine had a heyday in the latter part of the 19^th century, when the gold rush brought all kinds of adventurers to this country. Boat people, migrants, refugees. They came from the old world and the new (America). They were seekers of fortune, followed by entertainers, suppliers of mining needs, cooks and market gardeners.

Melbourne was the hub of the gold rush, a bustling city where Bohemians entertained the masses in the lavish theatres that sprang up, where restaurateurs catered for their appetites, and where wine flowed easily. Australian wine triumphed at the great exhibition of 1888, at the magnificent new Exhibition Centre in Rathdowne Street. Victorian wines won medals against all comers, wines from Great Western and Bendigo and Geelong.

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Or was it John Glaetzer who worked the miracles?

(It’s Wolfie’s 80th birthday this last week in August 2014, so we’ve updated the story)

Those backward colonials

Wolf Blass has had a big influence on Australian wine making and marketing, no question about that. There’s also no question that Wolf’s mouth and ego are way bigger than the body they’re attached to. Wolf simply loves to cast himself in the role of Maverick, the young German who showed those backward colonials how to make table wine. He also showed them how to make soft reds that were easy to enjoy at just a few years of age, and that was a smart move on his part.

How he worked this particular magic is an interesting question, since he’d never made a drop of red until he came to our shores. He briefly made bubbly for a German company using the Charmat method, and worked for Avery’s in Bristol for 2 years where he learned how to blend wines from Bordeaux and Burgundy into the house styles of the company. He was 25 years old when Ian Hickinbotham brought him out to make Perlwein for Kaiserstuhl in 1961.

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Tracing our chardonnay boom, and busting some fairytales

This is an intriguing story that pops up at wine dinners from time to time, usually at the late, mellow stage of the evening as it did a few weeks ago when the old front benchers got together at Peter Bourne’s. It’s pretty common knowledge that Murray Tyrrell made the first Chardonnay down under, in the early seventies: Vat 47 Pinot Chardonnay, but that’s not true. Nor did he steal Chardonnay cuttings from Penfolds’ HVD vineyard, as the story goes.

I shared a bottle of Vat 47 a few weeks ago, a 1991 in wonderful condition. Funny thing is, I don’t remember Tyrrell’s making Vat 47 as far back as 1971. The first time I saw Vat 47s from the early seventies was in a retrospective tasting arranged by Murray Flannigan from Tyrrell’s in Peter Bourne’s Cleveland Street Emporium some time in the late eighties. I don’t remember if there was a 1971.

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