‘There are so many stories about Wolf Blass that it’s hard to know when fact shades into fiction.’
So says Tim Atkin in his Guardian review of Wolf Blass – Behind the Bow Tie by Liz Johnstone. ‘Did he really page himself at airports so that other people would hear his name? Did he once drive his Rolls-Royce into an electricity pylon, pitching a city suburb into darkness before disappearing into the bush clutching his personalised number plates? And what about those trademark bow ties? Practicality or affectation?’
Photo credit: Jeni Port
No one would argue that Wolf is a great self-promoter, but I would argue that he has exaggerated his achievements. He’s even invented some of them. Here’s what a PR blurb from 1996 says: ‘With his talent in winemaking discovered, Wolf Blass received job offers in Australia and Venezuela. Fortunately for Australia he accepted a 3 year contract with Kaiser Stuhl Wines in Australia, and arrived in 1961. During these years he developed sparkling wines for Kaiser Stuhl, providing enormous competition for the then market leader, Orlando’s Barossa Pearl.’
The world according to Wolf
Ian Hickinbotham developed a range of pearl wines at Kaiserstuhl in the late fifties, which he supplied to several big wine companies. These became such big sellers that Ian needed more winemakers. He says he hired Wolf Blass because there was no way an Aussie winemaker would work for a tiny co-op of dubious stability. More on pearl wines here: The 1960s – from Pearl Wine to Chateau Cardboard
When Wolf talked to Richard Fidler on ABC radio in 2011, he said Australian wines were awful when he arrived. Wolf changed all that, turned the industry upside down all by himself. He never mentions Ian Hickinbotham, Max Schubert, Jack Mann, Roger Warren, Colin Preece, Ron Haselgrove or Maurice O’Shea. He can barely bring himself to mention John Glaetzer, the fellow who made Wolf’s wines and won all the bling for him.
True Genius
John Glaetzer retired from Blass Wines (then owned by Southcorp) in 2004, after 3 decades of making wine for the Wolf Blass label. ‘It is hard to know where to start when recounting John’s remarkable career,’ said Chris Hatcher who took over as Chief Winemaker for the Blass label (now owned by TWE), ‘the countless winemaking accolades or the hundreds of show judging appearances … John has been responsible for the creation of the hugely popular Yellow Label, the multiple award-winning Black Label, the continuing evolution of the Wolf Blass style, and the creation of the President’s Selection for international markets.’
‘John makes wines that people want to drink,’ Chris added. ‘He makes wines with softness and richness of flavour and famously matures his wines in the very best oak barrels. Among Australian winemaking circles, John is renowned as the man who coined the famous phrase No wood: no good.’
True Modesty
In short, John Glaetzer is Australia’s most decorated winemaker by a country mile. Why didn’t you know that? Because John is a quiet, modest, down-to-earth kind of guy who doesn’t blow his own trumpet, which left Wolf enough space to run the entire brass section. John was happy to take a backseat and never got in the way of Wolf’s huge ego.
John has been so much in Wolf’s shadow that you can barely find anything written about him on the internet. Ric Einstein (also known as TORB – The Opinionated Red Bigot) wrote ‘A True Story’ – Australia’s most Decorated Winemaker’ in 2007, and it makes fascinating reading. We’ve updated our own story Wolf Blass – Wine Wunderkind for the occasion of Wolf’s 80th birthday.
Kim