1951
A bottle of Grange Hermitage
Plonk
The 1951 Grange Hermitage was the first vintage created by winemaker Max Schubert, and it is now the most prized wine in Australia. The following year’s Grange proved the long-term viability of premium wine in Australia. ‘A concoction of wild fruits and sundry berries with crushed ants predominating’ was, according to Schubert, one of the first reviews of the wine.
The first vines arrived in Australia with the First Fleet but, like other efforts in early agriculture, the results of the plantings were underwhelming. Blue Mountains explorer Gregory Blaxland had developed a vineyard in the Sydney region by the early 1820s and was exporting to Europe, but the wine was ordinary. The climate elsewhere in the country, especially the Hunter Valley and the Adelaide Hills, was more favourable. Most regions, from the Hunter Valley through the Riverina, Victoria, Tasmania and as far west as Margaret River in Western Australia, had some success with vineyards. Medicos such as Dr Henry Lindeman and Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold were initially interested in wine as a medicine.
The family names of Brown Brothers, Henschke, McWilliam, Tyrrell, Hill-Smith and Seppelt, to name a few, are now all associated with wine from the early days of the Australian industry, and are still found on the labels of contemporary bottles. The family association gives a sense of the scale of the Australian industry in its first century.
By and large, the early Australian product was fortified wines such as port and sweet sherry. As late as 1965, Australians averaged roughly five bottles of wine per head per annum, only one of which was table wine. The standard refreshments were beer and spirits.
Things began to change in the 1950s. A wave of immigration from Mediterranean countries broadened Australian eating habits, especially with the cheap Italian and Greek eateries that were established in the major cities. Most Australians in the 1950s would have looked disdainfully at local wine, preferring French. However, technical innovation and the creativity of Australian winemakers in that decade transformed the quality of local wine, and it quickly grew in popularity.
In 1956 Colin Gramp at Orlando launched the sparking white wine Barossa Pearl, based on a German style known as Perlwein. This faux champagne was an instant hit, especially with women, and it was soon followed by similar sweet and sparkling wines with exotic names such as Sparkling Rhinegold, Starwine, Gala Spumante and Porphyry Pearl.
But the big bang in Australian wine had occurred five years earlier, in 1951, when Max Schubert made his first vintage of Grange Hermitage. The country just didn’t know it yet.
Schubert came, as did many immigrant families in the district, from Silesian stock. He joined Penfolds in 1931 as a roustabout and, aside from war service, worked there for his entire career. By 1948, he had been promoted to production manager at Magill Winery and two years later went to Europe on a study tour – ironically, to study sherry. He was seduced by Bordeaux reds and resolved to create an Australian wine of similar quality that would age over decades.
‘It was during my initial visit to the major winegrowing areas of Europe in 1950 that the idea of producing an Australian red wine capable of staying alive for a minimum of 20 years and comparable with those produced in Bordeaux first entered my mind,’ said Schubert. ‘I was fortunate to be taken under the wing of Monsieur Christian Cruse . . . and he afforded me . . . the rare opportunity of tasting and evaluating Bordeaux wines between 40 and 50 years old which were still sound and possessed magnificent bouquet and flavour.’
Returning to South Australia, Schubert was faced with a much smaller selection of grapes than that available to the French masters. Making a virtue of necessity, he chose to use only Shiraz (then also known by the French appellation of Hermitage) from two particular vineyards, one being Penfolds Grange vineyards at the Magill winery in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges, outside Adelaide, and the other a vineyard south of Adelaide. Schubert, now an expert in refrigeration and the most up-to-date techniques, created his rich, ‘ruby red’ liquid.
Early opinions were not favourable. After six years, Penfolds’ head office called for a selection of each year’s output and a taste test was arranged. The verdict was catastrophic: Schubert was instructed to stop production of Grange Hermitage.
Despite this directive from head office, Schubert, with the support of assistant general manager Jeffrey Penfold Hyland, continued producing Grange. In 1960 the ban was lifted and Schubert was asked to reactivate his project. The 1955 vintage – which the vintner considered to be one of the best-ever years – was entered in the Open Claret class at the 1962 Sydney Royal Easter Show, where its sophistication astounded the judges.
That wine has now won more than 50 medals in Australia and internationally and has been noted in some international journals as one of the great wines of the 20th century. The richness and quality of Grange has consistently impressed and delighted drinkers. Schubert proved that Australian wine could have its own style and be as sophisticated as any wine in the world.
In 1990 the European Union insisted that Australian winemakers stop using European regional names for their fruit, and so the name of Schubert’s famous wine was shortened to Penfolds Grange – but its fame remains undiminished.
Now with a standard-bearer, the wine revolution took off during the 1960s. Bon vivant Len Evans became a tireless promoter of local wine both in Australia and overseas. In 1965 the wine cask, also known as a ‘bag in a box’ or ‘goon’, came to market, reflecting the rapid adoption of still wine as a popular beverage.
The rising tide of popularity raised all boats. The Independent recently reported domestic consumption as 36 bottles per head per year. The United Kingdom drinks more Australian wine than it does French.
Although it started out reasonably priced, Grange is now beyond the reach of most Australians: a bottle of the 1951 vintage will set you back around $50 000. But its influence is felt all the way down to the lowly cleanskin.