CHAPTER 16 | 1920s – Bountiful Years
Advertising Mirrors, ‘McWilliam’s Wines Real Australian’, reverse painted, kangaroo and emu on glass. Painted by C Ritchie Ltd, Sydney, New South Wales ca 1925. [Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences 172111]
Among these was Penfolds, which built a winery and distillery. It also provided vine cuttings, technical support, and a minimum price guarantee of £8 per ton for eight years to contracted growers. The first vintage crop was received in 1921, marking the beginning of irrigated viticulture on a grand scale in Australia, the fruit being used mainly for fortified wine production. The McWilliam family, who first planted vines at Corowa in 1877, were also significant supporters. Their success in building a profitable wine business during the difficult economic times of the late 1920s and early 1930s would allow them to purchase a half share in Maurice O’Shea’s Mount Pleasant winery in the Hunter Valley in 1932. But the 1920s were still lean years in the Hunter Valley. Some vineyards were pulled out, including Rosemount at Denman, and the Allandale winery also closed down. But like all difficult times, opportunities also presented themselves to optimistic investors. Penfolds purchased the Sparkling Vale property on Lovedale Road and planted vines around 1921, with the first harvest in 1924. Maurice O’Shea, one of Australia’s most enduring names in wine, purchased the Mount View Vineyard and two adjoining blocks from Charles King and renamed it Mount Pleasant. Although there had been an economic recovery of sorts after World War I, downy mildew, hail, and drought between 1925 and 1927 further reduced the grape intake. Whilst 1928 was a very great Hunter Valley vintage, the effects of an industrial dispute in 1929 caused massive social upheaval and violence. The local market collapsed in advance of a wider economic downturn triggered by the crash of the Wall Street stock market.
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