THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
1923 TYRRELL’S SHORT FLAT VINEYARD (1923 PLANTINGS) Hunter Valley, New South Wales
Planted on free-draining sandy soils (high in calcium and magnesium) by Avery and Dan Tyrrell, this venerable block of semillon, planted as Hunter River riesling, is a mainstay of the Hunter Valley’s valuable pre-phylloxera vinestock material. Further plantings were made in 1968. The Short Flat Vineyard 1923 continues to contribute to Tyrrell’s Vat 1 Semillon.
1924 LINDEMAN’S ST CORA BURGUNDY Hunter Valley, New South Wales
This wine was served at the Kirkton Vineyard centenary banquet by Leo Buring, although the vineyard had not quite made the hundred years. The 1924 vintage was the last made from this property; about a hundred gallons of chablis and a hundred gallons of burgundy were made that year. The vineyard was subsequently abandoned, but the St Cora name prospered, becoming one of Australia’s most recognised wines of the 1940s and 1950s. The Lindeman’s Ben Ean Vineyard subsequently became an important source for the wine after the abandonment of the Kirkton Vineyard.
created Grandfather Port. An expert distiller, he improved the quality of brandy spirit production. During the 1920s, he excavated the Magill tunnels. By 1927, Penfolds was, according to the Adelaide Register, ‘Australia’s largest and best Port Winemakers’. And by 1929, Penfolds had a fleet of 12 American-manufactured Nash 400 cars in Melbourne for its sales team. At Nuriootpa, the Penfolds business comprised a distillery, winery, spirits stores and warehouses, bond stores, a cooperage, and a blacksmith shop. It also boasted the then-largest pot still in the world. Alfred Scholz had also worked as an assistant blender for Albert Vesey, who had been employed by Mary Penfold in 1884. Vesey, whose reputation as a taster and blender was unmatched (he disliked
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