THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
1948 CHÂTEAU TAHBILK BIN 11 SHIRAZ Goulburn Valley, Victoria
The 1948 Bin 11 Shiraz is remembered as one of the great Château Tahbilk reds of the 1940s. It was considered, according to one newspaper, to be rather a big wine with excellent balance and tannin finish. The Australian Brewing and Wine Journal reported in October 1954 that ‘this opened in every respect, a magnificent wine. Possessing a most attractive delicate bouquet, it went through on the palate particularly well and finished with a typical dryness which rounded off its other outstanding features.’ During the 1950s, the Hunter Valley and South Australia, particularly Penfolds, were considered the benchmarks of the day. When tasted blind by experts, 1948 Château Tahbilk Bin 11 Shiraz was not identified as a Victorian wine: ‘It opened a particularly good type of Australian Claret, with excellent colour, full of character and finishing in grand style’. In many respects, it was back-handed praise, but the Château Tahbilk Bin 11 Shiraz ushered in a new era of confidence in Victorian wine. At a Viticulture Society luncheon, Eric Purbrick revealed that the wine was made entirely from shiraz pressings and bottled in 1950, after around 18 or 19 months oak maturation.
. . . In 1948, Claudio Alcorso purchased a 19-hectare plot of land at Berriedale, near Hobart, on a peninsula known as Large Frying Pan. In a 2020 Tasmanian Heritage Council register, it is recorded that Alcorso recalled that the owner’s land ‘was a neglected orchard, unkempt, unpruned apple and pear trees, except for the casuarina-covered banks which had been left untouched. A hedge of cherry plums marked the dividing line with the Council’s reserve. This was the land which became the focus of my life and the anchor to my new country.’ In 1958, against the advice of the local council who believed his site was only suited to apples and pears, he planted 70 riesling cuttings obtained from his friend David Wynn in South Australia. The first wines, produced in 1962, with their distinctive cloth labels, soon won a sound reputation for Moorilla Estate. Throughout his career, Claudio Alcorso showed a particular interest in Australia’s emerging arts scene. He became a significant patron of the arts and was instrumental in the setting up of Opera Australia and the Australian Ballet. But by the mid-1990s, the dream at Moorilla Estate faltered, and the property changed hands. It would later become extremely famous during the 2010s for its daring and visionary plunge into wine and arts tourism.
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