CHAPTER 20 | 1950s – Boom Times Again
Jeffrey Penfold Hyland (1911–1990), who began work as a cellar hand in the family firm, was assistant general manager of Penfolds in South Australia during the mid-1950s. He was also an important part of the Grange jigsaw puzzle. Having each served in the AIF during World War II, Jeffrey Hyland and Max Schubert intuitively gravitated towards each other. They talked about the possibilities of creating new wines to meet the demands of a more relaxed culture. Although legislation to extend opening hours happened a bit later, the emerging cafe society and the increasing vibrancy of the restaurant scene were already proof that the Australian lifestyle was changing. Assertive, visionary, and confident, they created a remarkable winemaking culture of research and product development, particularly in South Australia. Max Schubert said that ‘without his support, Grange would have died a natural but not peaceful death’. The arrival of further immigrants from Europe promoted this emerging cafe society, especially in Melbourne. Although he had an English name, Jimmy Watson’s mother’s surname was Panelli. Throughout the 1950s and ’60s, Jimmy Watson’s Wine Bar in Lygon Street, Carlton, became a major meeting place for wine and food aficionados. The business had been established in 1935, just before World War II, when Australians generally drank beer, two-penny dark port, and sweet sherry. During the 1940s, Jimmy Watson had bought dry whites and reds in hogsheads, the preferred shipping containers of the day, and bottled the wines himself for sale, marking his hogsheads with the image of a roaring lion. Jimmy Watson became one of the key wine identities in Melbourne during this time and did much to encourage the culture of civilised and moderate wine drinking. When he died in 1962, friends, family, and customers inaugurated the perpetual Jimmy Watson Trophy for the best one-year-old red still in barrel at the Melbourne Royal Wine Awards show. A network of restaurants, wine bars, and cafes sprouted, many owned by Italians, including the Denat, Virgona, and Massoni families, supporting the fledgling Australian fine wine scene. As mentioned, the 1951 Grange Hermitage vintage was only a moderate success from a qualitative perspective and was binned for reference purposes. It was the subsequent 1952 vintage, bolstered by pressings from Nuriootpa, that gave the wine an extra richness and concentration. Max Schubert called it Grange Hermitage after the house and vineyard established by Christopher and Mary Penfold in 1844. Max Schubert also preferred the moniker hermitage to shiraz, saying it was designed to ‘pander to the snobs in New South Wales’, an important market for Penfolds. Max Schubert’s ambition to make something ‘different and meaningful’ resonates profoundly, even today. His creation of a dynasty of ‘ethereal and buoyant’ wines began an important fine wine tradition.
291
Powered by FlippingBook