THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
and northeast Victoria. The other wineries comprised Tyrrell’s, Tulloch’s, Drayton’s, Elliott’s, Wilkinson’s, and Phillips. The exceptional Maurice O’Shea of McWilliam’s Mount Pleasant winery was the region’s shining light.
In 1956, close to the nadir of the Valley, there were only 466 hectares of vines in production, a year in which fortified wines sales accounted for 81% of total wine sales. – James Halliday, The Australian Wine Compendium , 1985
. . . JY Tulloch & Sons was another important winery in the Hunter Valley. For most of the previous decades, John Younie Tulloch had sold his wines primarily in bulk, the preferred way to handle wine. Without a tourist market, city merchants were much better placed to distribute wines through their local networks (unlike the négociant system that is a feature of the Bordeaux wine scene). Even so, Tulloch’s Glen Elgin was famous for the quality of its wines. A 1924 advertisement in the Newcastle Sun had encouraged wine drinkers to order JY Tulloch’s ferruginous Glen Elgin Wines ‘for your health’s sake.’ But distribution must have been difficult. John Younie Tulloch, then general manager of the Branxton General Store, acquired the 43-acre Glen Elgin property at Pokolbin around 1883, with five acres of straggling shiraz vines. Reports suggest he may have been given the land in lieu of a debt. JY Tulloch had begun his working life as a telegraphist on the railway, using the ‘old Morse instrument’, and his exceptional ability made him a local celebrity. While still at school, he trained more senior employees of NSW Railways on how to use Morse code. At that time, the railway was being extended through Currabubula, Tamworth, and Armidale. Later, Tulloch made his name as the local grocer. After moving to Glen Elgin, he acquired more land and concentrated on making light wines. His first vintage was in 1896 and comprised just one hogshead. As a Methodist, winemaking was hardly in his blood, but he was a battler and survived and prospered through the difficulties of Federation (when South Australian wines made huge inroads in the local market) and the Great Depression. This was largely aided by a prosperous local coal mining community. By 1916, the 100-acre vineyard had been planted primarily to hermitage (shiraz) and cabernet sauvignon and produced roughly 25,000 gallons of wine a year, mostly hock and claret. Plantings also included semillon and verdelho. But the reality of a changing market and move to fortified wines saw the business go
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