THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
1954 BROWN BROTHERS OF MILAWA SHIRAZ MONDEUSE CABERNET King Valley, Victoria
The inaugural 1954 Brown Brothers Shiraz Mondeuse Cabernet blend was among the winery’s first varietally labelled wines. JC Brown recalled, ‘I abandoned the names Claret and Burgundy in the early 1950s’ and ‘it wasn’t until around 1954 that we actually marketed some (of our wines) under varietal names. When I started calling wines Shiraz-Cabernet and Shiraz-Mondeuse, some thought I was crazy. But it was not long before people wanted my Shiraz and Cabernet and Mondeuse blends.’ The year 1954 began a tradition of picking and co-fermenting all of the varieties together, resulting in a wine of great concentration, depth of flavour, and ageing capacity. According to John Charles Brown, mondeuse is a late ripener, with high acid and tannins giving extended life to the blends, particularly the shiraz, which has big fruit and low acid. Alluding to its longevity, François de Castella had introduced mondeuse to JC Brown as a ‘golden wedding wine variety’. The 1954 Shiraz Mondeuse Cabernet, comprising 100% Milawa material, was matured in seasoned oak casks, but this would change as wineries started to look at new-oak barriques, especially in the wake of Penfolds Grange Hermitage, a wine that would draw comparisons. The series would also become a 100% Milawa wine as the years progressed.
Andrew says there would have an image on file for this, but I can't find sorry.
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