CHAPTER 20 | 1950s – Boom Times Again
changes in production and advances in technology. Deen De Bortoli had joined the family business in 1952 at age 15 and quickly became a fierce advocate for modernisation and transition to table winemaking. De Bortoli’s Farm 1393, originally a soldier settlement block, would quietly expand over the forthcoming years. It was in a prime position to take advantage of the table wine boom, with lower production costs, cutting-edge technology, and smart business practices. For instance, a large proportion of its volume was sold in bulk to key Australian wineries of the time. The Federal Viticultural Council of Australia released an overview of the Australian wine trade in 1959. That year the total production of the vintage was 177,000 tons, representing about 34 million gallons of wine, of which roughly two million gallons were exported. At the AWRI, which was celebrating five years of existence, studies in the performance of malolactic fermentation and investigations into the relationship between grape variety, environment, and wine quality were being carried out. Among its staff were research officer Bryce Rankine, who would later become Dean of Oenology and viticulture at Roseworthy Agricultural College, and Director of the Institute John Fornachon, whose work on bacterial spoilage in fortified wines and studies on sherry flor were regarded as seminal works. In a list of licensed winemakers, only two Queensland names were
published – Romaville Vineyards Pty Ltd and C Cheetham at Cecil Plains – highlighting the challenges of grape growing and winemaking in that state. . . . Almost every aspect of Australian life is changing as new technologies become a part of daily life. Steam trains are gradually displaced by diesel engines, and international travel, previously dominated by shipping lines, are overhauled by jet transport. Fast communications, an increasingly multi- cultural lifestyle, and new progressive outlook shape Australia’s future. Yet, Australia’s old vine legacy is a reminder of the efforts of previous generations of vignerons. Many of these surviving and vulnerable old vines are the foundation of Australia’s contemporary fine wine aesthetic and ambitions. Will they last another hundred years?
Mt Ophir office, Rutherglen Victoria, 1957. [All Saints Collection]
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