THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
CIRCA 1907 EMU BRAND BURGUNDY South Australia
The Australian Wine Company’s Emu Brand Burgundy became increasingly successful during the 1900s, especially after its owners, Mssrs WW Pownall & Co, were appointed suppliers of Australian wines to the House of Lords in 1907. While general wine trade in London was sluggish and had contracted significantly around this time, the market for Australian burgundy-type wine ‘had more than held its own’, according to the story ‘Australian Wines in England’ in the Melbourne Leader (30th of June 1906). This was partly because the wines were full-bodied styles and had been strongly recommended by the medical community. Emu Burgundy was heavily advertised around London. Wine merchant Walter Bagenal recalled a story of a woman from one of the English counties who was visiting the London Zoo and spotted an emu for the first time. ‘Willie’, she said to her inquiring boy, ‘look at the big Burgundy – them things you see on the posters’.
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