CHAPTER 23 | 1980–1982 – Out of the Cold
At Brown Brothers, new developments were also unfolding. Cool-climate viticulture in the remote sub-alpine Whitlands Plateau in northeast Victoria began in 1982 and foreshadowed the expansion of sparkling wine production. The first plantings were largely experimental, and there were visions that the Whitlands Vineyard would be the source for cool-climate varietals as well. The rush to plant in the area, however, highlighted the dangers of moving machinery and vinestock between regions. Although initially a phylloxera-free area, Whitlands would become exposed to the dreaded pest in the early 1990s, requiring all grapevine material in the area to be grafted on phylloxera-resistant American rootstocks. Although it would take decades, the King Valley’s Whitlands Plateau would become an important source of chardonnay and pinot noir for traditional method styles. Meanwhile, in South Australia, Thomas Hardy & Sons purchased Château Reynella in 1982, pre-empting a similar fate that would befall Penfolds Magill Estate. In its heyday, the mixed farm, located in the Southern Vales, extended to two square kilometres. An 80-acre section of the property had been the first land to be enclosed in South Australia and now was threatened by encroaching housing estates, built cheek to cheek. The old Reynella Winery, with its Château- like facade, and the original homestead were renovated and made into corporate office space. A study was instigated to establish the historical value of Reynella, and shortly after, in 1988, the winery, ‘comprising The Pigeon Loft, Cave Cellar No. 1, Reynell’s House (now offices), The Dairy, The Shell of the Château, and the Boiler Stack CT 4199/409 Pt Sec 538 Hd Noarlunga’, as documented by Peter Bell Historical Research in 2009, were heritage-listed, but the vineyards were left unprotected, allowing the land to become available for future development. Another report, commissioned by Devine Homes in 2009, disingenuously assessed the land as having ‘no heritage significance’. Some wine merchants, however, in the early 1980s did have a sense of heritage. Hugh Cuthbertson, who was working at WJ Seabrook in Melbourne, jumped at the chance to buy a stack of barrels – various solera systems – comprising fortified wine material that dated back to the 1880s. In 1982, he established the Talavera Wine Company, named after the now-defunct Seabrook Talavera Tawny Port. (The Battle of Talavera was a famous British victory against the French in the Peninsula War.) But he sold the company in 1986 to Rob Hirst, who was establishing the Tucker Seabrook distribution business and wished to retain this living heritage; however, the soleras were eventually dismantled, and the barrels were shared among vignerons Alister Purbrick at Château Tahbilk and Sam Plunkett of Plunkett wines in the Strathbogie Ranges. Cuthbertson kept the sherries and some port that would again see the light 40 years later.
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