THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
the writings of observers, especially Mark Twain. In 1908, the wines first made in 1903 won medals at the London Brewery and Allied Trades Exhibition. James Angus operated the winery until 1912, when he sold the company to Penfolds for £50,000, a massive amount of money at the time. Leo Buring would eventually leave the business in 1919 and begin working as a wine consultant. He would go on to establish the Leonay vineyard, beginning a stellar career in Australian wine. The property name was a blend of his first name and Nay, the nickname of his wife, Ida Agatha Sobels. Nowadays, Leonay is commemorated as a western suburb of Sydney, and through the contemporary bottlings of Leo Buring Leonay Riesling. The new cellars at Yalumba were expanded and finished for the 1908 vintage. Like many wineries of this size, a distillery and vinegar factory were also features of the winery. On the 15th of April 1908, the Adelaide Chronicle reported, ‘In sympathy with the growth of the business during the past twelve months there have been important additions to the cellars. The third generation, as represented by Mssrs Walter and Percy Smith, has certainly risen to the occasion and made its mark on the landscape. An attractive square tower of great solidarity, surmounting a wide and lofty archway, now faces the main entrance of the Yalumba cellars.’ The two-storey building made of blue
the Champagne method rather than an intentional misappropriation of identity. The use of claret, burgundy, chablis, and even margaux by Seppelt, were all indicative of the style. But even in those days, eyebrows were raised in France, and official complaints were filed about these practices in other parts of Europe, California, Australia, and elsewhere. James Angus bought the Minchinbury property from Charles Mackay in 1895 and expanded the vineyards and winery to take advantage of the growing demand for sparkling wines in Sydney. In 1902, he employed Leo Buring, who would later become the most famous wine identity in Australia. His groundbreaking work in making Champagne-style wines in New South Wales underpinned the success of the Minchinbury brand and his own celebrity for years to come. The fledgling nation’s appetite for sparkling wine was already widely known through
First cellar and wine press at Oakdale, Hunter River District, New South Wales by FMH Wilkinson, 1908. [SLNSW FL1043858]
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