THE AUSTRALIAN ARK – Federation to the Modern Era | 1900–1982
The new Federal Capital Territory (later the Australian Capital Territory, or ACT) was created on the 1st of January 1911, exactly 10 years after Federation. The New South Wales government had ceded 2,360 square kilometres, including Jervis Bay on the state’s east coast, to establish a naval base. By dint of prohibitionist sentiment, the ACT became an alcohol-free territory, thanks to the efforts of Home Affairs Minister King O’Malley, a devotee of the temperance movement, who may have left his native United States to escape allegations of embezzlement. After Canberra was officially named in 1913, the picturesque city, designed by Walter Burley Griffen, gradually developed into the nation’s capital, although World War I slowed progress. While licensed hotels were prohibited, inhabitants, including politicians, brought their own wine and other alcoholic beverages to drink at home. The prohibition era officially ended in 1928 after federal politicians lobbied for a bar in the newly constructed Parliament House. . . . The market for fortified wines strengthened in Australia during the early 1910s. Although exports were primarily red table wine for the Australian burgundy market in the UK, Australia was a backwater for table wine consumption, with the general population preferring beer and spirits. In 1911, Oscar Seppelt purchased a grape brandy still, advertised as ‘the most perfect still in the Commonwealth’. According to advertising material, 3,360 pounds of copper were used in its construction. In 1911, Penfolds typically produced Old Tawny, V.O Invalid, No. 1 Rich, and RR (Royal Reserve) ports; No. 1, Golden, and RR sherries; Grenache; Muscadine; Constantia; and Frontignac. Almost all of these wines were either sweet or fortified. A smaller offering of No. 1, No. 0, RR Clarets, and Burgundy was also marketed. These wines were often successful in wine shows. Penfolds wines was becoming a dominant force in the Australian Commonwealth, with the Penfold Hyland family well connected with the political and social hierarchies in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia. The trade in export burgundies was also significant for Penfolds, and its acquisition of Cyril Pridmore’s Wattle Vineyards, initially by leasehold, in 1910 gave it a strong foothold in McLaren Vale, where it could also process grower fruit. Although oidium had reached the region by 1911, the detrimental effects were minimal. An application of one gallon of sulphurous acid to 30 gallons of water was recommended for spraying the vines against this vine disease. By this time, Albert ‘Alf’ Vesey, who would become a stalwart of 60 vintages, was famous for his skill as a master blender. He worked for Mary Penfold and later, during the 1930s, trained up a young Max Schubert as an understudy winemaker. At the Grange Vineyards, near Adelaide, work was underway at Penfolds to
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