and eventually d’Arenberg. The 1967 d’Arenberg Red Burgundy, one of the most popular wines in the Australian market, ran the gauntlet of capital city wine shows and triumphed. Doug Collett continued an association with McLaren Vale all his life. He was the founder of Woodstock winery as well as an investor in the Barossa’s Rockford Winery. In McLaren Vale, Stephen Smith and Company Ltd sold out all its holdings to the Emu Wine Company. Only interested in Tatachilla’s UK wine distribution business, the Emu Wine Company put all of the winery buildings and vineyard up for sale. By 1964 the winery ceased production ending a dazzling era. But many McLaren Vale grape growers were left in the lurch creating new anxieties. Meanwhile, with the assistance of a government loan, a group of McLaren Vale grape growers were able to establish the short-lived Southern Vales Cooperative in 1965 at the recently defunct Tatachilla winery. Among the 182 growers was Greg Trott, the son of an orchardist and vineyard owner. Typically, at the time, Doradillo was vinified and distilled into brandy while the Pedro Ximenez or Palomino went into sherry production. Shiraz was made into table wine. But there were problems with fixed pricing of grapes and poor returns. A co-operative could add value to the crop by converting grapes into bulk wine. Winemaker Chris Hancock, working for Penfolds at the time, purchased the first 10,000 gallons. By 1966 Ursula Pridham (née Rauschal von Hartenau), a young Austrian electrical engineer married to Adelaide investment analyst Geoffrey Pridham, purchased a vineyard in the Coromandel Valley sub- region of McLaren Vale. After a few years learning how to make wine with Sid Hamilton, they produced their first wine under the Marienberg label in 1968. After winning her first gold medal for a 1970 Shiraz Cabernet at the Royal Adelaide Wine Show, Ursula enjoyed further success for many years before stepping down as a winemaker in 1987. In 1969 Pam Dunsford crashed through the wine industry’s cement ceiling and led the way for a new generation of women winemakers. After graduating in Agricultural Science at the University of Adelaide, she was the first woman admitted to the all-male autonomous Government- run Roseworthy Agricultural College. “There she lived in the infectious diseases ward and endured an ‘all-male post schoolboy’ culture.” It is surprising from today’s perspective how hard it was to break into this
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The Vintage Journal – Regional Focus
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