economy or foreshadow disaster. We should be optimistic and fair. And not fall into the trap of recrimination or anger. In the field of wine, the defence of identity and expression of place is the very essence of the fine wine narrative and the most effective way to add value and build prestige. A good example is the Hill of Grace Vineyard in the Eden Valley region of the Barossa. The experience of this unique Shiraz, from vines planted in the 1860s, is ethereal; much greater than the sum of its parts. And in the case of Penfolds Grange, a multi-regional blend, it’s all about the fruit sourcing, the ground-breaking technology and ambitions, and the reputation of the wine itself. Australia’s greatest wines all have a common bond of immaculate viticulture, craftsmanship, generations of effort and purpose. They all define a principle and they are valued for it. The story of Australian wine is one of extraordinary strength, endurance, and optimism. What has been achieved over the last 200 years and more is simply astonishing and romantic, despite the undercurrent of a convict past and the sins of white settlement. But so much of our history is forgotten. In these days of political correctness, woke attitudes and blanket antagonism towards our sometimes painful colonial past, some might indeed prefer to forget, but looking back to the past can also inform us about the future. At the very least, it can give perspective, because what is happening today has happened before in some way. In the most simplistic terms, history repeats itself. But the lens of contemporary thinking upon the past also extracts some uncomfortable truths, as our values and ideals shift towards reconciliation and inclusion. An example of this is the story of William Patrick Auld, whose father established Auldana Winery near Adelaide and spearheaded South Australian wine exports to England during the 1860s. As a young man he accompanied John McDouall Stuart on a famous expedition that crossed the Australian continent in 186–62. He also participated in Boyle Travers Finniss’s disastrous mission in 1864, which aimed to establish a settlement on the north coast of the Northern Territory. The expedition was attacked by a group of 50 Aborigines from the Marananguu People at Escape Cliffs, near the mouth of the Adelaide River. Goods were stolen and three horses were speared and wounded. Auld set out with a few others on a punitive mission and shot dead an Aborigine. At his murder trial, he was acquitted for lack of evidence. Auld became a discordant figure in Adelaide society for a short while, but he threw himself into building the cause of South Australian wine, and played an important role in developing the quarantine regulations and laws to keep phylloxera out of South Australia. Without his advocacy, South Australia might not have the wealth of surviving 19th century plantings of grapevines dating back to the early 1840s. When Patrick Auld died in 1899 he was described as ‘brave and daring’, but the juxtaposition of evil and good is difficult to reconcile. In fact, the immediate and long-term effects of phylloxera changed the face of the international wine market and presented Australia with both massive challenges and huge opportunities in the latter half of the 19th century. Prior to 1860, the Australian
102 The Wine Journal – 2023
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