generation gave Australia a reputation within the Empire as a maker of cheap wine. This was not helped by some serious technical problems that emerged in the 1920s and 1930s, which threatened trade. Producers were throwing out 30–40% of their production because of sweet wine disease or bacterial spoilage. The Great Depression also brought Australia – New South Wales particularly – to the brink of civil rebellion, with the Australian currency pegged against the Gold Standard and the Bank of England demanding a reduction in Government spending. A drop in grape prices and bankruptcies ensued. But after 1945, the Australian wine industry’s fortunes began to change with the influx of new European settlers, mainly from Eastern Europe and the hard-hit economies of Italy and Greece. The swing to a multi-cultural society was the making of modern Australia and gave an underlying boost to the Australian wine industry. Investment and the introduction of new technologies, particularly refrigeration, ‘tractorisation’, better bulk transportation, precision viticulture, new winemaking techniques and better packaging, all combined to build a new energy and identity. The gradual decline of fortified wines and the appearance of a dominating dry table- wine market brought Australia back into the fine wine scene. One of the most profound stories is the development of Penfolds Grange, which completely altered the landscape of Australian wine. It encapsulates technical brilliance, ambition and the beginning of an Australian aesthetic. In 1950, winemaker Max Schubert made a trip to Europe to investigate a problem with fortified wine stocks in London. He used the opportunity to visit Spain and Portugal to observe techniques and technologies for fortified wine production. Australian sherry and ports were extraordinarily large categories at the time. On a side trip to Bordeaux, he visited some of the fabled Grand Cru Châteaux and felt inspired to make a great Australian red that would have the character and lasting quality of a First Growth. The story has largely been mythologised and exaggerated, but even when stripped to its bones, Grange is extraordinary, because it harnesses the past, the present and the future. It sits on the shoulders of giants, stands as a giant in its own right, and makes a giant leap forward. In the wine world, Grange is the equivalent of the first powered flight. It would be better recognised worldwide if it weren’t for the secrecy imposed by Penfolds management, the euro-snobbery of the wine media and the French tendency to disparage anything they didn’t invent. The Grange story is also part happenstance and luck. Schubert’s intention was to make a great Australian Claret – meaning the source material would be cabernet, which would give tannin grip and vinosity to the wine. But in 1951 shiraz was the only material widely available, despite Penfolds owning the oldest surviving cabernet sauvignon vineyard in the world, the 1888-planted Block 42 Kalimna Vineyard. Combining traditional Australian techniques, new ideas from Bordeaux and precision winemaking practices developed at Penfolds, Max Schubert made his first
108 The Wine Journal – 2023
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