The Auswine Forum

In one of the wine magazines (Wines and Vines) over here they had an article on wines that influenced the US wine industry. The choices were put into decades and to be honest there was not that many that I recalled having read about, seen or tasted.

This got me thinking about the wines that have influenced the Australian wine industry – even back as far as the 1800’s. So I though we could see if we can come up with a list, not necessarily by decade, of wines that have been influential for one reason or another.

I’ll start with one that goes back a long way but did show the vision that its maker had for the industry

Seppeltsfield 1878 100 Year Old Para Vintage Tawny.

Mike

Don't laugh at me for this, but Jacob's Creek Chardonnay was a sensation in the UK in the early nineties (not sure of the time TBH) and I would imagine, as a result, had a pretty massive impact on Aussie wineries' export strategies.

Max Shubert's Grange

Brown Brothers Moscato

Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

Seppelts Show sparkling shiraz

Rockford Basket Press Shiraz

Mosswood Cabernet

Tyrells vat 47 chardonnay? (being one of the first Australian chardonnays?)

Houghtons White Burgundy

Jasper Hill reds

cheers

Carl

Loztralia wrote:Don't laugh at me for this, but Jacob's Creek Chardonnay was a sensation in the UK in the early nineties (not sure of the time TBH) and I would imagine, as a result, had a pretty massive impact on Aussie wineries' export strategies.

Not silly at all - I lived in the UK then and the JC basic range (esp chard) became huge almost overnight with the masses who didn't know about better wine (which included me) - I'm sure it had a big influence. Whether it was a good influence is a whole other discussion.

griff wrote:Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

Not the first of it's type. Yalumba imported the Viognier cuttings and propogated them first and had the first blends on the market.

griff wrote: Rockford Basket Press Shiraz

For the way he marketed it? Certainly not the way it is made. A basket press was all winemakers used prior to the modern presses.

griff wrote: Tyrells vat 47 chardonnay? (being one of the first Australian chardonnays?)

He stole cuttings from the vineyard next door and called it pinot chardonnay.

Who made the first Cab/shiraz blend?

First Sparkling Shiraz? Seppelts??

First Liqueur Muscat or Tokay?

Greenock Creek Shiraz maybe? RP gave a few vintages 100 pts, and "big" high alcohol wine gained in popularity with producers.

I'd add DeBortoli Noble One to that list. Certainly paved the way for Australian stickies.

Wynns Cabernet Sauvignon

Great thread Mike

For old farts like me the wines that changed the industry particularly over the last 40 years were probably the "goons" of McWilliams sauternes or moselle that we started playing cards with in the early 70's along with the Cold duck, the Porphry (sic) Pearl, and the Ben Ean moselle.

Our world then changed with the early coonawarra "clarets" (particularly Mildara shiraz cabernet for $1.50 a bottle), and then Wolfie Blass let everyone know that he made the best wines and that the Jimmy Watson was the benchmark for good red wine (the first 3 WB Black labels were sold for the princely sums of about $5 a bottle and I think they all won the Jimmy Watson - 72,73 & 74!). Everyone started to look for awards on their wine bottles from this point. When the Wynns Cabernet 1976 won the JW everyone had to have it (and a wonderful wine it was too) and so it became infra dig to drink red wine. Until this time (late 70's) you had to be a "bit posh" to drink red wine (at least in Qld).

The concept of cellaring became a reality in the late 70's and early 80's with the ease of acquisition of Grange and Lindemans private bin number wines and this changed our concepts about how long wine could last (up until that moment about as long as it took to get it from the bottle shop to home).

In the early 80's Jacob's Ck Claret attracted millions of people to red wine drinking - it was so cheap and easy to drink and to some degree Lindemans bin 65 chardy did the same for white wine drinkers (following Wran's much publised love of Rosemount chardy). This variety got really serious with Leeuwin Estate and this probably remains the benchmark.

When Grange got too expensive to buy (around the mid 80's), Wynns came to the party with JR and produced incredible quality wine for about $20 a bottle. One could argue that Max Lake, the Henschkes and John Middleton were already doing these things but didn't have the necessary stock or public backing to do the same. The year that JR was first vintaged I bought my first 4 dozen bottles of Hill of Grace for $4 a bottle from the MIHI tavern (one has to think that a wine that has appreciated 12000% over the last 27 years has certainly changed the industry).

I'm sure there are many wines that have changed the industry in the 90's and 00's (e.g. 1990 Grange and the international flow on) but enough said by this little black duck......

Thanks for stimulating the memories

Cheers

Luke

Very few things new.
Big reds go WAY way back (my first were 92) stickies.... I think the Barwang predates the DeBortoli (which were stunning).
Wines that changed things.....Sepp sparkling Burg
Ben Ean Moselle
Gramps Riesling
Anton Ruche reds ( 5 shillings per gallon in the 1880's in Rutherglen).
a first for quality Aussie red!
Any more?

Anything Ray Beckwith was involved with at Penfolds

smithy wrote:Ben Ean Moselle

Ahhh Ben Ean, the best leg opener ever made. Very happy memories.

Let's not forget Leo Buring Rieslings.

Davo wrote:

griff wrote:Clonakilla Shiraz Viognier

Not the first of it's type. Yalumba imported the Viognier cuttings and propogated them first and had the first blends on the market.

griff wrote: Rockford Basket Press Shiraz

For the way he marketed it? Certainly not the way it is made. A basket press was all winemakers used prior to the modern presses.

griff wrote: Tyrells vat 47 chardonnay? (being one of the first Australian chardonnays?)

He stole cuttings from the vineyard next door and called it pinot chardonnay.

Who made the first Cab/shiraz blend?

First Sparkling Shiraz? Seppelts??

First Liqueur Muscat or Tokay?

You don't have to be first to change the world you know. Just have to capture the zeitgeist

The first sparkling I think was something like Auldstone or something that was merged into Penfolds. Seppelt wasn't too much after than though.

cheers

Carl

For my 2 cents -

Gramps Riesling of the 50's

Barossa Pearl

Hamiltons Ewell Moselle

Lindemans Hunter Whites of the 60's

Houghtons White Burgundy

De Bortolis Noble One

John Vicary's Riesling of the late 60s early 70s

McWilliams Mountain Henry 1947

Moyston Clarets of the 50's

Mildara Coonawara Cabernet 1963

Grange

Lindemans 1959 Hunter Burgundy Bin 1590

Morris Liqueur Muscats and Tokays

Reynella Vintage Port

100 yo Para

David wrote:For my 2 cents -

Gramps Riesling of the 50's

Barossa Pearl

Hamiltons Ewell Moselle

Lindemans Hunter Whites of the 60's

Houghtons White Burgundy

De Bortolis Noble One

John Vicary's Riesling of the late 60s early 70s

McWilliams Mountain Henry 1947

Moyston Clarets of the 50's

Mildara Coonawara Cabernet 1963

Grange

Lindemans 1959 Hunter Burgundy Bin 1590

Morris Liqueur Muscats and Tokays

Reynella Vintage Port

100 yo Para

Geez your an old bugger! Hamiltons Ewell Moselle. Now that bings back memories. The old Ben Ean was up there as a favorite with the ladies but the Ewell seemed like a class act that you saved for the special ones.

Great list David.

Mike

Cloudy Bay Savvy

KMP wrote:

David wrote:For my 2 cents -

Gramps Riesling of the 50's

Barossa Pearl

Hamiltons Ewell Moselle

Lindemans Hunter Whites of the 60's

Houghtons White Burgundy

De Bortolis Noble One

John Vicary's Riesling of the late 60s early 70s

McWilliams Mountain Henry 1947

Moyston Clarets of the 50's

Mildara Coonawara Cabernet 1963

Grange

Lindemans 1959 Hunter Burgundy Bin 1590

Morris Liqueur Muscats and Tokays

Reynella Vintage Port

100 yo Para

Geez your an old bugger! Hamiltons Ewell Moselle. Now that bings back memories. The old Ben Ean was up there as a favorite with the ladies but the Ewell seemed like a class act that you saved for the special ones.

Great list David.

Mike

Old bugger - I'll give you old bugger

I included Hamiltons Ewell Moselle in the list because in 1929 Sid Hamilton (founder of Leconfield) converted some closed wooden storage to fermenters and used early picked Verdelho and Pedro. The enclosed fermentation overcome any oxidation of whites fermented in open fermenters and produced, for the first time in Australia a crisp delicate wine, readily available. Refrigeration was installed in 1944.

The wine was about 9% alc/vol and was the lowest alcohol wine produced in Australia.It really was a ground breaker.

Maybe not a wine but in the early 1960s Amerine came to WA and identified the "riesling" vines grown here in the Swan Valley as Chenin Blanc. Started a whole new wine style.

The replacement of French-derived names with varietal names (1970s; 1980s). I'm not sure if the French did themselves a favour by insisting on their names being used only by them. They seem to have gone backwards, marketing-wise, for some years.

The opening up of the south-west of WA as a wine region in the mid 1960s. Only 40 odd years ago!

And, with loud cheers, the replacement of the cork with a screwtop (2000?)

Kim

plummy wrote:Maybe not a wine but in the early 1960s Amerine came to WA and identified the "riesling" vines grown here in the Swan Valley as Chenin Blanc. Started a whole new wine style.

Not so sure about that. Houghton have been making their white "burgundy" (now "White Classic") since 1937 and Chenin Blanc has always been the base grape. I would think that Jack Mann knew what grape variety he was using.

Queen Adelaide??

Tullochs (60's)

Lakes Folly

Redmans

Tyrells (90's)

Any small Barossan Winemaker from the 90's

Deano wrote:Queen Adelaide??

A long history back to the Woodley's treasure chest series I suppose

cheers

Carl

griff wrote:

Deano wrote:Queen Adelaide??

A long history back to the Woodley's treasure chest series I suppose

cheers

Carl

Agree. As well as legendary quality, the labels were fantastic and are rarely surpassed today. Benchmark packaging.

cant believe no-one has mentioned Cold Duck


cheers
Seddo

David wrote:For my 2 cents -

Gramps Riesling of the 50's

Barossa Pearl

Hamiltons Ewell Moselle

Lindemans Hunter Whites of the 60's

Houghtons White Burgundy

De Bortolis Noble One

John Vicary's Riesling of the late 60s early 70s

McWilliams Mountain Henry 1947

Moyston Clarets of the 50's

Mildara Coonawara Cabernet 1963

Grange

Lindemans 1959 Hunter Burgundy Bin 1590

Morris Liqueur Muscats and Tokays

Reynella Vintage Port

100 yo Para

I had a look at my list and realised that most of the wines I selected were from, for the day, larger companies. Would we expect this leadership from the larger companies today? Interesting question.

Great question Mike - and a tough one too. There's a lot of stuff that's changed the industry in recent and not so recent years, for better and otherwise. Here's a few thoughts - some have already been mentioned, some I'm sure people don't want to be reminded of...

Penfolds Grange - from the initial influences on winemaking (Shiraz with American oak, multi-region blending, addition of acid, refrigeration, etc) to major accolades overseas, it's influence is incredible.

73/74/75 Wolf Blass Black Label - the beginning of modern marketing and spin with Wolfie using the Jimmy Watson success to catapult the brand, and in the process influenced some producers to chase and promote wine show success (no wood, no good).

1980 St George Cabernet Sauvignon - well, maybe it didn't exactly change the industry, but it certainly is widely regarded as a "what the hell were we thinking" wine. The late 70s/early 80s saw a lot of DMS influenced, green/herbaceous styles that are now looked down upon - this JWT winner would have to be near top of the list.

Jacobs Creek/Rosemount - the first big 'bang for buck' push into the UK & USA, making a huge impact in those countries and no doubt influencing our export strategies.

Yellowtail - maybe just a natural continuation on from the above, but the critter labeling, the scale and endless flexibility of sourcing/blending to order and discount selling (all enabled by the grape glut) meant the bulk exporting and marketing had gone to another level altogether.

1998 Chris Ringland (Three Rivers) Shiraz - the first of the 'Parkerised' wines, quickly followed by Noon & WDC. A whole new export avenue opened to the USA for smaller producers on the back of these first reviews, and a new major influence on local winemaking styles was taking form...

Mollydooker - if the above was the beginning of the Parker effect, Mollydooker is perhaps the beginning of the end. Maybe it's a little unfair to single this out, yet it does coincide with a vocal rebellion against this wine and others like it on eBob, and it also comes about the time of his exit from reviewing (almost all) Australian wines.

Cheers,
Ian

I'd second Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc as a more recent wine to have changed the industry, or had a massive impact on many,many Australian wine drinkers.

I do not agree that anything by Jasper Hill, Clonakilla or Rockford has changed things dramatically in Australia. They're just blips in most peoples opinion, and almost unrecognised by the vast majority of Australians.

Vat 47 probably gets a guernsey. If I'm not mistaken it was that wine which essentially relaunched chardonnay from nowhere to become Australia's most planted and consumed white wine.

Jacobs Creek for the reasons others have mentioned here

Grange (as above)

Wine in casks may have to be acknowledged...

David wrote:I had a look at my list and realised that most of the wines I selected were from, for the day, larger companies. Would we expect this leadership from the larger companies today? Interesting question.

David,

Excuse my ignorance, but were they always big companies? Or were they acquired to form big companies by people who wanted to capitalise on their success?

Cheers,

Nayan

cuttlefish wrote:I do not agree that anything by Jasper Hill, Clonakilla or Rockford has changed things dramatically in Australia. They're just blips in most peoples opinion, and almost unrecognised by the vast majority of Australians.

They influenced the industry which is the question here not the wine-buying public.

Jasper Hill single-handedly almost pioneered the Heathcote region. Have a look at the plantings now!

Clonakilla was the first successful SV in Australia and the one the rest of the industry want to catch. Agree with Davo that Yalumba where there first but Clonakilla was the one that changed the industry.

Rockford was the nursery for so many winemakers in the Barossa that have gone on to reinvigorate the region. Even Dave Powell started at the Rockford school. Great article I think in the gourmet traveller about this.

On others some suggestions are the Yarra Three (Yarra Yering, Mount Mary and Yarra Yarra) that restarted interest in the Yarra.

Also Leeuwin chardy that was the first real beacon for chardy in the 80's and still strong.


cheers

Carl

Nayan wrote:

David wrote:I had a look at my list and realised that most of the wines I selected were from, for the day, larger companies. Would we expect this leadership from the larger companies today? Interesting question.

David,

Excuse my ignorance, but were they always big companies? Or were they acquired to form big companies by people who wanted to capitalise on their success?

Cheers,

Nayan

A lot of them would have been considered big companies at the time eg Penfolds, Mcwilliams Seppelts, Orlando, Mildara, and so on. I guess my point is that in these days would big companies be capable of introducing such benchmark wines or would the bean counters and "shareholder interests" mitigate against innovation.