|
Vineyard at
Clarendon, mid 1870's
|
|
McLaren Vale - the picturesque region of orchards,
pastures, settlers cottages by tall gum trees and rows of spreading
vines is linked to names such as John Reynell and Thomas Hardy who helped
put Australia on the map as a great winemaking country. The innovation
and energy of the McLaren Vale pioneers continues to this day with over
sixty wineries now established within the region.
The survey of the 'rich and extensive
valley of McLaren Vale' was completed three years after proclamation,
in 1839 by John McLaren. McLaren was appointed as Senior Surveyor was
given the task of surveying the southern districts of Adelaide. McLaren
divided up the south of Adelaide into three districts - B, C and D.
B reached from Holdfast Bay and extended south as far as the Onkaparinga
River, it was opened to the public in February 1839. Section C was to
include all the land south of the Onkaparinga River to Willunga Hill.
Section D included land from Willunga to Encounter Bay.
....................................................................................
Section C,
as surveyed by John McLaren, 1840.
McLaren, whist upon his surveying journey to Section C, 40km south of
Adelaide his party came across a wide valley that members of the party
instantly named after their leader. It was agreed, 'This wide valley
of McLaren gave promise of much beauty and fertility'. Settlers began
taking up holdings south of the Onkaparinga River by the end of the
year.
Two of these early settlers were Devonshire farmers, William Colton
and Charles Hewitt. The farmers bought workmen with them and established
their neighbouring farms of 'Daringa' and 'Oxenberry Farm' at the eastern
end of the Vale, from here came the development of Gloucester. Inquiries
so far have not revealed why it was so named.
Blackfellows Well, a spring on Oxenberry Farm was the only source of
water for many years for the nearby residents. Here too under a large
spreading gum tree, the first church services were held using a wagon
or dray for a pulpit. The venue was changed to William Colton's brick
barn during inclement weather until, in 1844, the small church, "The
House of the Lord" was erected, and opened for use of seven separate
denominations. This little building still stands on the corner of Aldersey
Street and Tatachilla Road, at the back of the former Congregational
Church that was built in 1861 (now a gallery), followed by a manse (now
in the hospital grounds) in 1864.
The township of McLaren Vale originally consisted of 2 small villages;
Gloucester, to the east, established in 1851 and Bellevue to the west
established, in 1854.This accounts for the towns long main street.
Gloucester, which was south of the current Tintara winery, grew into
a thriving community. Walter Leonard purchased Lot 1 in Gloucester and
built a mill opposite Charles Lewsey Lot 2, where he made wine and Brandy
and conducted his business as carpenter and undertaker. By the 1870's
the community included the mill, two hotels (the Devonshire Arms 1849
and the Salopian 1851), a saddlery, stores, a brewery, a blacksmith,
a butcher, five schools, and later a creamery.
Bellevue began on land purchased by Richard Bell who built a little
colony of thatched pug houses. He also built a hotel in 1857 and named
it the Clifton in honour of his wife, nee Clift. Ellen Street also bore
her name until recent years, and is now part of Chalk Hill Road.
In 1852 a group of local farmers held a meeting at the Devonshire Arms,
and decided to build a Mill in Bellevue, and a month later, the foundation
stone having been laid, the company returned to the Devonshire Arms
to celebrate the occasion. It functioned until the 1870's and was purchased
by Thomas Hardy who converted it to a winery that became the Mill cellars;
parts of it are included in the present Hardys Tintara Winery. Bellevue
had a Tannery, a blacksmith and a Coach stop Way station that is now
the Barn restaurant, and a lime burner who conducted his trade at the
rear of the cottage that bears the name today. The Wesleyan Church opened
for worship in 1858, and this Methodist - Uniting Church was demolished
in 1987, and in December 1988 the new church was opened. The Bellevue
school established by Reverend Prior was conducted in a house near The
Barn in Ellen Street.
Successful mushroom culture was carried out near by also.
Bellevue flourished for a while until the closure of the flourmill and
the primary school as well as the de-licensing of the hotel. In 1882,
Thomas Hardy, who was prospering from his newly established wine empire
decided to purchase these substantial buildings. He converted the flourmill
into a winery, used the school as a residence for his employees, the
Barn as stables for his workhorses, and re-established the Clifton Hotel
as a wine and refreshment inn. He changed its name to the Hotel Bellevue
and regained a license after some renovations. The hotel was later named
the Hotel McLaren amid some opposition from the local community.
Approximately 4 kilometres to the southeast of McLaren Vale lay a pug
cottage on the estate known as Wirra Wirra. This property eventually
became the home of Bob Wrigley who by 1895 had planted 124 acres of
vines and a few years later opened wine cellars. Nearby, a Wesleyan
chapel was opened on 4 June 1854 and was given the name Bethany Chapel.
Other pug cottages were established which gave rise to the recognition
of Bethany.
About 1.5 kilometres to the north of Bethany is the settlement of McLaren
Flat. Evelyn Pitfield Shirley Sturt took up a section on 20 November
1839 and held it until 1849.
Clinging to the foot of the hills 2 kilometres from McLaren Flat is
the hamlet of Beltunga, whose houses were mostly built at the instigation
of Richard Bell, founder of Bellevue.
To the north of Beltunga lay Seaview, the property that loomed so largely
in the lives of the surrounding settlers that gradually its name was
adopted for the locality. Originally owned by Mr Luney it passed into
the hands of a Mr Ryan, succeeded by Mr Chambers, thence OK Thomas,
FR Thiele and finally to Southcorp Wines.
Close to Seaview lays the Kay property originally known as Hope Vineyard,
named by Mr George Manning when he planted his second vineyard south
of Adelaide in 1855. The cuttings for this vineyard were obtained from
Reverend Thomas Quinton Stow thus ensuring that the founder of the congregational
church in South Australia also unwittingly became a key instigator in
the propagation of McLaren Vale's flourishing vineyards. Another old
home in this locality was Amery, which was built by Richard Baker Aldersley.
In 1890 the property passed to the ownership of the Kay family. Vines
were planted and a cellar built on the same lines as the model exhibited
by JG Kelly at the Chamber of Manufacturers Exhibition and utilising
natural gravitation. The winery was first used in 1895 when 2000 gallons
of wine were made.
Thus Bethany, McLaren Flat, Hillside, Beltunga and Seaview completed
an encirclement of Bellevue and Gloucester, which starting to lose their
separate identities. Halfway between them Thomas Colton built Sylvan
Park in 1858. He became resident magistrate and a prominent figure in
public affairs forming a link between the two villages. As the names
of outlying hamlets fell into similar disuse, the settlements along
the main road gradually became known as McLaren Vale, it was forgotten
that this had been John McLaren's name for the whole valley.
In the history of South Australia it has often happened that custom
has verified the names given to places by early settlers, and so it
emerged that 'McLaren Vale' became known to the Lands Office as a private
town until 1923. In that year Mr CE Pridmore applied for a transfer
of the portion of section 156 in the township McLaren Vale. All previous
transactions for that locality were designated as in the township of
Gloucester in McLaren Vale.
From the 1920's McLaren Vale continued its steady growth with increasing
reliance on the wine and brandy industries and exports to the United
Kingdom, particularly fortified wines. This trade continued to prosper
up until the 1960's except for the period 1940 - 1945 during World War
II. During the 1970's increased domestic consumption of wine and changing
preferences in wine styles cause significant restructuring within the
region and such changes have continued into the 1990's.
Reference:
www.visitorcentre.com.au
|
An often quoted saying in respect of family owned businesses goes
along the lines, "The first and second generation establish
the business, the third ensures that it prospers, the fourth oversees
its inexorable decline". Quite often this has been the case
in Australian vinous history. Enter Chester Osborn, whose whole
lifetime has been devoted to ensuring that this will never occur
at the Osborn Family’s d’Arenberg winery.
Winemaking, Chester Osborne.
Since his return in 1985 Chester has not looked back. He took over
the reins as Chief Winemaker at d’Arenberg the same year, rejuvenating
the cellars and 19th century vineyards.
Chester is responsible for all winemaking operations including on
site bottling, vineyard supervision, grape grower liaison and almost
anything else that comes to mind.
Chester often works in conjunction with his father d’Arry,
who recently embarked on overseeing his 60th vintage, and can rely
on Winemaker Phillip Dean, his assistant Marg Bailey, Cellar Manager
Kym Kendrick and Production Manager John Ward, and their teams in
his absence.
d'Arry Osborne.
d’Arenberg produce several Shiraz wines, all with rather odd
names. Two of the most popular include "The Footbolt Shiraz"
and "The Dead Arm Shiraz"
The Dead Arm Shiraz is one of the ‘flagship’ wines at
d’Arenberg – the very best Shiraz from one of the oldest
producers in arguably the best Shiraz producing region in Australia,
McLaren Vale. The Dead Arm gets its name in a fairly inauspicious
way – it is named after the disease (Eutypa Lata) which afflicts
some of the oldest vines at d’Arenberg from which we get the
majority of fruit destined for The Dead Arm. The disease, Eutypa
Lata, or ‘Dead Arm’ is common all around the world in
old vineyard sites.
The disease in effect slowly reduces one of the ‘arms’
of the vines to dead wood, which then means the other arm of the
vine produces small volumes of the most incredibly concentrated
and highly flavoured grapes.
In 1996 d'Arenberg completed renovating the property's 19th century
homestead incorporating cellar door tastings and a restaurant, appropriately
named ‘d'Arry's Verandah', overlooking McLaren Vale and the
Willunga escarpment falling into the Gulf St Vincent.
d'Arenberg's
attractive Cellar door sales area.
|
From its inception, McLaren Vale's Wirra Wirra Vineyard
has been associated with eccentrics. (Unfortunately there are too
few about these days!) Its founder was a noted cricketer, Robert Strangways
Wigley [pictured left], who having studied Law and Architecture, proved
to be an embarrassment to his Adelaide establishment family. Pranks
such as taking a pie cart for a joy-ride down King William Street
and riding horseback through the Adelaide Town Hall were a foretaste
of his later behavior. Consequently, Wigley was sent off to country
McLaren Vale, where his family hoped he would remain. Wigley proved
to be an industrious fellow, planting a vineyard in 1894 and studying
winemaking with Thomas Hardy, from whom he received high praise. When
Wigley died in 1924, he had 240 acres under vine, however, his family
were less than enthusiastic about viticulture and left the vineyards
to fall into disrepair. By 1969, the once thriving enterprise had
been reduced to seven acres and a derelict winery was all that remained.
|
|
Above
left: Robert Strangways Wigley. One of McLaren Vale's true personalities
whose eccentricity is today preserved at the vineyard he first established,
Wirra Wirra.
|
|
