Wine patriarch d’Arry Osborn is celebrating his 90th birthday – by working at his iconic d’Arenberg winery in McLaren Vale
YOU can’t keep a good man down and d’Arry Osborn, at 90, still works every day in his iconic d’Arenberg winery.
IN the world according to landmark McLaren Vale winery d’Arenberg, a vivid imagination is as important as the great old vines and vineyards at the centre of the company’s huge number of wine labels.
There are the mad sounding, like the Wild Pixie Shiraz or The Cenosilicaphobic Cat Sagrantino Cinsault.
And the slightly naughty but scientifically correct The Noble Botryotinia Fuckeliana Sauvignon Blanc.
And then there’s the more traditional and much-loved d’Arry’s Original Shiraz Grenache, a classic McLaren Vale red blend that, in an earlier version in 1967 when it was still known as
“Burgundy”, won multiple trophies and scores of gold medals for close to a decade, kickstarting the d’Arenberg business to the extraordinary attraction it has become today.
That simple, everyday red is still the favourite baby among more than 60 available d’Arenberg wines for family patriarch d’Arry Osborn, who turns 90 on Tuesday.
The wine label carries the famous red stripe that has been the quality mark of the d’Arenberg brand since he launched it back in 1959, naming it after his late mother Helena d’Arenberg who died tragically after giving birth to d’Arry in 1926.
The workhorse wine d’Arry loves spurs many a memory now as he recalls a life lived to the full on the family-owned, hilltop property on Osborn Rd, McLaren Vale.
“Imagine what it was like when I started at the winery when I was 16 years old,” d’Arry says.
“We had five Clydesdales (draught horses) then. Three years later, we bought our first tractor, the first rubber tyre tractor in McLaren Vale.
“It changed my life, that tractor – it was marvellous.”
Grid electricity was connected in 1951, refrigeration was installed to control fermentation, sulphur in gas form followed, as well as continuous growth of wooden and steel vats, specialist presses and bottling lines.
“The biggest change in my lifetime has been the technology in the winemaking,” d’Arry says.
“It’s been huge”.
While winemaking techniques improved out of sight, other highlights seem quaint compared to the complexities of today’s marketing and bureaucracy-focused industry.
Many Baby Boomers will remember the famous two-gallon (later two-litre) flagons that carried the red stripe and now anachronistic “Burgundy” nomenclature as among their first red wine drinks.
“I didn’t realise just how important those flagons were in our development – and the wine in them was that same d’Arry’s Original shiraz-grenache blend,” he says.
As his business grew, so did d’Arry’s wider industry involvement, resulting in his awards of Queen’s Jubilee Medal and the Queen’s Medal of the Order of Australia.
In the mid-1980s, d’Arry’s flamboyant son Chester became the chief winemaker and eventually gathered his own accolades, as well as much of the limelight, but it still hasn’t dented the old fellow’s desire to stay involved.
Though a bit wobbly on his feet these days, d’Arry still collects the mail every day from the local post office, and still looks over the accounts of the multi-million dollar enterprise.
He still goes fishing with a couple of mates – catching his fair share of whiting – and still likes a little drop of the old red.
To celebrate his 90th, he reckons he’ll probably have a special pour of that d’Arry’s Original too, though he thinks there may be a few splashes of more top-shelf reds like the famed d’Arenberg Dead Arm Shiraz as he looks back over the achievements of his family and staff to bring the family business to such international status.
The future, with his son Chester’s amazing architectural “Cube” building, still under construction but already commanding global attention, seems just as imaginative as the past, he says.
It’s more than just a winery now – it’s an iconic tourist destination.
“I never imagined it would become what it has. I’m very proud of what everyone here has done.”
D’ARENBERG D’ARRY’S ORIGINAL 2013 SHIRAZ GRENACHE
First crafted by d’Arry Osborn in 1967, a barrel sample was entered in the show circuit and picked up a gold medal. The same wine went on to win multiple trophies and golds over several years, while it was still called D’Arry’s Original Burgundy.
The wine style hasn’t changed much since then, essentially a 50:50 blend of solid McLaren Vale shiraz and grenache, d’Arry Osborn’s two favourite grapes. Younger vintages of this wine benefit hugely from opening and decanting hours before serving – it’s robust and rustic from start to finish, with dark fruit and spicy highlights, its firm tannins and structure standing it in good stead beside barbecued, roast and grilled meats, as well as setting it up for several years in the cellar.