Australian Town and Country Journal at KellyGang 19/3/1870
Jottings by the Way.
THE ALBURY VINEYARDS
FROM OUR TRAVELLING REPORTER
ALBURY and vineyards are becoming more and more associated every year, de facto ct in nomine. Each year sees large additions made to the already large acreage covered with the vine-for almost every farmer in the district cultivates from half an acre to ton, and yearly adds to the plantation; so that the banks of the Murray on each side for forty miles will, in course of time, stand thick with green regiments of choice vines, competing for fame and excellence in the markets of Melbourne and Sydney.
The heat and drought of the last three months, however, are telling fearfully on the fruit of the present season. The muscatels are shrivelled into raisins on the stalks, and the other varieties are scarce half their size. The leaves are falling off so fast that many plants retain no shade at all ; this is attributed to an over-dose of side-pruning, which; seems to have been avoided in the larger vineyards - and it is calculated that the yield of must will not be , more than half of what was anticipated two months since.
At the numerous farms and vineyards I visited; I met with a great variety of reception. Some were shy, some unwilling, some indifferent; while at most of the more important ones all the information I had a right to expect was freely tendered. The ghost of a Chinese informer still haunted more than one vigneron.
Among the many excellent vineyards and establishments which I had the pleasure of visiting in the district, I may mention that of Mr Fallon's, or The Murray Valley vineyard, four miles north of Albury; 2, Mr Adams's (the Surveyor- General), or "Attamogah" (here got a taste); 3, Mr Edward Sanger's at Corowa ; 4, Mr David Reid's, at Moorwatha, Howlong.
The first-mentioned valuable property was purchased by Mr Fallon, three years ago, for £2,300, on the dissolution of the company. It consists of 640 acres of good land, fenced - 110 acres of which are planted with vines, 25 acres in full bearing, and 50 acres more to bear in two years. The kinds now in bearing are Muscatel, Shiraz, and Reisling. The ground planted is a hill of red loam, full of sharp quartz grit, and in places blocks of quartz are found at and near the surface ; on block proving of such a size as to be immovable was chipped off to the depth required by the subsoil plough, and left in the ground.
The manager's; house, the press-house and cellar, are at the top of the hill, and from the plantations slope gently away , on every side, on a soil that varies from two feet six to ten feet deep. The wine I tasted here was Reisling (two years) and Mixed Red (one year), and like most wine from Mr Fallon's cellars, of superior quality. The second vineyard on the list is situated seven miles out of Albury, on the Gerogery Road to Wagga - Attamogah (by interpretation, "Here have a taste") is the appropriate name of this "pride of the vineyards," and whether you taste the grapes or the wine, both are, to my fancy, unrivalled in the district. Let any man take an agreeable stroll of twenty miles in this dust tormented district, with flies in his eyes and ears, grit in his teeth, dust in his nostrils, sand in his hair, and perspiration everywhere, then stand before one of Mr Adams's vine-pictured in all their fruitful beauty, and decline, if he can, the never failing request, "Have a bunch of grapes ?"
By courtesy of Mr Beat, the manager in charge of this vineyard, we learn that it contains a greater variety of choice vines than any other I was favoured with an inspection of. They are---Marsala, Burgundy, Reisling, Muscatel, Verdeilho, White Shiraz, Carignan, Mataro, Carbenet, and Sauvignan. The grapes look unusually full and abundant, not having suffered from such a ruthless pruning as seems to have reduced the plants in many smaller vineyards to skeletons, with their dead leaves strewn on the ground. A splendid white Shiraz, with its pendent clusters, forms the entrance porch to the cellar, a cool, well-proportioned and well-ventilated building, holding 15,000 gallons.
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