Iconic Australian brands

The Aussie icons that united a nation

REMEMBER WHAT YOUR GRANDPARENTS OR PARENTS DRANK? WEST COAST COOLER? RESCH’S? CHÂTEAU TANUNDA BRANDY? STILL AROUND - AND MAKING A COMEBACK - THEY ARE THE AUSSIE ICONS AND RETRO SURVIVORS THAT WITHSTOOD THE TEST OF TIME - FROM FLOODS TO FIRES, ECONOMIC DEPRESSIONS AND DOWNTURNS IN POPULARITY.

CHÂTEAU TANUNDA

In the heart of South Australia’s wine country stands an unlikely - but fitting - château. After all, the Barossans built Château Tanunda in 1889 on the plight of France’s wine industry. Europe needed wine and Europeans had been planting vines in the Barossa Valley since 1840, so the region was a natural choice. In 1890, table reds and brandy sailed west with success, but it was the brandy that made the château’s name. Ten years later, Sydney-based wine and spirit merchant Tucker & Co. became responsible for Château Tanunda Brandy’s interstate push. The company had a knack for clever marketing - first promoting the brandy as a cure for all ailments. Château Tanunda Brandy was now a household name. In 1914, the brandy accompanied Australian troops to the war front. Later, during the Great Depression, the brandy was the face of a major campaign, ‘The Problem of Youth’, aimed at finding work for Australia’s unemployed youth during the Great Depression. It worked. Next came Château Tanunda’s series of ‘Historical Firsts’ - capsule lessons on Australian history - which got the brandy’s name into libraries and schoolhouses. Then in the early 1930s, as brandy sales slumped across NSW, Tucker decided to up its advertising investment. Newspapers and radio stations were popular, but neon signs were all the rage. It proved to be quite the investment given that one of those signs still hangs in St James Station in Sydney. Sydney might also be without a symphony orchestra if it wasn’t for Château Tanunda. Silent by 1923, Tucker brought the orchestra back to life under the brandy’s banner. At 130 years of age, not only is Château Tanunda Australia’s oldest brandy but it is integral to Australia’s history. Today, it is still well sought after, no longer for its cure-all properties, but for its taste - now aged for five years in wooden casks for more depth and character.

Château Tanunda Bundaberg Rum distillery

BUNDABERG RUM

What do fires, the Australian Prime Minister and a bear have to do with Bundaberg Rum? The story begins in 1888 when a group of Queenslanders built the Bundaberg Distillery off the back of the state’s burgeoning sugar cane industry. They made 225,000 gallons in their first production run - plenty to quench the thirst of rum-loving Australians. Bundy was off to a good start until the economic depression of 1890-93. Then two fires hit - in 1907 and 1936, destroying the building, stock and even setting the Burnett River on fire! Fortunately, the owners were the valiant type and rebuilt time and again. During World War Two, visiting American soldiers introduced Australians to mixing rum with cola. The Bundaberg team thought they were onto a good thing and created the popular Bundy and Cola. In 1961, the future Australian PM, William McMahon’s brother Sam was involved with the business and can be credited for Bundy’s square

L-R: Andrew Garrett Sparkling Shiraz, Orlando’s original fortified wines, West Coast Cooler, Resch’s coaster

bottle and bear (McMahon means ‘son of bear’ in Irish). Many things have stayed the same since then, however, Bundaberg’s innovative arm has led to the creation of many barrel-matured rums, mixed drinks - including the famous rum and ginger - and liqueurs.

ANDREW GARRETT

The Andrew Garrett name is synonymous with Australia’s original sparkling wine. However, its history is hard to come by and there is probably a good reason why. The brand was established in 1983 by winemaker Andrew Garrett in South Australia’s McLaren Vale wine region. He became best-known for his sparkling shiraz at ‘top dollar’ - often less than $15 per bottle. Sparkling shiraz, originally coined ‘sparkling burgundy’ was developed by the Victorian Champagne Company in 1881 but didn’t grow in popularity until the 1980s. Now it’s hard to imagine an Australia without the iconic, rich, maroon-coloured wine. By the 1990s, Garrett was a high flyer and made his fortune by selling the wine brand to Foster’s with his sparkling shiraz the feather in the cap. However, a good history story isn’t without struggle and in 2004, Garrett declared bankruptcy, owing $80,000 in unpaid taxes. His wine brand faired better in Foster’s hands, however, even the company wanted rid of it after taking over Southcorp and its many brands in 2005. As for what happened next? Vok Beverages - Bickford’s Australia’s sister business - took over distribution of the iconic Andrew Garrett Sparkling Shiraz and now the brand shows no signs of going anywhere.

ORLANDO

Orlando was a household name in the 1950s and 60s. However, the wine brand had been in the making since 1874 when the legendary Gramp family established the Orlando vineyard in Barossa Valley. By 1912, Orlando was one of Australia’s premium wine producers and was making fortified wines like everyone else. However, Orlando wasn’t one to rest on its laurels and began experimenting with new winemaking techniques. In fact, the company’s decision to import the first temperature-controlled pressure fermentation tanks from Germany changed the face of Australia’s table wine production. One of the first wines made with the tanks was a Barossa riesling - judged Best Riesling at the Sydney and Melbourne Wine Shows. Orlando achieved what many believed wasn’t possible. Its famous Steingarten Riesling was also the first of its kind - a new style made in 1962 from a high altitude vineyard grown on rocky terroir. The first Jacaranda Ridge Coonawarra Cabernet Sauvignon was released twenty years later, followed by the first Lawson’s Padthaway Shiraz two years later. In 1989, Orlando was purchased by Pernod Ricard and subsequently rebranded. It’s been a quiet period for the Aussie icon, however, this year the parent company announced Orlando would return to shelves with a portfolio of regionally-focused wines - including the Steingarten, Jacaranda Ridge and Lawson’s classics.

WEST COAST COOLER

The saying, ‘what’s old is new again’ couldn’t ring truer when it comes to wine coolers - although now the health-conscious are drinking ‘hard seltzers’. Yet today’s mix of sparkling water, alcohol and fruit flavours haven’t come far from yesterday’s wine cooler, simply swapping out wine for any alcohol. Pernod Ricard’s West Coast Cooler is a retro survivor from yesteryear - the 1980s, made by the company’s subsidiary, Irish Distillers to keep up with the category leader, California Cooler, targeting middleaged women. One can only assume its name was a nod to its Irish home - a far cry from sunny California but popular with drinkers the world over. Wine connoisseurs may have turned their backs on the white wine mixed with sparkling water and fruit flavours, but they can’t deny it didn’t sell - and by the thousands.

RESCH’S

Did you know there is a Resch’s Appreciation Society? This group of Resch’s biggest fans are charging a revival of Australia’s iconic beer - and winning. Saddened by the demise of Resch’s on taps in pubs and clubs, and frustrated with the explosion of craft beer, the society decided to fight for the return of “good honest beer at a reasonable price”. Resch’s was the name of the Sydney brewery founded by Edmund Resch in 1898. It collapsed in 1929 and was taken over by Tooth and Co, but the name lived on in the brands of beer. Production of Resch’s endured for some time, however, by the 2000s Resch’s Double Bitter and Dinner Ale had been phased out. Resch’s Real Bitter was discontinued later in mid2018. Resch’s Draught, on the other hand, is arguably Australia’s most enduring beer and continues to survive and thrive with Carlton & United Breweries. What’s more, the brewing company returned Resch’s iconic Silver Bullet cans to shelves in New South Wales bottleshops in July after a campaign by our friends at the society. The cans of Resch’s Pilsener - named for their distinctive colouring - held a special spot in NSW drinkers’ hearts before they were replaced with bottles around 2005 as sales plummeted. But Resch’s fans never forgot their beloved cans and even had a say on the new design - silver with a map of NSW found on the original.