Much as it would have been perfectly wonderful to have been healthy and wealthy in Egypt’s New Kingdom, I’d have lived in perpetual fear of falling ill. Scared stiff of needles I might be, I still value my occasional penicillin and even today rate myself as one of Alexander Fleming’s greatest fans. Ask any informed ancient Egyptian and they’d immediately confess they preceded his greatest discovery by several millennia. Researchers have unearthed ancient Egyptian medical texts which suggest that almost irrespective of the cause, be it a bite from either mosquito or hippo, a dagger to the ribs or even a poisoned chalice from some affiliate of Caesar’s, wine would play some part in the prescribed cure. Either ingested or applied externally, wine was a regular vehicle for the taking of other medicines or was even itself applied to the patient as the principal medicine itself. Wine was still considered an important part of the medical amoury in the earliest days of this country. Accept its place as the oldest medicine of all and it’s easy to understand why so many doctors have become involved in the growing and making of Australian wine. The motivations of Australia’s first doctor-vignerons were actually very little different from those of the physicians of ancient Egypt. The very first doctor-vigneron in Australia was William Redfern, himself a former convict and a leading Sydney doctor. He had planted a vineyard at Campbellfields in 1818 and as Dr Philip Norrie writes in his Wine & Health Diary, played an instrumental role in ensuring that while being transported in the holds of ships to Australia, convicts received daily rations of a quarter of a pint of wine enhanced nutritionally, if not organoleptically, with lime juice. As the basic health care provided to those aboard convict ships improved, the colonies became more frequently visited by naval surgeons and doctors, several of whom later retired to here to establish vineyards, sometimes specifically to help their patients. The founders of two of Australia’s most important wine labels, Drs Penfold and Lindeman, did so for this very reason. Penfolds, arguably the best recognised of all Australian wine brands today, dates back to when Dr Christopher Rawson Penfold began planting grapes around his cottage and surgery at the Adelaide suburb of Magill in 1844. From these early days to the present time, over 160 doctors have been actively involved in the growing and making of Australian wine. The number of Australia’s most famous small wineries that owe their existence to members of the medical profession is quite remarkable. It should be said, however, that the driving motivation behind the establishment of many in the enlightened latter years of this century owes more to their founders’ desire to make something to drink themselves than any altruistic ambition to prescribe a form of home-grown and made tonic for their patients. Seville Estate recently recognised the role of the numerous doctors to have contributed to the development and shape of Australian wine by releasing a new ‘GP’ brand of multi-regional wines, for one such doctor just happens to be one Peter McMahon. In 1972, while still a general practitioner in the Upper Yarra Valley, Peter McMahon began to plant Seville Estate, a vineyard respected today as one of Victoria’s premier cool climate estates. It’s also one of the more perfectly sited, with stunning high views from the winery across the valley proper, although McMahon has always confessed that the prime motivation behind its selection had more to do with the sheer beauty of its position and aspect than any viticultural imperative. That said, it faces north-east and generally intercepts enough sun to make wine from fully ripened fruit. Ever since he figured out that plain hard work is the only solution in the vineyard to some of the challenges presented by a climate which can become dampish on occasions and a site that is perhaps more vigorous than ideal, there’s been little since to hold McMahon back. It didn’t take long before Seville Estate’s leafy cabernet sauvignon blend with merlot and cabernet franc and its restrained, peppery shiraz had developed a loyal following, while its pinot noir and chardonnay were also quick to develop national respect in the early 1980s. But for mine the most glorious of Seville Estate’s several wines was its late-harvest dessert riesling, harvested at levels of sweetness akin to the Beernenauslesen and Trockenbeerenauslesen of the Rhine Valley. The 1980 vintage was the first and possibly the best, something of incredible greatness and intensity. But sadly, since these wines are as difficult and temperamental to ferment and clarify as they are to grow, the riesling ultimately had to make way for more shiraz and chardonnay. My advice to anyone who sees these wines bob up at auction is simple: snaffle them up. But time has bought a change of tide at Seville Estate. After several years of flirting with the idea, the premium Lower Hunter Valley winery of Brokenwood finally bought the business in 1997. Given that none of the next generation of McMahons showed much interest in taking over after Peter’s inevitable retirement, it’s been as perfect an arrangement as anyone who has followed Seville Estate’s fortunes could have wished for. Brokenwood’s chief executive and chief winemaker is the laconic Iain Riggs, who prior to his company’s purchase of Seville spent several vintages working with McMahon on his pinot noir and chardonnay. He’s clearly become great friends with Peter McMahon, whose winemaking input is still greatly valued at Seville. Their arrangement enables McMahon to remain involved and Riggs wouldn’t simply ignore such a wealth of experience. Furthermore, the energetic Alaister Butt has remained at Seville to oversee the vineyard’s expansion and to keep an eye on affairs in the winery while McMahon samples the delights Melbourne offers but from which his vineyard has long kept him hostage. The first two wines given the GP label are a fresh, grassy and citrusy 1998 Chardonnay Semillon mainly sourced from Padthaway in South Australia and a rather stylish, elegant 1997 Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz from Victoria’s King Valley and McLaren Vale. Drink the Chardonnay Semillon right now while its fresh acids bring out the best in its tropical and melon flavours. You might like to keep the Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz for a couple of years for its sweet berry dark fruits, cedary oak and fine tannins to develop more complexity and suppleness together. The GP wines sell for around $13 and $17 respectively.
