Interesting stuff, looking over the answers for Quiz #24. It concerned the share price history of BRL Hardy, and reflects rather well on the performance of chief executive Stephen Millar (now boss of Constellation Wines) and his team. As Chris Honey so accurately recalled (or researched), the company was floated on the ASX on 17 September 1992 following a public issuing of 67 million shares at $1.00 each. The price dipped for a while, but by the time the company was officially bought by US-based Constellation Brands on 17 February 2003 for $10.50, it had produced quite a decent return. As Chris describes, the interest rate on one share compounded over the period of 10 years and 5 months (10.417 years) is 25.32%. Not bad, hey! I only wish I could have taken the advice I had been dishing out for years and bought some of it. But that’s the price of genuinely independent journalism. Chris, your old bottle of Eileen Hardy wine is on its way, once I find it! Quiz #25 represents a modest return of serve to the Los Angeles Times whose ‘crew of sheer amateurs’ (according to a very high-profile US wine writer friend of mine) declared that cheaper Californian wine was in fact better than Australian wine of the same price, based on the flimsiest of imaginable tastings. During the late 1980s the Rothbury Estate hosted a two-day tasting between the best wines from Australia and the best wines of the US. The competition, known as the Qantas Cup, was professionally judged by top Australian and American palates, and was adjudicated by an English panel headed by Hugh Johnson. It was won once, and handsomely so, and has never been repeated. Who won? The first correct answer opened on June 30 will receive a brace of fine Australian wines specifically made for American palates.
