Bernard Stephens

Bernard Stephens was born in Medindie on 5 July 1923; parents were Guy Stephens and Vera Manning, father was a manager at John Martins and played for Norwood Football Club 1911 to 1927. His great great grandfather George Manning was the first winemaker in McLaren Vale. After returning from World War II Bernard was granted a War Service Land Settlement and developed a winery at Loxton. He worked as a field officer for the Citrus Association. His block was 26 acres with a mixture of grape types. He decided to return to Adelaide as a State Manager of the Wine Information Bureau and worked there for 21 years. His job was to promote wine and run wine education courses over 12 weeks which was the only one in Australia. He did a lot of wine tastings at night for clubs. Started in 1967 with Don Rogers doing wine tastings in shopping centres. Over time people started to evaluate wines. Jack Ludbrook was employed by the Association to write about and promote wine in the late 1960s. Barossa Pearl was one of the most successful promotions as people became interested in wine. During his time the industry was family owned and managed and it was easy to get quick decisions. He talks about the Beefsteak and Burgundy Club which met at the Imperial Hotel. This led to clubs forming around Australia. Talks about Wolf Blass and his development of red wines. Wine licences were held by hotels but they gradually made the courts free up more licences for wine shops. Talks about the changes in labelling and wine promotion. He was seconded by the Australian Wine Board to go to Asia and promote Australian wines. Talks about key people in the industry and the growth in many areas. International takeovers have been good for the industry because it has created more opportunities and improved quality