Interview with John Bird [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 2 of 3

John Bird was born in Adelaide on 7 October 1943; parents Max and Shirley; his father was a fitter and turner and a truck driver; John left school at 16 to become a laboratory assistant at Penfolds at 5 pounds a week; Murray Marchant was the senior winemaker; Max Schubert was the National Production Manager; he describes the Penfold Winery at Magill; it was very modern and self sufficient; made brandy and spirits until 1974; they had 3 coopers and a team of full time carpenters and painters, a team of mechanics and masons; the company went public in 1963 and all staff over 65 years old had to leave; Penfolds bought Auldana; after 7 years John became the assistant winemaker and in 1970 the senior winemaker at Magill where he stayed until 1996; he was trained on the job and spent a lot of time with Max Schubert and Ray Beckwith; Ray very involved with the chemistry side and was responsible for atomic absorption and was a pioneer in pH and acid and set up their laboratory; John played a large part in the development of Grange but all the credit went to Schubert; talks about the types of wines he made; in the mid 1960s Schubert was appointed to the Board of Directors and became the chief winemaker; Penfolds bought out by Tooths Brewing in 1976 for $14 million and it became more professional and was a much happier place; in 1980 they were bought out by Adelaide Steamship Company; in 1990s bought by the South Australian Brewing Holdings Ltd (SABH) but it just became too big and fragmented; now run by accountants; he left in 1996; in 1980s spent a lot of time in Nuriootpa at vintage time; by the 1970s the public was very interested in table wines and women started to drink wine; talks about the development of the cask wine and Tim Jolly; cleanskins came about because of surplus wine; biggest development was refrigeration in the 1950s

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