Interview with Chris Hancock [sound recording] Interviewer: Rob Linn, Part 1 of 3
Chris Hancock was born in Adelaide in 1941 and his parents were Gordon and Elsie. His father was a metallurgist at Port Pirie and his mother a nurse. Chris was educated at Urrbrae and Roseworthy. His father wanted him to work in agriculture but he developed an interest in oenology. He won a scholarship to Roseworthy College to study oenology and Harry Palmer was in charge. Chris did his first vintage at Reynella and lived at Reynella Hotel and worked with Don Hughes. He obtained a job at Penfolds in 1964 at 1,000 pounds per year. He was impressed with Ray Beckworth. Beckworth encouraged Max Schubert who went on to develop Grange. Chris worked at Penfolds for 12 years and it was a very difficult time. He worked in Griffith, the Hunter Valley, Sydney, Nuriootpa and then in Adelaide as the Production Manager. He worked under Schubert. He transferred to Sydney and worked for Weirs but was forced to resign. It was 1975 and the wine industry was in recession. He joined Rosemount with Bob Oakley and John Ellis was the winemaker from 1975 to 1978. Chris supervised sales and marketing from Sydney. They bought an export business from Douglas Lamb. In 1979 they went to France, Germany and London with the aim of moving into the UK market. They increased the plantings of Chardonnay and were the biggest Australian producer by 1980/81 with 150 tons. They won a London competition in 1982 and began exporting to London in 1983. Launched their wines at Lords cricket ground then went to the Wine Trade Fair. It was the right time to launch Australian wine in the UK and it was good quality wine. The biggest impact on the industry has been the rise of technology and the 1970s innovation - innovators included Colin Gramp, Tom Hardy and Ian Seppelt. Wines moved to the world stage in the late 1980s
Recording length1 hour 5 minsCopies may be made for research and study. Publication only with written permission from the State Library.
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