Interview with Doug Crittenden [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Doug Crittenden was born in Melbourne in 1923. His mother was ralphene James and she divorced his father in the early 1930s. Doug left school at 15 and was an apprentice electrical fitter doing Navy work in a protected industry. His father was a leading grocer and provision merchant in Melbourne. His father was Oscar Rupert Crittenden and he sold things that were often difficult to get. After the war Doug went to Sydney for six months, then back to Melbourne to work for his father in his liquor shop at Toorak. He then went overseas and his first stop was Marseilles. He was away for 15 months and did wine courses at Dierhard, Bordeaux and London. His father died in 1954 and left his business to his staff and children. His brother looked after the food side and he did the liquor side building it up to 7 liquor stores. Wholesalers controlled the price of wine and breweries the price of beer and withheld beer when he tried to free up the sale price. They bought 400 gallons of sherry a week which they bottled and sold in their stores under their own label. He also bottled gin, whiskly, rum and brandy in the 1950s. He was th eonly retailer in the Melbourne Beefsteak and Burgundy club. Keith Gramp from Orlando introduced him to Barossa Pearl in 1953. He presold 200 dozen bottles before it was released. He went to SA six times a year to order bulk wine. Selling Penfolds wine under different names. In the early 1970s the stock exchange crashed and he could not sell red wine. He knew most of the people in the SA wine industry. His biggest seller was Seven Oaks Riesling and he talks about its history, eventually bottling 10,000 dozens per year. The business was eventually sold to Myer and they shut down the bottling in 1982. It was then taken over by Coles and the shops were sold off. He retired and left the business and his son Brett stayed on

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