Interview with Bill Chambers [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Bill Chambers was born at Rutherglen on 5 June 1933; parents were Arthur Chambers and Peggy Todd. He is a fifth generation in the wine industry. Bill was educated in Melbourne and then at Roseworthy in 1950. He did two years in agriculture and two in oenology. Talks about the staff and students. He was a winemaker at Stanley for three years. Colin Gramp introduced refrigeration which was new to the industry. Wine was sold in bulk. His grandfather died in 1956 and his father was diagnosed with cancer in 1957 so he went back to Rutherglen in 1958. The vineyard had been planted in 1907 and was very run down. There were many varieties of grapes and most of the wine went to St Leonards. They made 5,000 gallons in his first year in wooden casks with a hand pump. In 1964 he became a wine judge. Rutherglen was fifty years out of date and using very old equipment. They had a good reputation for their fortified wines. George Smith started the Rutherglen Wine Festival in 1967. Things improved when they moved from bulk to bottled wine and developed a good cellar door trade. His wife died in 1986 and he remarried in 1989. Gradually started to export wine to the USA. Biggest change in the industry has been technology - cooling, stainless steel, quick bottling

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