Interview with Frank Devine [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Frank Devine was born in Brisbane on 3 October 1920. His mother was Mabel Adelaide White from New Zealand. They moved to Fitzroy in Melbourne when he was 9 months old. After World War 2 he gained government funding to study accountancy. In 1955 he was employed as an office manager for the Wynn family. He talks about Sam Wynn, their financial system, the disorganisation, initiative of introducing flagons which made wine affordable to more people, introducing a cash flow system for Wynns, enabling them to get a return before they had to make payments. David Wynn established Coonawarra. He talks about some of the winemakers. Frank became General Manager and took over the Victorian distribution, he represented Wynn's on industry bodies, became the first national president of the National Wine Industry. The retail part of the industry was run by the breweries. Major changes introduced by the Whitlam government were the Trade Practices Act and the valuation of wine for stock purposes. Dan Murphy and Malpas had the idea for the wine cask and David Wynn developed it into a marketable product. In 1983 Frank became a member of the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation. Wynn became a public company and in 1972 they were taken over by Allied Vintners who also owned Glenloth and Seaview Wineries and Tooheys Brewery. Frank stayed on as Director and became a director of Tooheys. He was responsible for bringing Moet and Chandon to Australia. He was also responsible for getting the remuage machinery from America. He talks about establishing Yenda Estate Services which is now run by his sons. Frank retired in 1985

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