Interview with Max Drayton [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Max Drayton was born in 1931 in Cessnock. Drayton's and Tyrrell's are the oldest surviving family wineries in the Hunter Valley. South Australians unfamiliar with the history of the Hunter Valley wineries will find this interview provides an interesting comparison with the relevant South Australian interviews. In his discussion, Max Drayton concentrates on the changes in the type of grapes and their cultivation that he has experienced in his lifetime of grape growing and winemaking: from working with horses to fully mechanised harvesting. He gives a wonderful description of ploughing in between the vines with a specially trained horse. He also worked through the times when Australians moved from drinking fortified wines to table wines and modified accordingly his winemaking practices. Max Drayton recalled the winemakers he knew, including South Australian vignerons. He has lived and worked through many changes in the Hunter Valley; from the time when grapegrowers kept cattle to see them through the bad years to the growth of the Hunter Valley as a significant tourist area. In Max's opinion, the growth of the tourist industry has brought many problems for grapegrowers, especially in the cost of land and environmental concerns. Max Drayton believes that government policies and the associated taxes on the valuation of stock have caused many problems for winemakers. Nevertheless his life has been one of real enjoyment despite all the pressures and changes

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