Interview with Alexander Angas Johnston [transcript] Interviewer: Rob Linn

Alex Johnston was born in Adelaide on 30 November 1933. His parents are Constance Joyce Lillecrapp and Alexander Hammond Johnston; grandfather a descendant of the Johnstons who established Oakbank brewery and bought land at McLaren Vale in 1892. He talks about his early memories of Pirramimma - made fortified wines, all sold to Gilbeys of London who blended it under various brands; they mainly used Shiraz and his father and uncle were the winemakers. He studied at Roseworthy for five years, including two years in oenology; chief lecturer was Rex Kuchel (in the mid 1950s); of the six who graduated only two found jobs in the wine industry; he returned to the family winery. In the 1960s the contract with Gilbeys ended so they dealt with Ron Haselgrove of the Mildura Wine Co. from then on. From the early 1970s they began to do their own bottling and Wytt Morro designed the original Pirramimma Shiraz label. They moved to mobile bottling using the Petaluma bottling line and still hand-labelled. They did 750 ml. bottles and half gallon flagons. In the early 1980s they changed from Shiraz to Riesling; 1987 saw the beginning of the export boom. Geoff Johnston introduced the next level of technical improvement; refrigeration was introduced; the property was run as a mixed farm up to the 1980s; used the crop land to grow Chardonnay and Pinot for Mildura from 1988. From 1990 all had to have licences for underground water but there were no restrictions on usage until 1999. In 1982 they planted Petit Verdot and produced the first commercial bottling in 1994 which was well accepted by the public. He and his three brothers are shareholders in AC Johnston. They export about 30% of the bottled wine and the balance comprises domestic sales

Copies may be made for research and study. Publication only with written permission from the State Library.

To request approval, complete the Quote for Copy/Permission form.