Eric Brand

Eric Brandon was born at Qualco in September 1917. His parents had a fruit block at Qualco - vines and citrus. He married Bill Redman's daughter Nancy in 1942. Prior to the war he was a baker and pastry cook. He moved to the Coonawarra in 1950; the only wineries were Woodleys and Redmans; he worked at Redmans looking after the vines and sheep, about 300 acres of red wine; they sold out to Lindemans in 1965 so he bought some property and began the Laira winery; made bulk wine for Hardy's; built a winery with above ground concrete fermenting tanks; the Coonawarra prospered after Redmans bought the winery and vineyards from Woodleys for 25,000 pounds; he started bottling from his first vintage in 1966; sold wine by mail order and cellar door; Eric grew Cabernet and Shiraz; talks about the local identities; he had 60 acres of red grapes; his sons studied at Wagga and they planted white grapes; talks about selling wine in Melbourne and Sydney; biggest change has been mechanisation; made his best wines in the early 1990s; change from open to sealed fermenters improved the wine; he sold out to McWilliams who employed his sons as managers