STATE LIBRARY OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA J. D. SOMERVILLE ORAL HISTORY COLLECTION OH 692/46 Full transcript of an interview with JOHN GLAETZER on 26 August 2002 by Rob Linn Recording available on CD Access for research: Unrestricted Right to photocopy: Copies may be made for research and study Right to quote or publish: Publication only with written permission from the State Library OH 692/46 JOHN GLAETZER NOTES TO THE TRANSCRIPT This transcript was donated to the State Library. It was not created by the J.D. Somerville Oral History Collection and does not necessarily conform to the Somerville Collection's policies for transcription. Readers of this oral history transcript should bear in mind that it is a record of the spoken word and reflects the informal, conversational style that is inherent in such historical sources. The State Library is not responsible for the factual accuracy of the interview, nor for the views expressed therein. As with any historical source, these are for the reader to judge. This transcript had not been proofread prior to donation to the State Library and has not yet been proofread since. Researchers are cautioned not to accept the spelling of proper names and unusual words and can expect to find typographical errors as well. 2 TAPE 1 - SIDE A NATIONAL WINE CENTRE, WOLF BLASS FOUNDATION ORAL HISTORY PROJECT. Interview with John Glaetzer on 26th August, 2002. Interviewer: Rob Linn. John, where and when were you born? JG: I was born in 1948. Would you believe Christmas Day? With an identical twin brother. That’s Colin, is it? JG: Colin. And who were your parents, John? JG: I was born in Whyalla. My parents, Len and Sylvia Glaetzer. Mum passed away a couple of months ago and Dad passed away 1980, and they were both born on vineyards in the Clare Valley. A place called White Hut. It’s a little bit north of Clare. I know White Hut. JG: Great spot. Yes, it is. Too right. So they came from the Clare Valley themselves but you were born at Whyalla. Was your dad in a job up there? JG: Yes. At that stage Dad was carting dried fruit. He had a little truck. Apart from the vineyard and the orchard in Clare. To make a living he used to cart dried apricots and stuff. And that business sort of got a little bit quiet so he moved up to Whyalla when they started on the breakwaters and he used to cart rocks for that, for work. So they lived in a caravan in Whyalla from—I’m not too sure of the years. During the war, towards the 3 end of the war. Lived in a caravan at Whyalla on a block for many years and built their own home, Mum making all the bricks by herself. Cement bricks, were they? JG: Yes. Gee! JG: And Dad building a house. That’s a fairly big task, isn’t it? JG: Yes. So John, did you do your schooling in Whyalla or down in Clare? JG: Dad moved before the shipyards were built in Whyalla. Whyalla of course went through its doldrums before the shipyards so Dad moved his business down to Adelaide at a place called Beverley. Just a single truck. Used to cart bricks. All on by hand and off by hand. Pretty hard yakka. So I went to school in Adelaide. Little primary school called Kilkenny on Port Road, and I was lucky enough to get to a high school called Adelaide Technical High, which used to be in North Terrace. The School of Mines. JG: The School of Mines. So we were pretty lucky to get into there. I didn’t know you were a graduate of that famous facility, John. JG: Oh, we used to have a wonderful time. You know, twin boys. Did we used to get in some strife? It was pretty handy actually because there used to be a lot of fountains through there and we’d like to see the fountains frothy, a bit more attractive, so either Colin or myself would stand alongside the local copper in North Terrace and the other one would put the Fab in. Make sure someone saw us and then the witness would always come up and say, ‘It was him. He did it. He did it’. And the copper would always say, ‘No. This little gentleman’s been standing here for the last half hour’. We never got caught. (Laughter) 4 So John, was the schooling there pretty terrific? It’s got a great reputation. JG: Yes, it was a pretty good school. I think it was three years we went to school in North Terrace and then they moved it out to Glenunga, and I don’t think the school at Glenunga was a patch on the one at North Terrace. We had a lot of fun. The first time I did Leaving I failed miserably. I only got one subject. Because that’s when girls became attractive, and motor cars and all that. So second time around it was either get a kick up the arse from Dad, pull my head in, which I did. And I was pretty lucky, I topped the State in Maths 1 Maths 2 and credits for every other subject, apart from English. And that gave me the first Commonwealth scholarship to Roseworthy College for oenology. So what year would that have been, John? JG: 1966. Now, at home, had your Mum and Dad had wine on the table at all? JG: Yes, it was. Dad always had a Port with a meal. So fortifieds? JG: Yes, back then. Any birthdays, or anything like that, we always had a Wynn’s sparkling wine. A Romalo. Norm and Hurtle Walker. JG: Yes. One of Normie’s. And nine times out of ten it would have been sparkling Burgundy. Is that right? JG: It’s pretty funny how things happen. In that year I won the scholarship, business in Adelaide for Dad was getting a bit slack. He was making more money sitting on his bum than competing with the cut- throats. So he was pretty good friends with Len Norman. Used to buy Port 5 from there, and an occasional dry white. So Dad went and gave him a hand. He needed a hand for one vintage, carting some wine and general odds and sods. And Dad finished up working for Len Norman for ten years. Did he? So this is when Normans were down - JG: Underdale. On the Torrens flats there. JG: Yes, in Holbrooks Road. The bowling club’s there now. JG: Right alongside the bowling club. That’s where I had my twenty-first, in the bowling club. Did you? JG: Yes. That was a beautiful location in those days I guess. JG: Oh, lovely spot. And I finished up doing a vintage there in ‘66/67. Before you went to Roseworthy? JG: Before I went to Roseworthy, yes. Still at high school. Could you tell me what Normans was like in those days at Underdale? JG: There were no vineyards there. All the vineyards at that stage were out at Angle Vale. Who looked after those? There was Len and his brother—can’t think of his name—but the brother looked after the vineyards and Len looked after the winery. And you wouldn’t believe it! Wolfy was employed there in 1966/67 - As a consultant. JG: - as a consultant. Of course, Wolf and my Dad became very close friends. That’s probably one of the reasons for the association now. But 6 the company back then, I forget what they used to do. Guessing a bit. Probably 100/120 ton. Maybe a little bit more. Open fermenters, John? JG: Yes, open roof fermenters. Temperature control was, you know, if it was a cold day the ferments wouldn’t get hot. (Laughter) I remember Wolfy’s ‘67 Grey Label. Still remember taking the temperature. It was 104 degrees Fahrenheit. And no-one seemed too overly concerned back then. And that wine went on to win the Montgomery in Adelaide. They made a little bit of table wine. Moselle was pretty fashionable. Riesling was fairly big back in those days. Used to ferment in little 1,000 gallon pressure tanks. So they were fairly well ahead for that time. Reds were made traditional until Wolfy came along and introduced some of the new age fermentation. That’s the bit I liked down there. All the smells and aromas you got from the new barrels with the reds fermenting in them. Fantastic. Were they smaller barrels or the larger oak? JG: All hogsheads. And the main storage down there was wooden vats. There were no stainless steel tanks. Just a couple of these painted pressure tanks. And the rest, even the white wines, were in waxed vats. Do you recall the wine at all, John? JG: The Riesling was good. Probably a lot broader than what we make now. Flinty? JG: A little bit hard actually. Yes, I know what you mean. JG: But for Angle Vale I thought they were pretty good wines. And they used to pick up an occasional gold medal with them, and silvers. So in their time they were quite good. 7 Yes, it’s interesting. Just thinking, that’s not that long ago, and there you have quite a reasonable winery really in the heart of Adelaide suburbia. JG: Yes. I think it’s all gone now. I’m not too sure what’s happened.