Hopes for a brandy comeback as Coonawarra produces first branded batch

For the first time in decades, brandy is returning to the Coonawarra.

The region was once a major producer of the wine-based liquor, before it dropped out of fashion.

The idea to bring back brandy to the Coonawarra came from the director of Majella Wines, Brian “Prof” Lynn.

After contemplating launching a spirit, he thought brandy would be the most natural progression from wine.

It has so far been a straightforward addition for the business, requiring only a distillation still in addition to their existing wine, rainwater and wooden ageing barrels.

Mr Lynn has found the distilling process to be quick, only taking about six hours.

But the ageing process is slow, with all brandy legally required to be aged for two years in a wooden cask.

Historic connections

Despite the strong historic origins of brandy in the region, Majella’s release is the first to include the region on the labelling.

In the early 1900s, tastes were changing and demand for dry reds dwindled. The brandy produced with the surplus grapes would eventually become generically branded brandy.

But as other wine varieties grew in popularity, Coonawarra’s brandy production declined and eventually stopped in the late 20th century.

Much of the knowledge about Coonawarra brandy has been lost through the decades, but there are some in the region still with connections to the liquor.

Coonawarra resident Diana Clayfield’s father, Arthur Hoffmann, was a viticulturalist, wine and brandy maker in the region.

“He enjoyed doing it [making brandy],” she said.

Ms Clayfield remembers the generation before her enjoying a brandy, and sometimes even using it for medicinal purposes.

“If you had a flu, they warmed brandy and wine up together and had it as a medicine,” she said.

‘Cure-all’ brandy

It was this connection with medicine that helped brandy to become so popular, with production peaking in the 1960s.

Luke McCarthy has extensively researched and written about Australian spirits and brandy.

He said hospital brandy emerged around the turn of the 20th century, with major brands producing it into the 1940s.

The term fell out of vogue around the same time brandy production declined.

Another blow was the federal excise on brandy, facing a large increase in the 1970s to be closer to other spirits.

“It’s a combination of economic forces, government intervention and then shifting consumer trends, which have seen brandy really ride this sort of roller coaster ride over the last 100 years,” Mr McCarthy said.

Reinvigorating brandy

Australian Distillers Association president Holly Klintworth said, although the market for other spirits like gin had become crowded, there was an opportunity ahead for brandy.

“There’s definitely a place in Australia for brandy and I hope that it’s only a matter of time before more and more people start to rediscover just how amazing brandy can be,” she said.

And it could be a money spinner for wineries — Ms Klintworth’s distillery turns “about $16,000 worth of wine into the equivalent of $1.5 million worth of brandy”.

“It makes a lot of sense. We’ve got so many wine regions,” she said.

Mr Lynn agrees that conditions are right for a comeback.

He was already ageing a fresh batch of brandy to release in future years.

“In the old days, brandy was huge; everyone drank brandy,” he said.