Genius… Renegade... Innovator... Legend! The man who created Australia’s most famous wine has been called all of these and more. But also: gentle, kind, patient, unassuming – and a bit of a workaholic. Max Schubert, AM, (1915 – 1994) was a genuinely good bloke. Here’s his story.
Max
When Max Edmund Schubert was born in Moculta (on the north-eastern fringe of the Barossa), Australia was at war - the Great War: a conflict so terrible that for generations, the word great would never again infer anything good.
He was third generation Aussie: son of a blacksmith; grandson of German-speaking Silesian immigrants. His childhood was happy, if modest. (In a 1992 interview, Max recalled a thatched-roofed cottage made of mud and straw, and the tantalising aromas of bacon, Bratwurst and freshly brewed coffee.)
Young Max enjoyed school, but as the country careened towards another (not) great thing - the Great Depression – he abandoned his studies to look for paid employment. His father Carl - actually Adolph, known as Carl (regular readers will be familiar with this trend) - had done some work at a local Nuriootpa winery, where his ability and craftsmanship impressed the famously cantankerous manager. Figuring that the fruit doesn’t fall far from the tree, cranky Herr Sholz offered Carl’s teenage son a job running errands and tending to the winery’s Clydesdale for 10 bob a week. Aged 15, Max Schubert arrived at Penfolds.
Promotion – and another war
He received his first promotion just 6 months later, and within a couple of years - having been transferred to Penfolds’ operations at Magill - was apprenticed to the head winemaker.
Biographers often refer to Max as a loyal company man, which he demonstrably was. But he was also a man determined to walk his own path: When Australia became embroiled in WW2, Max ignored a management directive ordering workers to remain at their posts - and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He served in the Middle East, North Africa, Greece, Ceylon & New Guinea – pausing only long enough to return home on leave to marry his sweetheart: Penfolds’ typist Thelma Humphrys.
Chief Cellar Hand
On his discharge from the AIF, Max returned to Magill where he was probably NOT surprised to find himself demoted to cellar hand. But management didn’t stay mad at Max for long. Just 3 years later, in 1948, Max Schubert was appointed Penfolds’ first ever Chief Winemaker. It was a position he would hold for 27 years.
Europe
In 1950, Max was packed off to Europe to study sherry and port making. (Fortifieds were Australia’s favourite tipple and Penfolds’ stock-in-trade at the time.)
During a side trip to Bordeaux, he met one of France’s most respected and highly qualified old-school winemakers, Monsieur Christian Cruse. Cruse took Max under his wing, showing him everything he wanted to know, and introducing him to magnificent old (40 and 50 years!) Bordeaux first growth wines. Max was astounded at their still-potent bouquets and rich, generous flavours.
For Max, it was a Light Bulb Moment; for the rest of us, the single most important encounter in Australian wine-making history.
Next week: Max and Ray Beckwith… and THAT wine.
Read Part 2
