LTL For more about tinnies, pints and schooners, check out our Beer episode from season one. Let's return to boxed wine, which for Gary is connected to a painful but pivotal memory.
GG I was actually at a barbecue with some friends. My dad's Aboriginal, my mum's of Danish Irish heritage, so a bit of an undercover brother when it comes to the skin colour, but very proud of my heritage. A man walked out with a cask of wine and said something very derogatory, and I pulled this guy up and said, ‘The language that you just used then is not acceptable’. And he apologised and everything like that. But I was in a setting of about probably 50 people and I saw the power that day of stopping and educating and turning a negative situation into a positive one. These 50 people understood a bit more about Aboriginal culture. So, I actually went home that night, and I said, ‘I'm going to open an alcohol company’.
LTL Murrin Bridge Wines launched in the 90s as Australia's first Indigenous winery, but sadly closed prior to Gary starting his business. And more recently Wirangu and Kokatha man Pauly Vandenbergh has spearheaded Munda Wines.
PV I felt it was a really low representation of Indigenous people in the wine industry. I thought, ‘Well, I'm busy enough as it is, but why not have a crack?’ It was that industry that I was really fascinated with. And then as I started delving in, this term ‘terroir’ kept coming up: the French concept of land and soil and the vines. And terroir just made a lot of sense to me as an Aboriginal person. It's very well documented on the importance of land and Country to Aboriginal people and our connection to Country. And you know, in terms of the pecking order of life for Aboriginal people, it's land first, plants and animals second, and then people sort of third. So that just really resonated with me.
My Wirangu Kokatha word for Country or land is ‘munda’. Munda for me just gives me a platform to be able to speak about many mundas. And maybe one day, you know, we don't use the term terroir in Australia. Maybe we'll use the word munda.
LTL Munda’s wine labels usually show a bird’s-eye view of the Countries the grapes are from, spanning eucalyptus greens to seaside colours, while Mt Yengo has showcased strong Indigenous women, composed of objects from their traditional Country.
Powerhouse has a range of wine labels in its collection, and sure, they can tell you about the bottle's vineyard, varietal or vintage, but let's face it, a well-designed wine label can be a lifeline in a bottle shop when you're overwhelmed by indecision or confusion.
BC We have a wine called Fresh AF — big, bright, bold colours on it. I'm pretty confident they're going to know what's in it. They're not going to have a big, warm hug of a wine.
