The
Wirra Wirra Cellars were built by
Robert Strangways Wigley. One of McLaren
Vale's all time characters, he began
building at the turn of the century using
the Dr. A.C. Kelly plans of a split-level
design that his friend Alec Johnston has
used to build his Pirramimma winery.
"Wirra Wirra" is an aboriginal name
meaning "amongst the gums".
Born in
1864, Bob Wigley studied Law and
Architecture and managed to play cricket
for South Australia. His wild pranks as a
young man had already made him somewhat of
an embarrassment to his family. Feats of
horsemanship in the hallowed precincts of
the Adelaide Town Hall, towing a pie cart
down King William street to the
consternation of its patrons and owners
were a foretaste of his later behavior.
So, in 1893 he was prudently sent to
rusticate in McLaren Vale. He planted the
vineyard in 1894 and made his first wine
with Alec Johnston in 1897. By 1901 he was
the owner of one of the best wineries and
vineyards in the district with 100 acres
under vines and 15 acres under
currants.
"Mr.
Thomas Hardy says of all those he ever had
under him, no town man worked harder than
Mr. Bob Wigley who was at Bankside for 18
months learning winemaking. At the end of
this time he took up 240 acres of land at
McLaren Vale, and today it is one of the
best properties in the district. There are
100 acres under vines, and the currant
vineyard of 15 acres is perhaps the best
in the State. This year it returned 10 1/2
tons of dried fruit. Viewed from the wine
cellars this vineyard at the time I was
there presented a solid level area of
green. It was wonderfully restful to tired
eyes. Mr. Wigley made 17,000 gallons of
wine this vintage, and he has 47,000
gallons in stock. He has succeeded in
producing wonderfully fine full-bodied
Burgundy, especially suited for the export
trade. The cellar is splendidly built, and
is fitted with all the modern appliances.
Water for cooling purposes is conserved in
a 10,000 gallon tank, which stands under a
thatched roof. The water is pumped up into
a small tank at the top of the cellar, run
through the coils by means of gravitation,
and then taken back to the big tank. There
are seven fermenting tanks, of a capacity
of 1,000 gallons each. There are tramways
and turntables for the carriages used in
connection with the press. All the casks
in the cellar are of oak, and everything
is up-to-date.
One of the
picturesque features of the estate is the
quaint-looking pug cottage, with its
thatch roof, which was built over 50 years
ago. It stands under the shadow of a
noble-looking gum tree, and is one of the
few remaining dwellings of the fast
demising pioneers. Mr. Wigley believes in
hard work, but on Saturday afternoons his
old love, cricket - he was a South
Australian eleven - returns to him, and he
plays the game for all it is
worth."
By a
Special Correspondent - 'The Register',
Adelaide, Australia 1903.
Bob Wigley
died in 1924 having contributed much to
the life of the district and having made
many fine wines which in the main found
their way to England, having been shipped
by Burgoynes of London. After 1936 the
original 240 acres were sold by his family
and eventually the cellars with only 7
acres left fell into disuse.
It was not
until late 1969 that the winery, by then
virtually a derelict building, and the
surrounding 7 acres of land was bought
from Vern Sparrow, son of Wigley's foreman
Jack Sparrow, by cousins Greg and Roger
Trott and re-established.
Roger
Trott, an accountant, has a property at
McLaren Flat, 'Moray Park', and Greg's
vineyard, 'Bethany', is just across the
road from Wirra Wirra, while Scrubby Rise,
part of the original Wirra Wirra, is
immediately in front of the cellars.
Before they bought the old, ruined winery,
Greg spent five years with Southern Vales
Co-operative looking after growers'
interests and in his own words, "had
become familiar with the rudiments of
winemaking".
Like many
of the McLaren Vale winemakers, these men
were helped by their friendly rivals, a
feature of the district. Good use was made
of Oenological Services of McLaren Vale, a
winemaking advisory and laboratory service
led by Peter Klose and started by David
Hardy, Alex Johnston and Colin
Kay.
In a
gesture worthy of the wonderful Wigley,
the two cousins Trott spent a frantic five
weeks gathering equipment from all over
the state. Then, armed with an ancient
wooden Bagshaw crusher, a pump and an old
French press, they made their first wine
in the open air amidst the
ruins
