THE LAGAN’S STORY
By Conor Lagan
The early beginnings…….
The Sea Change/Tree Change phenomenon is not new, let's face it all those 10 pound poms from the '60s were doing it BIG time……..I'd call it Hemisphere Change! As the youngest of John and Eithne Lagan’s three children, I didn’t have much say in it, but with a huge amount of good fortune we landed here in Margaret River in March 1968 to a life that would have been impossible to have of had in ‘dear ol dirty Dublin’ the city of my birth.
 |
Dr John Lagan |
 |
Dr Eithne Lagan |
John and Eithne, both MDs, had taken 12 months leave of absence to investigate a better life ‘in the antipodes’ and had by the grace of stellar bureaucratic intervention chosen Margaret River (“small village, on the coast, rains a lot….will remind you of Ireland!”) as their destination over the likes of Bridgetown (WA) Dalwallinu (WA) and Orange (NSW)). Interestingly three of our four possible destinations are now established wine regions in their own right (no prizes for guessing correctly!). One of the key instigators in getting us here was a former local Shire Councillor and WA parliamentarian Barry Blaikie, (incidentally son Russell heads up the highly regarded WA winebar MUST’s kitchen in Perth and Margaret River) who stated that when the Lagans agreed to come down under to Margaret River that the district … ‘got two for the price of one!’
They didn’t really get so much of a bargain; as the reality didn’t
quite match the hype. Margaret River in 1968 was severely depressed
both economically and socially through downturns in the agriculture and timber
industries, the backbone of regional employment; the town was dying on its
feet.
The '70s were just as difficult. If it wasn’t for
the fact that we had the good fortune of forming a friendship with the legendary
Dr Tom Cullity, Vasse Felix founder, and himself of renowned Irish stock,
I doubt we would have stayed.
The new world dream was a bit of a nightmare. Mum
was carrying the Margaret River practice (did so for pretty much 17 years
before additional GP’s came to town) and dad had taken a partnership
in a Perth suburban medical practice established by Irish friends which involved
1000 kms of driving every week (for the best part of 27 years!) just to make
ends meet.
Tom Cullity along with Dr Kevin and Di Cullen, the first to plant
vines in the region, were a major influence on our decision to stay in Margaret
River.
Tom in his very first meeting with Mum and Dad suggested buying land and planting a vineyard. He was a very direct and dogmatic man who didn’t suffer fools or those with a contrary opinion. He was a passionate and tireless worker and would get up at 4am Saturday and drive from Perth to his Vasse Felix vineyard, work all day Saturday and Sunday, then drive back that night for work first thing Monday. He said, ‘This is the future, buy a bit of land here and develop a vineyard. It will be difficult to do properly, but if you don’t do it properly, don’t do it at all’ With this endorsement still ringing in his ears Dad purchased the first of two large adjoining blocks on Boodjidup Rd just out of Margaret River township in 1970/71 and the seeds for Chateau Xanadu’s birth were effectively sown!
The Lagan kids grew up pulling weeds and collecting sticks and stones as the process of preparing the land for planting continued in the mid '70s. When sufficient funds were put aside planting got underway with 4ha of Cabernet Sauvignon in 1977 followed by the same of Semillon in 1978 and Chardonnay 1979 which make up the backbone of the original plantings. Small additions of Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc were added in the early '80s.
The first vintage was a 1981 Cabernet Sauvignon, made by Dads best old mate
Bill Ullinger and his son Paul at Redgate Wines. Bill, apart from being a
WWII Lancaster Bomber war veteran, a champion of the underdog and unyielding
fund raiser for the underprivileged, knew how to make bloody good wine and
he pretty much took ‘coals to Newcastle’ when Redgate took out
the Montgomery Trophy for the Best Red of the Show at the 1984 Adelaide Wine
Show. Whilst not as well regarded as the Jimmy Watson Trophy (best
one year old red) at the Melbourne Wine Show, it was a close second in terms
of significance to Cape Mentelle’s Jimmy Watson brace, for its sheer
upstart audacity; to win at the hands of the SA branch stackers (wine judges)
of the day, and yet hardly is it mentioned in the annals of MR wine history.
If
there was one person who understood about the importance of cellar sales
to the viability of the local wine business it was Bill and woe behold any
one, including the tax office, that got in the way of his right to make a
living selling from the ‘farm gate’!
That '81 Cab was pretty much undrinkable for 10 years, I remember seeing it in barrels in the garage when I came back from boarding school on holidays and then when I returned like the prodigal son in 1989 and saw pallets of it in the warehouse I wondered why we hadn’t yet sold it . . . three years in American oak puncheons (500 litre) will do that to any wine! Funnily fruit was evident behind all that vanillin oak…..somewhere, and we did eventually sell it for a princely sum. You’ve got to love a ‘first vintage’!
Things slowly took shape, and we produced our first Semillon in '82 along with a Cabernet Sauvignon that went on to win a silver medal or two. Surprising given the amount of rain we had that summer caused the mighty Blackwood River to flood. The Semillon was a lean 11% alcohol, a style that was beautifully fresh and crisp and proved to us that the variety was eminently suited to the region.
At the end of '82 we all had our first experience of professional winemaking
with the appointment of Roseworthy College graduate Theodore (Ted) Radke. Up
until then all the wine had been made by Bill and Paul and the vineyard work
carried out by local farmers and dad's patients Winston and Roy, so to have
a true professional in our midst was a bit messiah like.
Ted was a
top bloke and a gentlemen, knowledgeable but as green as a Tasmanian Cab
Sav when it came to running a winery and only stayed the year before pressing
family matters had him return to his beloved Queensland where he brewed beer
for XXXX and won a term in state parliament.
We were back with the boys at ‘the gate’ for the 84 vintage
but at least we were able to have the wine made in our own winery, built
by another of Dad's patients Calabria-born Fred Guzzomi and his sons Dominic
and Rocco.
With all the winery work and additions to the family home
Fred was virtually in full employ for 15 years and it was only old age that
prevented him from completing his final project the classic stone gates which
now mark the service entrance to the estate.
The estate was named after the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem ‘Kublai
Khan’ one of Dad's favourites. The ‘Chateau’ prefix
was a classic eccentric touch which I came to understand as an acknowledgement
of the Irish influence in establishing the great Chateaux of Bordeaux.
With
its simple leaf-adorned label and the last line of the poem, ‘…..for
he on honey-dew hath fed, and drunk the milk of paradise’ inscribed
on its label top the enduring dream of an eccentric pioneering Irish doctor
and his family was realised!
John Lagan passed away suddenly aged 80 on the 27th December 2007, a glass of Xanadu red in his hand.