The fascinating history of the wineries and petanque in the Pyrenees region of Victoria.  

From Ken Field. Also, see the March Newsletter for other details. More pictures on the Gallery page.

 Chateau Remy was founded in 1963. It was developed from scratch and much of the development work was undertaken by a local earth-moving contractor, Wally Henning. John Robb was appointed inaugural manager and he remained there until he retired in the late 70s. John oversaw the development of the brandy house from its inception. The local brandy industry was cruelled however with the tariff reforms introduced by the Whitlam government and the Australian brandy industry became exposed to other world producers.

Consequently, Remy Martin changed their business model and sent their own brandy from France to Chateau Remy to bottle and distribute and determined that the vineyards be now utilized for wine production. This change of strategy required a massive transformation and expansion of existing assets. A series of French managers were appointed and eventually, there was a name change to Blue Pyrenees - a wine-focused producer. Ch Remy and brandy distillation was past history. French management remained until the winery was sold in 2001.

Despite the limited success of the fledgling brandy house Ch Remy, the investment by Remy Martin in the Pyrenees area did not go without notice and in the next 10 -15 years several new wineries established themselves. John Robb’s son Neill, bought ground at Redbank and together with his wife Sally created ‘Redbank’ which they still own and run. Wally Henning the earth mover, developed Taltarni for the Oliver Bros in Ballarat, and Mountain Creek for himself and partner Russel Branton. Wally also helped create Dalwhinnie for the Jones family and lent a helping hand to the Summerfield’s who established vineyards in Moonambel. John Barry, a Melbourne based stockbroker, bought land adjacent to Ch Remy and created Mount Avoca which is now owned by his son.

By the early 90’s all of these wineries were up and running and all were using the Pyrenees name as a regional indicator. Blue Pyrenees was French owned and managed and Taltarni had become American owned and French managed. Dalwhinnie, Redbank, Mount Avoca, Summerfield, Warrenmang and Mountain Creek were all family run. All were producing good quality wines and all had developed ‘cellar door centres’. Apart from the managers at Blue Pyrenees and Taltarni a number of young Frenchmen (and women) also worked at these wineries as wine makers, cellar hands, lab assistants and vineyard advisors. At vintage time they were particularly prevalent

 However, for the vignerons, all the hard work was not yet over, collectively they wanted the Pyrenees region to become more front of mind with the wine drinking public, and greater recognition gained for the quality of its/their product. (They were of the opinion, that the Yarra Valley and the Mornington Peninsula were getting the majority of the wine publicity at that time.) Consequently, at one of their regular vigneron meetings members decided to embark on a marketing strategy that would help bring the Pyrenees region into focus, and give its wines the attention they deserved.

One integral part of this strategy was to hold a co-sponsored event that would bring focus and attention to the Pyrenees region. They devised the “Tour des Pyrenees’ pro -am cycling event to journey through the Pyrenees. (Program previously forwarded) The then Secretary of the vignerons, Sally Robb, co opted a broad range of people to help put this together and she was able to get input from all the wineries and their staff plus some close friends outside of the industry who were of a similar mindset. Notable amongst the latter were Sandy Gray and his wife Elizabeth whose input to the petanque side of the program was most substantial. Thus, petanque came to the Pyrenees in the midst of a cycling and food and wine event and it was promoted as one of the few sports you could play with a glass of wine in one hand and a boule in the other!

The event was timed to coincide with the Melbourne Wine & Food Festival and it gained support from the Victorian Wineries Tourism Council and a number of major sponsors many of whom were French companies. The event was successful and many of its aims were achieved. It was also fun to be part of as I (Ken Field) had just started working permanently at Blue Pyrenees in 1994. The event was replicated again successfully at the same time 1995.

1995 was a notable year for petanque in the region with the formation of the Pyrenees Petanque Club. Among its founding members were Elizabeth Lewis Gray, several of the vignerons and Ken. It was also the year in which Blue Pyrenees decided to run its own petanque tournament, …. (there have been two tournaments in Avoca ever since).

The wineries and Blue Pyrenees were intrinsically involved in the early tournaments and they were promoted heavily to the wine and food enthusiasts. Boules Australia, (David Williamson) was the principal provider of all things petanque and his involvement and expertise were very much relied upon. Basic rules were observed, but there were no official umpires, and piste size depended on the number of teams playing. One year we had 99 triples teams participating on our High St piste, currently we max out at 52! Wine was always part of the prize pool, and gourmet food and wine stalls were part of the event. Saturday night was party night and the local town hall, Blue Pyrenees and Taltarni were utilized as venues for music, dancing, and a great wine & food experience. These nights for up to 150 people were very popular and were often a highlight of the weekend. Gradually however, over many years, the more serious petanque players, eg French ex pats and their families became the majority player at our tournaments.

As mentioned above petanque was introduced to the Pyrenees in 1994 via the ‘Tour des Pyrenees’ event. It didn’t evolve from some local interest or enthusiasm for the sport, but was transported in as part of a ‘package’. I started work permanently with Blue Pyrenees in 1994 and was involved in the Tour des Pyrenees event, which was my introduction to Petanque.

In the early days petanque was about the tournament or tournaments. Apart from a few ‘francophile’ retirees in Avoca who used to picnic with a game of petanque quite regularly on the Avoca river flats of a (fine weather) Thursday, little casual petanque was played by the locals. Many of the locals did however play the tournaments, … (and often with a glass in hand!) 

In 1995 the Pyrenees Petanque Club was formed to progress the tournaments and to provide for those whose interest had been roused by the tournaments and who wished for an opportunity to play and learn the game on a regular basis. A makeshift piste was created in the (now) Lions Park and a schedule of local play was devised. To facilitate play at the local wineries, pistes were also built at Redbank, Taltarni, Blue Pyrenees and Mount Avoca and boules were made available for visitors/locals who wished to play at these venues.

As the 90’s progressed with bigger and grander tournaments local interest also increased in the game. The Pyrenees Shire saw fit to improve the (High St.) tournament site with some permanent fencing. (The evolution of this site is a topic in itself). The tournaments themselves also started to attract more regular serious petanque players and a larger number of French speaking people which helped reinforce the (mistaken) notion that the French were key in establishing petanque in this region. Interstate competitors became regulars, and teams from NZ, Singapore, the UK all competed. The level of play, and the depth of good players increased markedly. Mike Pegg, the renowned English umpire also competed.

Petanque,  (and the endurance and social bike riding events championed by Mount Avoca) were the lasting legacies of the T des P events, and ‘ownership’ of these gradually transferred from the vignerons to the Petanque Club, Mount Avoca and Blue Pyrenees. A wine and food experience, however, was still central to these activities.

Apart from the local club, Maryborough (Goldfields) also formed a petanque club as did a group of enthusiasts in Moysten.  Woodend-Hanging Rock was also established. Some of the Coonawarra vignerons were also introduced to petanque at Avoca via the tournaments. They saw possibilities for it in Coonawarra and quickly formed a Club and put on a tournament (using Avoca as a template). Within 10 years they were putting on the biggest triples event in Australia at that time and were attracting players from both Adelaide and Melbourne. Wine and food promotion, and provision, were also a big part of their success.

Probably the greatest French input into petanque in the Pyrenees was Blue Pyrenees Estate when they established their own tournaments and sponsored them exclusively from 1995 to 2001. The Estate was intent on gaining greater brand recognition and petanque was used successfully as a vehicle in achieving this. Preliminary rounds were played at the High St location and the final was played at Blue Pyrenees. (Onlookers to the final were served refreshments via Novotel Catering, and those who had pre-booked were wined, dined and entertained in an immense marquee) The events were leveraged through the FACCCI and many of BPE’s French connections such as Seguin Moreau and France Soir and the Champagne houses of Piper and Charles Heidsieck.

These early tournaments attracted sporting celebrities, (Phil Anderson) Tour de France winner, wine and food connoisseurs and critics, (Rita Erlich, Claude Forell), radio personalities (Derek Guille) and a host of entertainers and musicians including the legendary local Noel Watson.

Today, the tournaments are, still with sizeable numbers (all regular licensed players), but with petanque the focus. Over 20+ years petanque at Avoca has transformed from a largely recreational activity with a minimum of guidelines to a sporting contest between skilled players within a quite strict rule environment. The depth of ability has increased considerably but the level of fun has somewhat waned. The one thing that hasn’t changed though has been the support of the local wineries, whose ongoing sponsorship has been paramount to the viability of the events.

Nonetheless, these early days are remembered fondly and nostalgically by those of us who have been around over that time, and we still have regulars participating who were here at the

outset. We also have a second generation of participants now whose folks were players (and some still are), in the 90’s and 00’s. Undoubtedly the Club as it now exists has benefitted from what has gone before, and while that cohort of players that remember the early days still exist, Avoca is well placed to be looked upon favourably as a great petanque destination in the years to come.

Ken Field, Life Member, Pyrenees Petanque Club