A Croatian-Australian Icon Faces
Demolition
Written by Jean Lunt-Marinovic,
Melbourne 1 July 2004
Croatian guests heard a speech from Premier
Bracks of Victoria, Australia, at Parliament House in Melbourne to celebrate
Croatia Day last week. Premier Bracks
spoke of the Croatian contribution to the Victorian economy. One example he
used to illustrate this contribution was the story about the Excelsior
Vineyard's label, which according to legend, gave Australia its Coat of Arms.
Premier Bracks did not discuss the current
situation of the Vineyard however, which he is no doubt well aware of. Not only is the story untrue about the
Excelsior trademark being a design used by the Australian government, but it is
the Bracks Ministry which has approved a route for a new highway to pass
Shepparton and Mooroopna, Victoria, which will result in the demolition of the
Excelsior Vineyard.
Premier Bracks certainly did not mention in
his speech that the Vineyard will be torn down for his highway. Other
things about the Excelsior Vineyard which Bracks did not elaborate on include
its real importance, such as its winning of gold medals for Australia overseas
in the 19th century, that it is on the Victorian Heritage Inventory, that Trojano Darveniza, the original pioneer
was a member of the famous Grand Jury of France, or that he was a successful
industrialist in Victoria.
Indeed, this vineyard is a
Croatian-Australian icon which survived 150 years, and the dreaded 19th century
Phylloxera disease, but it will not survive 21st century politics.
The truth is far more interesting than
fiction. For good reason the Excelsior
is listed on the Victorian Heritage Inventory.
The Darveniza wines and spirits, in 1888, 1889, 1890, and between 1891
and 1897 won for Australia over 300 prizes including 9 championships, 18
special gold, 5 silver and 5 bronze medals, in European cities, etc. Trojano Darveniza from the Dubrovnik region, was elected to the
Grand Jury of France.
In the late 1900s Darveniza's industry was
both wholesale and retail with a storage to hold up to 60,000 gallons. One Australian book, of many which mention
the Excelsior, 'Journey to Wine in Victoria' by Benwell, 1976, states:
"what an excruciating pleasure it must
have been to hear the vignerons of the Third Republic (France) pronouncing the
name Mooroopna. What a triumph for
Darveniza . ". This book also
describes the selection of old Trojano's trophies, "the achievements that
they commemorated could not possibly be overstated. Without a doubt, there is nothing quite like
a wine award from any of the 19th century exhibitions to capture, in a single
object, all the more heroic features of three thousand years of décor, and Trojano
Darveniza made sure that the colony would not be left without some wonderful
examples." He won medals for Australian wine and spirits all over
Europe. This is the greatest
contribution of the Excelsior Vineyard for Australia. In addition, there are few vineyards in
Australia which can boast that they have been in only one family for over a
century, let alone successful vineyards.
We should not forget the successful vineyards of the 19th century any
more than those of today.
In the book, 'Mooroopna to 1988' of the
Mooroopna Historical Society, 1989, the Excelsior Vineyard history is repeated
again in detail with mention of 306 prizes and distinctions, just a little of
which I repeat here. "In 1897, The
Weekly Times described the winery as 'wholesale and retail . sales for
Victorian consumption amounting to 10,000 gallons annually; for export to
England, Ireland, Scotland, India, NZ, W. Australia, etc. amounting to 6,000
gallons annually. In 1971 the vineyard
declined to "30 acres and produced Cabernet, Shiraz, Malbaec, Grenache and
Muscat varieties." "In the
Master's day the grapes were danced on to press the juice from the grape".
Darveniza was known as 'The Master'. His
name, in the Croatian language, was Drvenica, and the family originated in
Trnovica, near Dubrovnik, Croatia.
Like many hundreds of Croatian settlers to
Australia at the time, his name had been Italianized due to the Italian
invasion and administration of Dubrovnik and other parts of Dalmatia under both
Napoleon and Austria. Indeed a great
deal of confusion still exists about the identity of Croats in Australia, in historical documents,
and even amongst descendants of old Croatian families such as the
Darveniza's. After all there was no
Yugoslavia when he left his homeland in the 1850s.
The original Trojano was naturalized in
Australia in 1889, as a native of Dalmatia who had arrived in Australia in 1869
after time in NZ. Other naturalization
documents of the Darveniza's described them as being from "Trnovica,
Ragusa, Dalmatia, Austria". A
Shepparton Family History Book describes the Darveniza's as being from
Dubrovnik on the Adriatic Coast of Yugoslavia.
One member of the Darveniza descendants in the book, 'An Australian
Saga' described the family as slavs. The
Victorian Labour government website for MP Kaye Darveniza describes her as of
Italian grandparents, and the Vineyard is mentioned there. The Vineyard's
success certainly had nothing to do with Italian migration.
In Australia, Croats have been described as
Illyrians, Dalmatians, Slavonics, Sclavonians, Morlachians, Slavs, Ragusans,
Austrians, Italians, Slovaks, Southern Europeans, Yugoslavs, former Yugoslavs
and Balkans, etc. This is due to a
dearth of correct information about Croatia being available.
As for the Excelsior trademark itself, the
Darveniza family oral history about the legendary label evolved innocently
enough, but it cannot be authenticated in documents. The myth goes as follows:
Legend has it that Trojano Darveniza, a
native of Dalmatia Croatia, created an original label for his wines and
spirits, registered it in 1871, the design of which the Australian government
copied for the Australian Coat of Arms at Federation. This Excelsior label legend is not borne out in
official documents.
The Australian Coat of Arms has been in
common use on coins and tokens since the 1850s and 1860s, and its first
recorded appearance was in 1806 (The Bowman Flag).
In fact, the official registration of the
Excelsior Vineyard trademark occurred in 1898, not in 1871 which was when he
began his vineyard. The Trademark
register book itemized all of the features of the Excelsior Trademark which
included use of the already existing "Australian Coat of Arms" as
part of his trademark. Darveniza also
followed the trend of other vignerons who illustrated their labels with medals
won.
Three Australian artists that I know of have
already have preserved the Excelsior in their art, including the famous Tate
Adams, and local Shepparton artists Isa Kelly and Debbie Lynch. I wish that Croats in Australia would take
note and perhaps the famous Croatian-Australian artist Charles Billich could
record the Vineyard in his own fantastic style.
In the meantime, the local community efforts
have failed to alter the decision of the Bracks ministry in their chosen route,
although it was not the only route proposed. There must be other ways to
preserve the memory of this Vineyard, and to ensure that these sorts of issues
are taken more seriously in the future.
One of Victoria's Heritage landmarks on
Excelsior Avenue, a 150-year old icon of Croatian chain migration, a place of
pilgrimage for Croatian wine buyers from far away Melbourne or Sydney; and the
achievements of a 19th century ambassador for Australia overseas; will be
bulldozed for progress! In all
seriousness, would the Bracks' government have us believe that they would
demolish the actual landmark where the
Australian Coat of Arms was created!
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