Ray Beckwith

Arthur Ray Beckwith (23 February 1912 – 7 November 2012), invariably known as Ray, was a South Australian wine chemist, whose methods enabled Penfolds' winemaker Max Schubert to produce excellent table wines, and develop his Penfolds Grange. For most of his long life his achievements and influence were overlooked but came to be recognised after his retirement.

History

Beckwith was born in Cowell, South Australia, the eldest son of ironmonger Arthur Henry Beckwith (1883–1947) and his wife Blanche Beckwith (1881–1941), née Brown.

He grew up in Murray Bridge and was educated at Murray Bridge High School. He proceeded to Roseworthy Agricultural College, where he was dux in his second year[1] and completed his Honours Diploma of Agriculture in 1932. In 1933 he won a cadetship, one of five such paid positions, to operate a model winery at Roseworthy, under Alan R. Hickinbotham (1898–1959) and John L. Williams' (died 1962).[2] His first research project was to investigate the use of pure cultured yeasts rather than those which occur naturally on the skins of the grapes, and soon proved the superiority of cultured yeasts.[3]

From there he was headhunted by Colin Haselgrove[lower-alpha 1] of Thomas Hardy Wines as an assistant to winemaker Roger Warren,[lower-alpha 2] making sparkling wines at Mile End then poached by Leslie Penfold Hyland, manager of Penfolds Wines in Nurioootpa, as assistant to Alf Scholz,[4][lower-alpha 3] commencing on 2 January 1935. His first major project was construction of a laboratory dedicated to yeast research and a large vessel for yeast cultivation. The strain he settled on was one from Portugal, designated A1. He was able to prove that avoiding over-temperature during fermentation was a major factor in reducing bacterial spoilage.[3]

In 1936 Beckwith undertook some research at the laboratory of A. Killen Macbeth, Angas Professor of Chemistry at the University of Adelaide, looking into the effects of acidity on wines. In spite of the Great Depression,[5] Macbeth had been able to purchase from England a Cambridge electronic pH meter, a recent and very expensive innovation which allowed speedy and accurate measurements of this parameter. His researches led to the finding that controlling acidity could limit bacterial growth in wines and reduce spoilage to practically zero. Until this discovery, much wine production was so spoiled that it was fit only for distillation. Manipulation of wine pH with tartaric acid, a natural component of wine, is now part of the winemaker's arsenal.[3] His work so impressed Leslie Penfold Hyland that his request for a similar pH meter was approved without question.[lower-alpha 4]

Beckwith married in late 1936 and settled down to live in Nuriootpa. After some time in that town, he was asked to move to Magill, but neither he nor Mrs. Beckwith wished to move, so after some initial commuting, he only visited Magill when needed. Stories that he was responsible for introducing Max Schubert to winemaking have been denied by Beckwith.[6] Schubert, who until 1938 was working as a stablehand, began his winemaking career at Magill in 1938, as assistant to the blender, Albert Edward Vesey (c. 1863–1952).

Aside from the fortune saved for Penfolds by Beckwith's innovations and methods, particularly preventive discipline, consistency and standardization; he also raised the quality of wine by application of science. He was arguably the first to employ paper chromatography to monitor the progress of malolactic fermentation, and was an advocate of stainless steel to replace other metals in the pumps and pipes used for processing and conveying of wine.[7] He introduced cooling tubes to slow down the fermentation process, Without his work, Max Schubert's Grange Hermitage would never have reached the heights it achieved.[8] Schubert's wines, of which Grange was a small if celebrated part, were not a sudden inspiration: they were the product of successive incremental improvements that raised Penfolds from a producer of mediocre fortified wines to a producer of reliable, first-rate table wines, and Beckwith was behind him every step of the way.[9]

Beckwith retired in 1973, two years before Schubert,[9] but continued to take an active interest in the firm, and also had his own small vineyard outside the town.

Recognition
  • In 1980 he was inducted into Barons of Barossa.[4]
  • In 2003 he was granted life membership to the Australian Wine Industry
  • He was made an Honorary Life member of the American Society for Enology and Viticulture[3]
  • In 2004 he was awarded Doctor of the University (Duniv) from the University of Adelaide[3]
  • In 2006 he received Maurice O'Shea Award from McWilliam's Wines
  • In 2008 the Order of Australia "for service to the Australian wine industry through contributions towards enhancing the quality and efficiency of the winemaking process."

Family

Arthur Ray Beckwith married Coral Ivy Jean Lodge (c. 1907 – 26 October 1996) on 26 December 1936."Family Notices". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 11 January 1937. p. 12. Retrieved 20 November 2020 – via National Library of Australia. They had no children in South Australia.

Notes
  1. Colin Powell Haselgrove (born 1904), noted wine judge and yachtsman
  2. John Roger Hogarth Warren (died 1960)
  3. Scholz (poss. Alfred Ernest Scholz, born 1895) was manager of Penfold's Nuriootpa winery for 47 years.
  4. "Morton glass electrode" may refer to a pH electrode designed or invented by Charles Morton, M.D. F. R. S., an English pioneer of vacuum-tube potentiometry with George Zaidan.

References
  1. "Local Roseworthy Successes". The Mount Barker Courier And Onkaparinga And Gumeracha Advertiser. 51 (2618). South Australia. 6 February 1931. p. 4. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "SA winemaking school has won world fame". The Mail (Adelaide). 42 (2, 107). South Australia. 25 October 1952. p. 26. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "Encyclopedia of Australian Science: Beckwith, Arthur Ray". Australian Government. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  4. "Meet: Barons of Barossa". Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  5. "New Equipment for University". The Advertiser (Adelaide). South Australia. 4 April 1935. p. 17. Retrieved 4 January 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. Philip White. "The Beckwith Tapes: Who Employed Max Schubert?". Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  7. Andrew Caillard (2008). Penfolds - The Rewards of Patience (6th ed.). Allen & Unwin.
  8. "Australia farewells wine pioneer Ray Beckwith". In the Picture. 8 November 2012. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  9. Kim. "Max Schubert, Ray Beckwith and the Making of Penfolds: How two white knights saved a mismanaged company". BWU20. Retrieved 4 January 2018. This article, scathing in its denunciation of Penfolds management, has much information beyond the scope of this article, but makes fascinating, if depressing, reading.
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