Aviation scientist became a wine-making king of the valley

GUY Darling, who served in two branches of the defence forces before helping to create one of Australia's most diverse wine regions as a pioneer viticulturist in Victoria's King Valley, has died at his property, Koombahla, in Whitfield, aged 83.

As a leader of Australia's wine industry, he also played a key role in devising the appellation system that defines the country's wine regions.

His legacy is the development of the King Valley, traditionally a tobacco-growing area in the state's north-east, into a vibrant producer of premium wine grapes and a region unique for its diversity.

Guy was born at Cheshunt in the upper King Valley and spent the early years of his life at the tobacco-growing family farm Nambucca. He and his two brothers were educated at Camberwell Grammar School, where he was captain and dux in 1942. He helped out on the family farm until he enlisted in the navy in May 1943, and saw action in the Pacific. He was present at the capture of Okinawa, and in Tokyo Bay at the surrender of Japan.

After the war, Guy studied mechanical engineering at Melbourne University and graduated equal dux in 1950. He then joined the RAAF as a civilian with the Aeronautical Research and Development Unit, and became the scientist responsible for all aircraft research and development. He spent 18 months at the Royal Air Force's famous research establishment at Farnborough, England, with his new wife, Yvonne (nee Bates). When he returned to Australia, Guy began overseeing the management of Nambucca following the death of his father, as well as taking a new role with the RAAF at Laverton.

As the 1950s progressed, Guy was introduced to the pleasure and fascination of wine, and his interest in all things viticultural was cemented during his secondment to France in 1961 as part of the team that selected the French Mirage III as the RAAF's fighter to replace the Avon Sabre.

He returned from Paris intent on growing his own grapes to produce Bordeaux-style wine.

Over the next decade, Guy combined his position as engineering manager at National Consolidated Limited in Melbourne with the ongoing management of Nambucca. He was also active in the King Valley community, serving on such bodies as the tobacco quota committee.

In 1970, he bought Koombahla, a property at Whitfield, a few kilometres north of Nambucca. That year, he planted 0.8 hectares of cabernet sauvignon vines — the first commercial planting in the upper King Valley, and produced his first vintage in 1974.

Combining his scientific training with his intellectual rigour and passion for wine, Guy went on to plant more than 20 hectares of vines and proved the region to be most favourable for cool climate viticulture. By 1981, growth justified Guy devoting all his time to the venture. In the early days, all his grapes went to Brown Brothers at Milawa, with many producing premium wine marketed under the Individual Vineyard "Koombahla" label.

Although Koombahla's reputation was made with cabernet sauvignon and riesling, Guy did not hesitate to pursue his original dream of a Bordeaux blend and planted small quantities of cabernet franc, merlot and petit verdot. By 1990 the dream was fully realised — Guy established a winery at the Nambucca property and began making his own wine as Darling Estate Wines.

As Guy's vineyard prospered, many of the surrounding landowners, including Italian descendants of post-war migration tobacco growers, recognised the great potential of the valley as a grape-growing region. Almost overnight new vineyards and wineries began to spring up. By the late 1990s, more than 50 families in the region were dependent on grapes as their primary source of income; this year there are 75.

In 1983 he became a founding member of the King Valley Grape Growers' Association (now the King Valley Vignerons), writing its constitution and serving as president for many years. He worked tirelessly to promote the valley and to promote the welfare of the grape growers and winemakers of the valley. This commitment extended beyond the valley when he joined the board of the Murray Valley Winegrowers in 1998.

He was instrumental in helping to create, and served as chairman of, the Wine Grape Growers Council of Australia (now Wine Grape Growers Australia), a body set up to represent growers at a national as well as regional levels.

But perhaps his most enduring legacy stems from his foundation work on the Geographical Indications Committee (GIC), which was established in 1993 as a statutory body to enable Australia to determine its wine grape-growing regions as required by the European Commission-Australia Wine Agreement. Australian wine producers had to stop using European terms such as Bordeaux and develop their own appellation system.

To date, 102 such geographical indications have been determined; more will follow.

Guy stepped down from the GIC in December 2002 having attended nearly every one of the 103 formal meetings, and innumerable other meetings with grape growers, winemakers and industry bodies around Australia that were held during his tenure.

Guy is survived by children Wendy, Kate, Peter, John and Giselle, and 18 grandchildren.