Auld and Burton was a London based importer founded by South Australians, Patrick Auld and G. Burton and an important entity in wine history. Auld arrived in Adelaide in 1842 and opened a wine and spirit merchant business in Hindley Street. He purchased land at Magill in the foothills of the Mount Lofty Ranges and in 1854 began developing a large vineyard called the Auldana Wine Company.

In 1861 the Auldana Vineyard Association was floated with a capital of 12,500 pounds and in 1862 the association made its first vintage of 3,000 gallons. Two years later Patrick Auld persuaded other SA winemakers to send samples of wines to the London Exhibition. There, according to the Cyclopedia of SA (published 1909), “they attracted great attention and took first class honours.” In 1871 Auld sailed for London and established a wine-importing business in Mill St Hanover Square called Auld Burton and Company. He was a major exporter of Australian wine.

Australia’s First Wine “Critter” Brand

The company name changed to Australian Wine in 1879 with its Emu wine brand trademarked in 1883.

The Emu name was synonymous with Australian ports and sherries for well over a century. Emu exported its own and other wines andwas first shipped to the Canadian wine market in 1926, into Quebec. Wirra Wirra wines in McLaren Vale, established in the early 1920s, were exported by Emu under the brand Kangaroo Red.

Penfolds purchased Auldana in the 1940’s before being sold to the current owners in 1980. The only Auldana asset to
remain with Penfolds is the St. Henri label.