Stephen (István) Ferencz
| Town/City | Hobart |
|---|---|
| First name | Stephen (István) |
| Last name | Ferencz |
| Country of Origin | Hungary |
| Date of Birth | 1926 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1949 |
| Submitted by | Attila Urmenyhazi |
Story
Stephen (István) Ferencz (1926-2004)
Story
Stephen (István) was born in 1926, in the village of Gerse in county Vas in Western Hungary. Soon after the end of WW2, he crossed the border nearby to became a refugee in Austria under the International Refugee Organisation’s care. Termed officially as a Displaced Person he arrived in Australia as a migrant in 1949 and spent his first two years obligatory service as a postal employee.
At age 25 he was a determined a late starter apprentice plumber, funding his living from savings. After fully qualifying as tradesman plumber in due course, he became partner with his employer-plumbing contractor. In 1962 Stephen left that partnership and settled in Hobart. After a major work accident, he left his plumbing trade altogether and engaged in mastering the industrial production of yoghurt, learning the trade from a specialist dairy in Melbourne. Yoghurt then was a novel product hitherto unavailable in Tasmania. As the pioneer of yoghurt making in Tasmania, he sold his ongoing business to a big enterprise in 1963 but nevertheless remained its production manager until 1971.
Stephen then ventured into the love of his life: the winemaking business, the skilled craft that he knew much about since childhood and youth. Buying potentially suitable acres of land at Cradoc, he developed and managed his estate perfecting his winery, whilst deepening his product knowledge all the time. He gradually became a very successful winemaker with his lounge walls covered with exhibition certificates of awards attesting to the excellence of his sought after chardonnay wines. In 1984 he won the coveted gold medal Chardonnay-of-the-Year National Award. In early 1990’s Qantas Airlines were buying yearly his entire annual chardonnay release for their 1st class passengers. He had been eight times to Europe strictly on study tours to wineries in France, Germany, Austria, Hungary and Romania to deepen knowledge in grape growing and familiarize with the latest technology in winemaking. His reputation was national.
He sold his entire winery estate and label called Panorama Wines to retire in 1996.
Stephen passed away in 2004 in Hobart, to be missed by all who knew him and the small Hungarian community and association that he supported and served well over a lifetime.