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By JOHN ROZENTALS

JOHN'S MOLONG BLOG: 03 AUGUST 2016

Sweet/sour memories of Moorilla Estate and Port Arthur

It’s funny how time flies — or maybe it isn’t funny at all — and it’s certainly disturbing how seemingly innocuous occurrences can bring back some real pangs.

So it happened last night, while I was tentatively planning a visit to Tasmania, where I had lived for some 10 years.

A map I was looking at brought into focus both Moorilla Estate, located on the Derwent River in Hobart and one of Australia’s leading wineries, and Port Arthur, certainly one of Australia’s most tragic sites, both historically and in modern-day terms.

I immediately recalled a Sunday in April 1996, just after Jason Winter had been appointed as Moorilla’s new winemaker.

I was writing wine for Hobart’s daily paper, The Mercury, and had been invited to Moorilla to have a chat with Jason over lunch.

It was one of those absolutely gorgeous Tasmanian autumn days so we decided on a picnic by the river instead of lunching in the more formal setting of the estate’s restaurant — Jason, with his wife Jo and their infant son Mitchell, me with my then-wife Bev and our twin teen-aged daughters, Darien and Beckett.

All seemed right with the world. The sun shone, the food was excellent, our girls doted on looking after the spirited young Mitchell.

Jason and his family had just arrived in Tasmania. “Where should be go?” asked Jason, wondering about what would make a good outing for the family.

“Port Arthur,” I said. “Definitely Port Arthur.” And pointed out the site’s historic significance and physical charm.

Sadly, Jason took my advice and a week later, or maybe it was two weeks later, ventured with his family to Port Arthur and was one of the first people slain by Martin Bryant, shot at close range protecting, successfully as it thankfully turned out, Jo and Mitchell.

It’s hard to believe that more than 20 years have passed since that fateful day. Valé Jason and may God rest the thousands of spirits that inhabit Port Arthur. I won’t be returning there, though. Too many memories, too many troubled souls.

Above: Port Arthur ... an idyllic settting but too many memories and troubled souls.

Below: Jason Winter.