You may wonder why we chose to call our fruity vermentino white wine “Murnang di Renzo”. Long before our family became custodians of this small pocket of land in the O’Connell / Wambuul (Fish River) Valley, Murnang tubers were an important staple for indigenous people in southern parts of Australia.
Murnang grew extensively across heathland, open woodland and grassland. The tubers were often dug out with digging sticks and cooked before eating. They were widespread and deliberately cultivated by Aboriginal people in some areas.
In fact the Bathurst Wiradyuri elders have shared with us that there was a significant Murnang patch in the area now occupied by the Bathurst Showground. Their practice was to harvest the larger tubers and replant the pups. When hoofed animals were introduced to Australia by early colonial settlers the Murnang habitats were largely destroyed.
Fast forward to around 2020, during the COVID shutdown, here at Renzaglia Wines we spent a lot of time planting native trees, shrubs and grasses as part of our move away from a monoculture of grapevines. We have been working on repairing the ecosystem while this land is in our hands, to create a healthy diversity of plants and animals. Sam came across Geoff and Judy Windsor from Wattle Flat, a dedicated pair of horticulturalists who collected native seed and were prolific propagators of tubestock. They gave Sam two little Murnang plants.
The two Murnang plants found their way into Sandy’s veggie patch. They produced a small amount of seeds. The next year the seeds were bedded in their own dedicated Murnang patch and boy, were we rewarded hundred-fold with copious quantities of seed, almost as though they were saying, THANKYOU for saving us. We understood the significance of these seeds for the indigenous community. Sam once again consulted with the local elders who expressed their wish for the seeds to be used with younger indigenous generations to reconnect with part of their culture. Sam followed up by contacting Peter Fitzsimmons at St Stanislaus college, leader in the First Nations Education program. Peter was keen to take the seeds and use them with his students.
The photo’s of Murnang below were taken at St Stanislaus College on 26/5/24 by Dean of Curriculum, Mrs Virginia Van Gend. Apparently they have around 100 seedlings growing. We are very pleased. We have also heard that Bathurst fellow, Evan Stroeve who co-owns the very successful Darlinghurst bar The Waratah, has committed to purchase any available Murnang tubers for their menu.
