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Sunday, 26 January 2025

Wine entrepreneur Brown honoured in Australia Day awards

Ross Brown, one of the nicest men in the wine industry, has been honoured for his service to Australia's wine and tourism industries.

Brown, the 76-year-old semi-retired executive director of Brown Family Wine Group, received the Medal of the Order of Australia as part of Australia Day celebrations.

Brown led Brown Brothers for decades and oversaw the company's ventures into Tasmania with brands including Devil's Corner and Tamar Ridge, as well as realising the potential of prosecco in Victoria's King Valley. 

"You know, I can think of 100 other people who are far more deserving of recognition - but it's been very flattering and pretty amazing that's been acknowledged," said Brown, whose three daughters nominated him.

Founded by Brown's grandfather in 1889, the Milawa-based Brown Family Wine Group is behind brands such as Brown Brothers, Innocent Bystander and Pirie.

Brown started working with his brothers in the 1960s to develop the family farming and wine business into a global wine company.

His brothers became more involved in the winemaking and vineyard operations, so it fell to Brown and his "gift of the gab" to look after the sales and marketing side of the business.

Brown told AAP he was a strong believer in what he called "co-opetition" - co-operating with his competitors.

"As I believe it, by working together you can actually build a bigger pie,'' he said.

"And in the tourism industry, you actually have to co-operate, because you can't get people to come to a region individually.

"You need to be working a whole chemistry of other businesses and other people - and it's pretty painstaking in some of those areas, working collectively.

"But the end result is you build a bigger pie, and soon, as you've got a bigger pie, you can get a bigger share.

"Having that mentality has allowed me to work in a number of areas and get some pretty amazing results."

Another major wine figure honoured with an AM in the same list was Alister Purbrick from Tahbilk.

Purbrick has been a pivotal figure in the Australian wine landscape, serving as president of the Winemakers' Federation of Australia (WFA) from 1999 to 2001 and as inaugural chairman of Australia's First Families of Wine from 2006 to 2010.

He has led his family's Tahbilk Group since 1978.

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