THEY'RE called the Young Bloods, the newest generation of Rutherglen men and women with wine in their vines. They are the sons and daughters of third or fourth generation winemakers and for most the transition into the family wine business has been smooth and without incident.
On November 13, 2005, all of that changed for Eliza, Angela and Nick Brown. On that day their 60-year-old father, Peter Brown, owner of All Saints Estate and St Leonard's, died from injuries suffered in a motorcycle accident. Although his children had been groomed to eventually run the business, the tragedy left them with some fast growing up to do. Were there any doubts they wouldn't pick up the reins?
For Eliza Brown, 34, the chief executive and the oldest of the Brown siblings, there was little doubt, although some people did expect them to sell the wine estates. "We have a really bizarre relationship in that we are really lucky that we all get along really well and we all have a similar vision to where we want All Saints and St. Leonard's to go," she says.
Still, the trio have a pact that should the business poison their family relationship they will sell - "No business is worth that." It is also important that each sibling has a separate role to play. "We stay out of each other's hair that way," says Eliza, who is the business brain. Angela, 32, works in graphic design and export and Nick, 27, is viticulturist and assistant winemaker to long-time All Saints winemaker Dan Crane.
Their shared vision for All Saints Estate is to remain small and premium, respecting the "traditional" image many drinkers have of the historic property, which produces around 28,000 cases of wine annually. The limit the Browns have set themselves is 45,000.
Since taking over the winery, they have moved to biodynamic viticulture. "After dad died we stopped putting chemicals in the vineyard," explains Eliza. "Dad was very old school and, like many of his generation, he felt he needed chemicals." A front block of vines was changed over to biodynamics two years ago and under a five-year plan All Saints' entire 70 hectares will be converted. The Browns, along with Dan Crane, believe biodynamics is not only good for a sustainable future but also for the flavour and quality of wine.
A change perhaps more noticeable to All Saints wine drinkers has been a dramatic shift in wine styles. For inspiration, the Browns only had to look at what they liked to drink themselves and what people their age were getting into: approachable, softer-style reds and elegant whites that sat well at the table. Shiraz and durif, staples of the All Saints cellar, have lost weight, along with a little alcohol and tannin, and become more defined as modern styles. Marsanne, a grape that All Saints was fiddling around with under the previous owners, the Sutherland-Smith family, is looking less developed and blowsy than it once did.
The new styles, along with new labelling (and higher prices in some instances!) get a big pat on the back from their uncle, Ross Brown, CEO at Brown Brothers. "Together they are really delivering the goods and breaking some of the myths of Rutherglen with superb white wines, particularly from marsanne," he says. "I have been enormously proud of how Peter's family have worked together to grow and develop All Saints' vision after Peter's death.
While Ross has offered them encouragement and support - he famously suggested his children and Peter's kids get together to develop a separate wine label, ‘Kid You Not', because the exercise would teach them more and be less expensive than sending them to the US to get an MBA - his nieces and nephew at All Saints remain totally independent.
It might also be noted that the Brown kids are teaching their Rutherglen colleagues a few things, especially when it comes to fortifieds. After suffering from recurring episodes of cork taint in their fortifieds, a problem rarely acknowledged by most fortified makers, Eliza Brown decided late last year to move into glass vino-lok stoppers across the All Saints fortifieds. Sales have tripled, although admittedly off a low base. Now, some of her fellow fortified producers, encouraged by the success, are talking about adopting the attractive glass closure. "This is how fortifieds should be treated," Eliza says. "Like very special gems."
Stay tuned for even more progressive thinking when All Saints' 90-year-old museum liqueur muscat gets a major makeover later this year and comes onto the market in a new 500ml bottle - likened to a very big, very expensive perfume bottle - and a $1000 price tag. A revamped liqueur tokay is set to follow. "We're treating them like luxury goods," says Eliza. "They are never going to make us money but it's a piece of Australian wine history that we need to perpetuate." All Saints will release only 500 bottles of the museum muscat each year. Of the inaugural release, 200 bottles are destined for the US, including the famous Belaggio hotel in Las Vegas.
Eliza Brown says that when it came to the treasure trove of All Saints fortifieds, put down by four generations of Sutherland-Smiths before the property was sold to Peter Brown in 1992, she was inspired by the reinvention of prestige cognac. Eliza, who was involved in marketing with All Saints before her father's death, is very much behind the new marketing push for the company, seeking out broader sales opportunities and reaching out to a younger generation of wine drinkers.
Under her father, the All Saints Wine Club represented almost 100 per cent of sales. These days, it's 60 per cent of sales and the company has distribution through Mezzanine. It was the Browns who launched Sweet Nicoli and Sweet Angelina, a sweet, spritzy red and white for summer drinking, and they are keen to use the All Saints Wine Club members as a testing ground for new styles like a sangiovese/cabernet blend and other unusual varieties.
As for St Leonard's, the pretty vineyard property on the same road as All Saints at Wahgunyah, the Brown siblings are still mulling over its future. The vineyards are getting old and in need of redevelopment and, although St Leonard's has always been viewed as All Saints' quirky sister, a maker of light table wines including orange muscat and merlot, it's an image which may not be strong enough to carry it into the future.
"We need to have a good, hard look at St Leonard's," says Eliza. "We grew up running around there as kids and it's quite special in our hearts. It would be good to do something fun and get a younger crowd down there."
Sounds like she has something in mind.