Family-owned wine company Brown Brothers is releasing a feature-length documentary titled Next in Wine: Survival and Succession, which follows the Brown family as they endeavour to re-introduce a Tarrango wine to the Australian market for the first time since the 1980s.
Premiering on FOXTEL on Friday, September 30, the documentary focuses closely on three members of the fourth generation working in the family business, sisters Katherine, Caroline and Emma Brown, as they lead the Tarrango project from designing the label, to producing the wine and presenting a sales pitch to a leading Australian liquor retailer.
We had the opportunity to chat with winemaker Katherine about new wines, working in a family business and new trends on the horizon.
Firstly, we wanted to know why after 40-plus years would Brown Brothers want to reintroduce the Tarrango wine?
"The cycles of people’s tastes change, fashion industry trends change and what was fashionable and cool in the 80s is coming back,” she explains. "Tarrango was an absolute hit in the 80s as a chilled red wine you could enjoy with a barbeque – it was forgotten about as trends of rosé and sauvignon blanc came through.”
Bringing out notes of red cherry and juicy fruits without being sweet, Tarrango is a dry wine with Summer berries coming through and doesn’t have the heavy tannins of most red wines.
"It is a wine you can enjoy over lunch without having a siesta in the afternoon. It is light enough on the palate to be a daytime wine - people are eating and enjoying food with a chilled red wine these days and it was a good time to bring it back,” Katherine says.
"It is Aussie culture to love eating outdoors and to have a red wine that matches perfectly with a simple family barbeque makes wine drinking that much more accessible. We have as a culture turned to beer when we think of a barbeque, but something like the Tarrango is so refreshing and easy drinking, it fits the spot to be a perfect match.”
Growing up working in the family business, Katherine says the three sisters have always thought working together was normal.
"Working in the cellar door even before we were old enough to serve wine, we would be filling up olive bowls and helping out. All we know as sisters is working together and trying to build something together.
"Collaborating on a project like this just seemed natural. We slip into our spots and we know where each other's strengths and weaknesses are, we are such a great team.”
The fourth generation of a business that has been heavily male-dominated, Katherine feels Grandmother Patricia is up in heaven having a good laugh.
"She was always such a great leader of strong women. For someone of my Dad’s generation being all boys - four brothers working together - to have a generation that is very female-heavy is just fantastic.
"Chester Osborn from d’Ahrenberg tried to tell me that men who drink high-quality wine seem to produce more baby girls. I don’t know if there is any science behind it, but if you look at many of the family wine businesses in Australia, they are very female-heavy in the next generation.”
As for the next five years at Brown Brothers, Katherine says there are some really interesting trends at the moment, particularly low and no-alcohol wines.
"Twenty years ago when I was starting out in my career, I would never have thought I would be making non-alcoholic wine; that is something we are definitely working on and we are excited as to where that market is going.”
So what does a winemaker do in their spare time?
Very passionate about fishing, this keen fisherwoman recommends pairing a Fiano with smoked trout.
Next in Wine: Survival and Succession will premiere on FOXTEL on Friday, September 30 at 7.30pm - available to watch on the Lifestyle channel and On Demand.
