Rutherglen winemaker Colin Campbell has been recognised as an icon of wine on the national stage.
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The fourth-generation Campbell Wines winemaker was awarded life membership of the Australian Wine Industry by the Winemakers Federation of Australia, College of Patrons.
His outstanding achievements in the Australian wine industry were celebrated alongside winemakers Wolf Blass and John Angove in Adelaide recently.
A humbled Mr Campbell said the award had struck a chord with him as he had generally rated himself as an underdog.
“Sitting alongside John and Wolf really brought it back to earth for me,” Mr Campbell said.
The president of the Winemakers Federation of Australia, Tony D’Aloisio, said the three winemakers were household names in Australia who had helped create a vibrant modern industry and brought Australian wines to consumers around the world.
“This coveted Life Member Award recognises outstanding leadership and contribution to the nation’s wine industry over and above an individual’s career achievements,” Mr D’Aloisio said.
“In the case of John, Colin and Wolf – they have given in spades!”
Among Mr Campbell’s myriad achievements, he gained worldwide recognition for Rutherglen Muscat as a unique wine of Australia.
He founded the Muscat of Rutherglen Network of which he is still chairman, and is proud to say that its classification system is now used Australia-wide.
During a career spanning five decades, Mr Campbell said production of fortified wines had gone from being the dominant Rutherglen wine style to accounting for 5 per cent of production.
“Muscat was in danger of becoming a curio wine unless it was rejuvenated; now it’s recognised as one of the great wines of the world,” he said.
Mr Campbell founded a Rutherglen durif group in 1992 and serves on the Winemakers Federation of Australia board.
“My life in the wine industry has been typically full of challenges, however we are fortunate in Australia as the wine industry here is not constrained by boundaries or climate and we are assisted by the Aussie spirit of innovation,” he said.
“It is the wisdom of age and the exuberance of youth that make the wine industry and everything work well.”