Wendy cameron

Wendy Cameron has proven to be an exceptional winemaker through her devotion to the industry, interest in research and development, as well as her ability to nurture both fledgling wines and younger colleagues to their full potential.

Never one to sing her own praises, Wendy Cameron has largely flown under the radar during her career, working hard behind the scenes to ensure the wines of Brown Brothers are the very best they can be.

As head of winemaking, a position she has held since 2005, Cameron oversees the Milawa and Tasmanian wineries, plus 850 hectares of vineyards across six sites. Her responsibilities also include packaging, corporate services and human resources, demonstrating the breadth of her expertise.

“Wendy has been a passionate advocate for quality,” says Brown Brothers’ CEO Roland Wahlquist. “She puts the same energy into our moscato as she does the Patricia range.”

Working in a 12,500-tonne winery and processing over 45 varieties has afforded her many opportunities. Her impact has been far reaching; Cameron has successfully developed new varieties, including cienna, tempranillo and prosecco, as well as different styles for the company such as Heathcote shiraz and Tasmanian pinot noir.

Her underlying strength is her ability to accept challenges. “Wendy copes with steep learning curves very well,” says Peter Godden from the Australian Wine Research Institute. “She has a very scientific mind and despite being busy she always gets things done.”

Godden praises Cameron’s skill of articulating complex topics in a clear and simple way, evidenced by her successful presentation at the 14th Australian Wine Industry Technical Conference on climate change, titled Opportunities in a Changing Environment.

Cameron heads a small team of passionate winemakers and Wahlquist commends her ability to let individuals shine. One of the first changes she made as senior winemaker was to broaden the winemaker roles so everyone made different styles of wine. “We work as a team, we blend as a team but it is important for individual winemakers to have ownership of the wines they make,” she says.

During Cameron’s 16-year involvement with Brown Brothers she has also made significant contributions to the wider industry.

Her involvement in formative research on smoke taint helped define the questions that are being addressed today. She has also been on the committee of the Australian Society of Oenology and Viticulture (ASVO).

Most recently, her dissertation on bentonite, the final component of her Master of Wine journey – having passed both the tasting and theory sections – is set to debunk some widespread beliefs about its use.

Cameron is a respected wine judge and was awarded the inaugural ASVO Winemaker of the Year accolade in 2012 for technical mastery in winemaking.

A key to Cameron’s success has been her grounding in science, an education encouraged by her father when the wine industry was at a low point. “Study broadly and specialise later,” were his wise words at a time when vine pull schemes were widespread.

Armed with both a Bachelor and Masters Degree in Biochemistry, Cameron spent a few years teaching before succumbing to the lure of winemaking. “It was in my blood,” says Cameron. She remembers, as a child, accompanying her father to the winery at two in the morning to fortify a muscat.

She began her winemaking career in the family winery and embarked on a wine science degree at Charles Sturt University to “help out Mum and Dad”.

As a mother, studying while raising a family was not without its challenges. Cameron attended her final compulsory excursion when the youngest of her three children was only “a few days old”. Her ever-supportive husband Simon followed the university bus with their new baby in tow.

Once qualified she approached her local winery, Brown Brothers, for work and was offered a vintage position to run the much lauded Kindergarten Winery, a microcosm devoted to winemaking and varietal trials. Later that year she landed a full-time role as red and fortified winemaker, which involved the establishment of the Patricia reds. Four years later she was promoted to senior winemaker and winery manager.

In mid-2015 Cameron will bid farewell to her current role at Brown Brothers due to a family move interstate. So it’s time to put two bottles of Champagne on ice: one to celebrate her highly successful career at Brown Brothers; the other for when her dissertation is accepted and the Master of Wine comes through.